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For our Martech for Drummies focal point, this week’s version of Agency Advice asks most sensible entrepreneurs precisely how the growth of era into each and every facet of the advert biz is impacting the highest of the totem pole.
We used to mention ‘there’s an app for that’. Increasingly within the advert international, it could actually really feel like, for any query a marketer may ask, ‘there’s martech for that’.
Orienting oneself in that international of applied sciences, distributors and approaches isn’t simple. What do all of the acronyms imply? Where are the good investments at the moment? Do I actually desire a martech ‘stack’ of dozens of various providers?
Some of the ones questions are extra private. The speedy onset of AI has helped alongside in style considerations over tech-hastened task lack of confidence, however it’s no longer simply AI: the sector’s of adtech and martech are full of inventions that promise to do jobs human entrepreneurs as soon as did, however higher and quicker. How top do the ones considerations climb? Should even without equal marketing-decision-maker, the executive advertising and marketing officer (CMO) or advertising and marketing director, be getting ready within the long-run for substitute or a minimum of main a significant refocus within the calls for of the task? We requested senior entrepreneurs.
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Ted Kohnen, leader government officer (CEO), Park & Battery: “If the CMO hasn’t figured out the role of technology in their organization, or how to handle the assessment, integration and measurement of new tech, then it’s time to retire or rethink their role as marketing leader. Yes, AI is disruptive. So was Google 25 years ago. The same goes for the ‘next big thing’ in a year’s or 10 years’ time. If CMOs aren’t adapting and embracing AI, then maybe they should be replaced… but by a better prepared human.”
Ryan Nelsen, CMO, StackAdapt: “The impact of marketers will only amplify as thousands of AI agents begin coming to work on their behalf. Every part of the customer journey will get smarter, more personalized and connected.”
Meredith Chase, co-founder, The Alt League: “While AI may outperform the CMO at a thousand micro-tasks, it will never be able to out-vision the CMO. As martech stacks sprawl, the CMO’s job migrates from doing to directing, shifting bandwidth from executing campaigns to orchestrating vision. Only a human can decide why the brand should matter tomorrow and ensure that every AI-driven decision ladders back to that purpose. CMOs must master the tech, but never abdicate the helm.”
Rikke Wichmann Bruun, managing director, consumer dervice, Cheil UK: “The day a machine can replace a CMO is the day brands no longer need meaning. AI can buy media, write copy, even fake empathy, but it can’t lead teams through chaos, personal commitment and challenges, or make anyone believe in anything. Real CMOs aren’t campaign managers. They win hearts, not just headlines. Marc Pritchard didn’t just optimize at P&G; he had purpose and belief. ‘The Talk’ and ‘Like a Girl’ didn’t just sell products; they challenged societal norms. I am yet to see an algorithm with a heart, and it’s heart that makes the difference. Automation will flood marketing with noise. Leaders will cut through. The future CMO isn’t the smartest person in the stack. They’re the bravest person in the room. No machine is built for that.”
Amina Folarin, CEO, UK Group, Oliver: “AI won’t replace the CMO, but CMOs who harness AI will replace those who don’t. We’re witnessing a fundamental shift: the CMO’s evolution from brand steward to technology orchestrator. Modern marketing leaders must navigate an increasingly complex landscape where data, creativity, and technology intersect. While AI excels at pattern recognition and optimization, it lacks the human abilities to establish emotional connections, navigate cultural nuance, or consistently make ethical judgments that align with brand values. The most successful CMOs are embracing a hybrid approach: deploying AI for data analysis, content personalization, and campaign optimization while focusing human capital on strategy, creativity, and relationship-building. The future belongs to CMOs who view technology not as a threat but as an extension of their capabilities, augmenting their teams while maintaining the human-centered approach that drives meaningful brand engagement.”
Nick Graham, strategic guide, RMA: “The real question is: Why would you want to hold a traditional CMO role? Fragmentation of touch points, measurement is near impossible, and technology forever changing is leading to low tenure and more opportunities for AI to replace the day-to-day elements of the role. With roles merging and responsibilities being diversified to include aspects of sales, product, data, and customer service, the ability to connect (not just collaborate with) various disciplines will be vital for the CMO of the future. As will be the ability to look forwards.”
Jessica Valin, managing director, MikeTeevee Europe: “The role of the CMO is constantly becoming more expansive. Marketing is no longer about creating ads, it’s about shaping experiences, products, journeys, business models. In the context of an ever-evolving remit, AI supercharges the capabilities of a CMO and their team, empowering them to become more strategic, more creative, and more data-driven. Approaching creativity as a human competency and not a commodity is key to success. Done right, creative vision becomes a brand’s most defensible asset in a landscape that will be increasingly driven by automation and replication. Ultimately, the task at hand is to remain relevant and differentiated in an increasingly complex landscape. That’s a challenge facing not just CMOs but CEOs, CFOs, and beyond.”
Kirsten Pistor, head of operations, Squared.io: “AI and automation are reshaping marketing leadership, but they won’t replace the CMO. The role is evolving, from tactical execution to strategic orchestration across tech, data, and creativity. CMOs must guide brand, ethics, and customer understanding, areas where human oversight remains critical. AI is already reducing noise, unlocking insights, and enabling faster, smarter decisions.”
Dan Fisher, world leader ingenious officer, INGO: “An AI CMO? Absolutely not. Building brands is about building connections with consumers. You can’t algorithm your way to doing that. In a previous role, I spent 5 years working with one of the best-loved brands on the planet, Dove. There’s no way we could have done what we did without the right people steering the brand client side. The best work we did happened because of the convictions and vision of Alessandro Manfredi and the talented people he surrounded himself with (the likes of Firdaous El Honsali, Sophie Van Ettinger and Leandro Barreto). Their fingerprints were as much on the work as ours were, and every piece of Cannes-winning work we did happened because of the unique dynamic we had with them.”
Barney Worfolk-Smith, leader enlargement officer, Daivid, stated: “AI won’t replace the CMO and it’s a dangerous narrative to pursue. It propagates untruths about what good marketing looks like. It’s the road to bad personalization and sea of sameness comms. But without doubt, senior marketers are going to have to do a hard swerve. They will have new staff and even teams to fulfil creative and martech needs. Likewise, the traditional agency roster will shift, both in terms of what it is comprised of and what is in-house versus external. Still, senior marketing jobs but coasting through agency project management? Nope.”
Taylor Miles, vice chairman, shopper engagement, Two Tango: “CMOs’ roles are changing for the better. AI is allowing us to understand how something has happened, allowing us to focus on the why. So many human behaviors go into why customers do what they do. AI and adtech help us understand how they got to us, but understanding all of those consumer insights of the why behind that human behavior is where CMOs can really lean in. Let AI do all the data crunching and analysis, but it’s up to you to ensure that the correct elements are still feeding the system.”
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Joe Parrish, spouse and leader ingenious officer, The Variable: “As dashboards hand everyone perfect information, the CMO’s value shifts from quantitative to qualitative. Think Rick Rubin at the mixing board: he can’t play an instrument or twist the knobs, but he knows when a track is right. AI will soon uncover every pattern for everyone, but it can’t feel goosebumps the way a human can. Today’s CMO lords over dashboards for insight; tomorrow’s is handed the insight and must craft an emotion. Data informs, instinct decides. That human instinct only grows more important as data parity approaches.”
Matt Garbutt, director, AI and artistic, Brave Bison: “As far ahead as I can see and for those who adopt, AI strengthens the CMO’s role. While AI automation nails audience definition, predictive modeling and budget optimization, it can’t invent your brand’s ‘why’ or rally the exec team behind it. Machines surface insights to augment decisions; only a human leader defines purpose and sparks belief. Two evolutions are possible. One, left-brained CMOs evolve into strategic growth architects, owning full-funnel ROI and revenue forecasts, integrating and innovating martech stacks to deliver seamless customer journeys. This is art-meets-science: storytelling fused with AI fluency. Or, two, right-brained CMOs become brand growth architects. AI brand world models trained on assets, tone-of-voice and visual guides will generate inherently brand-safe work and comms, cutting review rounds and killing off-brand slip-ups. CMOs, free from art-direction chores, can focus on positioning, audience and innovation.”
Isa Munoz-Cadilla, leader government officer, Sounds Fun: “AI represents an exciting new frontier in media, storytelling, and the creation of marketing content. It’s exceptional at distilling data and harvesting insights, and there’s radical change underway across the industry that we’ll all need to adapt to. That said, AI at its core is an advanced prediction engine. The last thing we want marketing to become is predictable. We need humans who understand AI, inject it with originality, and implement it intelligently to scale creativity and storytelling. We’ve seen the best CMOs embrace this mindset and it’s led to some of our most innovative work and campaigns.”
Emma Beckmann, team leader enlargement officer, Landor: “AI won’t replace the CMO, but it’s reshaping the role around value creation. The most effective CMOs today are system thinkers: they connect brand, business strategy and measurable outcomes. Technology is helping marketing move faster and with greater precision, but it still takes human judgement to align stakeholders, manage risk and drive long-term growth. The real opportunity is for CMOs to build brands that are more valuable, less vulnerable, and recognized not just as creative expressions, but as critical business assets.”
Christophe Jammet, managing director, Gather: “AI won’t replace CMOs – but it will separate the visionary leaders from the tactical managers. Technology is an accelerant, not a replacement. The most effective CMOs aren’t threatened by automation; they’re liberated by it. Building authentic brand narratives, fostering organizational creativity, and orchestrating emotional connections with consumers remain irreplaceably human. The modern CMO needs fewer spreadsheet jockeys and more translators and systems thinkers who can convert machine insights into meaningful solutions. The future belongs to CMOs who understand that their value isn’t in executing tasks but in asking the right questions and cultivating the human relationships that no algorithm can replicate.”
Will Frappell, leader enlargement officer, Charlie Oscar: “AI is the biggest enabler for modern marketing we’ve ever seen. It won’t take a CMO’s job, but it will supercharge the impact of those who know how to use it. The CMOs who thrive will be the ones who stay curious, embrace change, and adopt a test-and-learn mindset. They’ll move faster, work smarter, and drive sharper growth. The wins are likely to be largely operational at first, but will quickly progress to activation sophistication improvement. Those clinging to old playbooks risk becoming irrelevant.”
Merry Michael Smith, vice-president, advertising and marketing and communications, Big Com: “The CMO’s role is transforming from campaign architect to tech orchestra conductor. As martech stacks become behemoths, today’s marketing leaders need technical fluency without becoming engineers. They’re increasingly responsible for business growth metrics that were once firmly in the CFO’s domain. CMOs are thriving by becoming translators, speaking both C-suite and tech fluently, while others struggle with automation anxiety. Some marketing leadership roles absolutely will disappear, especially those clinging to outdated playbooks. The survivors are becoming strategic integrators who leverage AI as their superpower rather than fighting it.”
