Marketing Leadership in an AI Era: Then, Now & Next 

Marketing leadership has entered an era of acceleration — and the rules are still being written.

AI is reshaping search, content, teams and decision‑making faster than organisations can adapt. Expectations of CMOs are rising, influence is being tested, and certainty is harder to promise.  

Drawing on 10 years of The CMO Show and conversations with more than 200 senior marketing leaders, this briefing brings clarity to the moment — distilling what CMOs are grappling with now, and what leadership needs to look like next. 

Inside Marketing Leadership in an AI Era: Then, Now & Next, you’ll explore: 

• The key shifts redefining authority, trust and decision‑making for CMOs
• The questions senior marketers are asking about AI, capability and influence
• A clear leadership frame informed by a decade of real‑world CMO insight 

This briefing is both a snapshot of where marketing leadership stands today and a signal of what it must become next — designed to help senior marketers strengthen their voice at the decision‑making table.

Organisations featured in this report