Beyond the cost centre —the dual mandate of rigor and inspiration

The role of the Chief Marketing Officer is exhilarating—a front-row seat to the future of our business. Yet, it is also one of constant pressure. We stand on the front lines of growth, tasked with translating investment into demonstrable, sustainable impact. For the modern CMO, our mandate is clear: Growth is the only metric that matters.

This pursuit of growth is currently defined by three critical frontiers: achieving true C-suite alignment, mastering the velocity of AI, and unleashing a new era of creativity. These are not siloed challenges for Marketing; they are the strategic imperatives for the entire executive leadership team.

The alignment imperative: closing the C-suite gap

The McKinsey research underscored a fascinating, yet concerning, disconnect. Our collective understanding of marketing's contribution is at a critical juncture. While CEOs universally recognize marketing as a vital growth lever, recent data shows a sharp 20-percentage-point decline since 2023 in the number of CEOs who feel they have a strong grasp of its true impact. Paradoxically, marketing budgets have simultaneously shrunk, dropping from 9.1 percent to 7.7 percent of revenue over the past year.

This is more than a budget negotiation; it’s a strategic tension we must resolve together.

On one hand, the CFO and CEO rightly demand greater accountability and clearer, irrefutable metrics that prove marketing’s value and ROI. On the other hand, we all know that breakthrough creativity and the careful architecture of brand building are ultimately irreplaceable—and often, inherently hard to quantify in a simple spreadsheet.

The good news is that this tension is becoming a catalyst for collaboration. Across the C-suite, there is genuine interest in working hand-in-hand to define the right metrics for performance, while simultaneously making space for the bold, inspirational ideas that truly drive market share and brand equity. Our shared goal is to build a modern growth engine that respects the duality of rigor and inspiration. Marketing must embrace data and accountability, and the C-suite must recognize that the biggest growth leaps require investments in creativity that defy immediate, linear measurement.

Leading through the AI inflection point

The second great challenge—and opportunity—is the speed of AI. A year ago, we discussed GenAI experiments. Today, we are deep into exploring agentic AI, autonomous systems that work independently to complete complex tasks. This is not just a tool; it is a force reshaping the consumer experience at scale, enabling hyper-personalization, reinventing media buying, and unlocking creative development that fuels growth, rather than just saving costs.

As leaders, we are grappling with three visceral reactions to this change:

1. Excitement: The potential is vast—faster insights, personalized outreach, and quicker interventions that directly translate into revenue.

2. Nervousness: We are all wondering how AI will affect our teams, our talent models, and even our own strategic roles.

3. Caution: Some of us feel paralyzed, believing we can't start until we’ve perfectly solved all related data and infrastructure challenges.

   
   

My message to the cautious is simple and direct: Don’t get stuck worrying. Start today. Foundational work is required, yes, but inaction is the greatest risk. We must immediately begin mapping how the work gets done, studying the proven solutions already in the market (from creative optimization to synthetic insight generation), and shaping our talent and workflows around a clear three-to-five-year vision. The change is coming regardless. The only variable is who will lead through it.

The future of creativity: human–AI partnership

The final frontier is creativity itself. Here, too, AI plays a pivotal, liberating role. The future of breakthrough ideas lies in the human–AI partnership.

AI is exceptional at the heavy lifting: resizing assets, localizing campaigns, refining copy, and accelerating brainstorming by generating more raw material than any human team could alone. But it is vital that we remember where the line is drawn. Judgment—the ability to sense what will truly resonate, break through the noise, and connect with people on an emotional level—remains distinctly human. In fact, our best creatives are often the most enthusiastic adopters of AI because it frees them from the operational grind to focus purely on the big ideas that define a brand.

A choice to lead

Progress in this new landscape will be uneven. In a year, we will see leaders scaling AI across specific domains, especially creativity and insights. In three years, having failed to move aggressively will be considered an organizational liability. In five years, our marketing organizations—structures, roles, and ways of working—will be unrecognizable.

This moment can feel daunting, but it should also feel exhilarating. I am optimistic. AI is not slowing down, and neither is the market’s demand for growth. The real choice for every member of the C-suite is whether we want to be out front, collectively shaping the journey, or following from behind.

This is an extraordinary inflection point for Marketing and for every executive committed to growth—a moment to reimagine how we create value and how our brands can truly connect with the people we serve. Let’s lead through it, together.