Jayashree Rajan

expert panel

Automation has a way of making marketing systems look busy—and therefore, healthy. Dashboards fill up, campaigns launch on schedule and follow-up happens at machine speed, creating the impression that marketing teams are becoming more efficient and effective.  But activity isn’t the same as results. For a growing number of marketing organizations, automation has become a way to run faster in the wrong direction. Automation doesn’t fix fuzzy underlying strategies, scattered data or poorly defined handoffs between marketing, sales and product teams. It just moves them out of sight. A workflow that runs smoothly isn’t necessarily a workflow that works. Further, tool sprawl can leave teams struggling to manage and achieve ROI from an ever-growing, unchecked tech stack.  That’s the uncomfortable reality many CMOs are grappling with right now. The proliferation of martech tools has made it easier than ever to automate nearly every touchpoint in the customer journey, yet in too many cases, revenue stalls, churn climbs and teams struggle to explain how—or if—automation is making a positive difference. The real job, then, isn’t just adopting better tools. It’s figuring out what the underlying problem is and whether technology will merely simply help a flawed process fail more elegantly. Members of the Senior Executive CMO Think Tank—a curated group of marketing leaders with deep expertise in digital advertising and technology’s growing role in marketing—have been at the forefront of the AI revolution. Here, they break down the process flaws automation most commonly conceals and share practical diagnostics to help CMOs build on solid ground before adding more speed.

expert panel

Many marketing campaigns are built to grab attention—the scroll-stopper, the headline, the viral hit—with little planning for what comes after. Global ad spending is expected to reach unprecedented levels in 2026—topping $1 trillion—but a viral video, clever headline or packed webinar won’t translate to revenue if follow-through is an afterthought. The problem isn’t the creative; it’s the system.  Marketing campaigns designed as moments in time rather than journeys can’t sustain buyers’ interest, achieve conversions or build customer loyalty on their own. Keeping customers engaged throughout every stage of the buyer journey is essential. Yet, in too many organizations, marketing hands off a lead, sales chases it down, and somewhere in the middle, the momentum built by that clever creative quietly dies.  Marketing teams who focus solely on maximizing clicks, impressions and traffic often celebrate winning before the game is actually over. Tackling the harder work of conversion and retention requires rethinking how campaigns are planned, how teams are structured, and how success gets defined. The question, “Will this get their attention?” must be followed by, “Do we have a plan for what comes next?” Members of the Senior Executive CMO Think Tank—a curated group of marketing leaders with expertise in brand storytelling, digital advertising, customer engagement and the rise of AI in marketing—have seen this challenge from every angle. Below, several of them share how to design marketing campaigns that are just as intentional about follow-through as they are about reach.

expert panel

Marketing has always been part science, part art. Increasingly, AI is bringing the science: It can process data at a speed and scale no human analyst can match, instantly spotting patterns across channels and audiences. AI is proving its value by helping teams process more data, identify patterns faster and move from raw information to action with far less manual effort. But effective marketing demands more—context, empathy and the kind of nuanced decision-making that comes from lived human experience.  The question CMOs are wrestling with isn’t whether to adopt AI; most already have or are planning to do so. It’s how to deploy it in ways that genuinely sharpen performance without hollowing out the human judgment that makes marketing resonate. CMOs who get the division of labor right won’t be those who automate the most. Rather, they’ll be the ones who design teams and workflows that leverage the unique strengths of both technology teams and human beings. The members of the Senior Executive CMO Think Tank share deep expertise in brand storytelling, digital advertising, customer engagement and the rise of AI in marketing. Below, several of them share their perspectives on where AI delivers its greatest value and where human judgment remains irreplaceable—and how CMOs can architect ways of working that bring out the best of both.

expert panel

Personalization was intended to be the “concierge” of digital marketing: a helpful nudge, a timely reminder or a suggested shortcut that made a customer feel understood. Somewhere along the way, however, personalized marketing started feeling more like a carnival barker with a confetti cannon—loud, distracting and relentless, as well as oddly confident about what you “must” want to see next. And all those sights and sounds aren’t just overwhelming; they’re often off-kilter and off-putting. In one survey, two-thirds of global consumers reported being targeted by inaccurate or invasive marketing. Now, Gartner’s November 2025 report, “Leadership Vision for 2026: Chief Marketing Officer,” adds a sharper warning: Overly aggressive, algorithm-driven personalization can actively weaken trust and leave consumers feeling overwhelmed with information and hesitant or regretful about making purchases. Even so, abandoning personalization altogether isn’t the answer; the majority of consumers still expect personalized interactions and are frustrated if they don’t receive them.  So what does “better personalization” look like in 2026, and how can CMOs make customers feel seen, not herded? Below, members of the Senior Executive CMO Think Tank share their takeaways from the Gartner report as well as practical strategies to help marketing teams produce personalized messaging that’s compelling rather than creepy. 

expert panel

CMOs accustomed to a focus on crafting polished brand messages for their own websites and traditional search are waking up to a new digital marketplace. Increasingly, buyers aren’t clicking links on search pages—they’re going to AI assistants to do work-related research, get detailed answers to personal questions, find product recommendations and even manage shopping lists. Brands can no longer rely solely on Google rankings—they need to show up in the AI-generated summaries people read, quote and act on. While a November 2025 Semrush report noted that ChatGPT is citing Reddit and Wikipedia less frequently than it has in the past, they’re still among its top three sources—a signal that “useful” content in the GenAI era often looks less like a polished campaign page and more like a living knowledge base. Companies are responding in a shift that’s been framed as a move toward generative engine optimization (GEO), where visibility increasingly depends on whether your expertise is shared in such a way that it answers real questions and can be pulled, summarized and trusted in AI-driven results.  So what new strategies should marketing leaders pursue in the face of these changes? Here, members of the Senior Executive CMO Think Tank—experts in brand storytelling, digital advertising, customer engagement and the rise of AI in marketing—share what these citation patterns suggest about the content AI models treat as credible and offer practical ways to rethink content and engagement.

expert panel

In recent years, several prominent brands have learned that marketing can misfire when it collides with consumer sentiment. Bud Light, American Eagle and Cracker Barrel, among others, have drawn public attention not for their creativity or ambition, but for misreading how audiences would react to “clever” campaigns or evolving branding. Even well-intentioned marketing or modernization efforts can alienate longtime customers if they believe campaigns aren’t grounded in authenticity and respect. For marketing leaders, these examples underscore the need for disciplined “backfire filters”—structured ways to assess cultural sensitivity, audience alignment and brand equity before campaigns reach the public. Here, senior marketing experts from the Senior Executive CMO Think Tank share how they would have approached the internal conversations surrounding recent “marketing misfires.”