What happened
Chief marketing officers are increasingly expected to drive commercial growth, lead technology adoption, and influence business strategy across their organizations, not just manage brand building. Russell Reynolds research found that more than 90% of CMO job descriptions posted in 2025 required performance expertise alongside experience leading teams.
Why it matters
As AI reshapes how brands communicate and are discovered online, CMOs must master technology platforms to determine when to use AI and when to rely on human creativity. A Fortune and Morning Consult survey of 1,100 finance and marketing decision-makers found that 78% are either somewhat or extremely concerned that AI-generated content could reduce consumer trust in brands, making judgment about AI deployment critical to brand safety.
What to watch
According to McKinsey, half of consumers use AI-powered search, and the firm predicts that $750 billion（約120兆円） of consumer spend will come from AI search by 2028. Content creator job listings have increased 410% since 2023, yet only 12% of marketers and finance leaders said they were using influencers to build brand credibility and trust in the age of AI.
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The role of the CMO is undergoing a fundamental transformation driven by artificial intelligence's impact on both creative production and consumer discovery. Historically, CMOs managed brand positioning and marketing campaigns; today, they are expected to understand technology platforms deeply enough to decide when machines should drive campaign development and when human judgment is irreplaceable. This shift is not merely aspirational—Russell Reynolds' analysis of 2025 job postings shows the market is already demanding that CMOs combine performance expertise with team leadership, signaling a structural change in how boards view the marketing function.
The tension between efficiency and trust sits at the heart of this evolution. While AI tools can accelerate production—as demonstrated by Coca-Cola's reduction of ad development from one year to one month—the survey data reveals deep skepticism about AI-generated content's impact on brand credibility. This skepticism is not universal resistance to AI adoption; rather, it underscores that the CMO's judgment about *where* and *how* to apply AI has become strategically valuable. The emerging emphasis on content creators and C-suite social media presence reflects a parallel insight: as AI-generated content becomes ubiquitous and consumers grow skeptical, authenticity and human judgment become competitive advantages that CMOs must now architect at an enterprise level.
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