Your CMO, Not Your CTO, Should Lead AI Strategy

Two years after the launch of ChatGPT, the business world is finally waking up. This isn't just another tech trend that VCs will throw money at while screaming "disruption"—one that may be gone in another year. AI is the new electricity. It will impact everything. Companies are fumbling in the dark, trying to figure out how to “AI” their business. So, who should lead their AI transformation? The default answer is, "Let's give it to the CTO—they speak tech." That makes sense, right? Wrong. IDC says global AI spending will hit $749 billion by 2028. That's more than the GDP of Sweden. The stakes are massive. But here's where most companies are making a big mistake: They think AI is a tech problem. It's not. It's a customer problem. I’ve been working in tech, data, and AI since the late 1990s when I started at Akamai Technologies, one of the early pioneers in machine learning and AI. Trust me when I say: AI isn't just another CRM, ERP, or enterprise software package you can throw at your CTO and say "make it work." This is intelligence that will fundamentally reshape how your company serves everyone who matters—especially your customers. So, who should be leading your AI transformation? Your chief marketing officer. I’m sure CEOs and boards will say, “Are you kidding?” I get it. A Deloitte study shows 69% of boards get their AI updates from CTOs or CIOs. Another 26% from CFOs. The CMO? Nowhere to be found. Yet these are the same boards that say customers are their top stakeholder for AI. Here's why CMOs should run point on AI: They understand customers better than anyone else in the C-suite; they live and die by business outcomes, not technical specifications; and they're already responsible for the customer journey (you know, the thing AI is supposed to improve). Want to know why AI projects fail? Rand says 80% of them do—double the failure rate of regular IT projects. But why? Because tech teams treat them like science experiments instead of business solutions. The solution isn't rocket science: Create an AI task force led by your CMO, with your tech, data, product teams as enablers, not drivers. This model allows the CMO to set the strategic direction, ensure alignment with customer needs, and manage critical issues around bias, privacy, and ethics that can significantly impact brand perception. Meanwhile, tech leaders can focus on enabling the CMO's vision by implementing robust data infrastructure, selecting appropriate tools and platforms, and overseeing day-to-day development and deployment. Think of it as a symphony: Marketing brings the vision, tech brings the execution. Both are essential, but someone has to conduct. Look at where AI is actually making money: personalization, chatbots, dynamic pricing, and churn prediction. Notice something? These are all customer-facing solutions. Your CMO lives and breathes this stuff all day, every day. They are the subject matter expert on your customer. Deploying AI across your company cannot be a closed-door initiative staffed solely by IT teams. It needs to be everywhere—like electricity. And the CMO should be the master electrician, setting the agenda and ensuring AI solves real problems for real customers. For CMOs looking to take on a larger AI remit, here are some key steps: Educate yourself and your team on AI fundamentals and stay current on emerging use cases and best practices. Partner closely with your CTO/CIO to assess your company's data readiness and technical capabilities. Develop a customer-centric AI roadmap that prioritizes high-impact use cases and addresses key ethical and governance considerations. Build a diverse, cross-functional team to execute your strategy, and a robust communication plan to align stakeholders. Establish clear metrics to measure the business impact of your AI initiatives and continuously optimize based on results. Undoubtedly, there will be challenges in shifting to a CMO-led AI model. CTOs may be reluctant to cede control of a major technology initiative. CFOs may question the marketing team's technical chops and ability to deliver ROI. Execution at the pace of modern marketing will require new ways of working for IT departments. But the bottom line is that the companies that let their CMOs drive AI strategy will win. Those that don't? They'll end up left behind or out of business because they optimized for technology instead of people. So, CEOs, as we barrel into 2025, it's time to make a choice. Empower your CMOs to lead your AI efforts, or watch from the sidelines as your more savvy competitors eat your lunch. The clock's ticking, and the future won't wait. Fortune favors the brave, and the brave put customers first.

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Your CMO, Not Your CTO, Should Lead AI Strategy

Fortune favors the brave, and the brave put customers first

Steven Wolfe Pereira

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