CMOs are staying in their roles longer, thanks to AI

By Taylor Fielding, CEO, TFM 

A marketer’s tenure resting on their deployment of technology isn’t new. Two decades ago, it was ‘how can we capitalise’ from the online boom. Then it became translating any successes to mobile. Next the era of personalisation and adtech stacks. It won’t surprise anyone to hear that over the past 3-4 years it’s AI.

However this time, marketers arrive armed with evidence of how their efforts are impacting the bottom line. A compelling boardroom narrative.

CMOs have always been best positioned to understand their customer, and now ultimately the direction the business needs to head to improve their relevancy in the minds’ of their buyers.

It’s also the reason that record marketers are graduating into CEO and other C-suite roles. They’ve become the most au fait with the technology that can enhance a company’s fortunes.

The knowledge to see it through

Over the past five years, since Covid, CMO tenure at Fortune 500 companies rose from 3.5, to reportedly now 4.2 years in 25/26. This is the fastest growth across the C-suite.

And from speaking to marketers in Australia it’s helping to implement these internal projects that is keeping them locked in for longer. When speaking about his approach to the technology, James Holloman, David Jones CMO commented: “There is the temptation for marketers to jump on the next big craze that promises a catch-all solution. But in my experience, business leaders should prioritise a clearly defined strategy and look at how planning is driving long-term growth. It’s about delivering business outcomes, no matter the technology solution, AI or the next one. So if it helps us reach or measure against those outcomes, it will be valuable, but it needs to be tailored to how your organisation already works.” Holloman has been in his role at the 108 year-old brand, for more than five years.

Look at the majority of CMOs winning awards and you’ll find the most successful have enjoyed a longer than average tenure.

It’s the understanding of the business and its processes, its systems, though that really gives experienced workers an advantage with application of new tech. So instead of replacing more senior team members, it’s those with battle scars of legacy systems that can know how, where and more importantly if new automation should be ushered in.

Talking numbers

Another reason the numbers are trending upwards for CMOs is the ability to better prove ROI on campaigns. Marketing can now speak the language of finance, in real-time, which is an improvement given CFOs outlast CMOs, averaging just under 6 years in the role.

AI-driven attribution and Mixed Marketing Model (MMM) tools that power predictive analysis have become more accurate than humans alone.

It’s in the data. And those that are able to tap into this in a meaningful way, are staying longer in their roles to create more compelling achievements for their personal CV.

Moving on up

Almost one in 10 Fortune 500 CMOs are leaving their roles to become CEOs. That is an impressive number. 65% moved to equal or larger roles. Marketers understand customers, and can guide on the direction to better focus on their needs.

In fact 37% of Fortune 500 CEOs have marketing experience in their career history.

Some examples in Australia of this trend include former Toyota CMO, John Pappas moving to CEO at Lexus, as well as Stephanie Tully transferring from Chief Customer Officer with Qantas, to CEO at Jetstar. A few years earlier Samantha Bragg went from Marketing Director to CEO at Oporto.

Marketing offers the grounding in a brand and understanding the customer, increasingly the fiscal responsibility within an organisation.

Double edged tech

There are two sides of the same algorithmic coin that are exaggerating the impact of AI at the top and bottom ends of marketing careers.

Indeed entry-level job postings are down 29% according to Fifth Quadrant. In digital advertising those junior roles represent just 1% of those available according to IAB latest stats. Juniorisation has become a theme within the industry, with tasks previously carried out by new entrants to the industry now replicable by AI. Leading to a dearth in middle and senior management down the line. The industry risks hollowing itself if we continue on this trend.

Execution tasks are being handled increasingly by AI, resulting in fewer junior roles. While more senior marketers are seeing their experience valued greatly by their organisations, especially where there are automation mandates from above. The knowledge of what has AND importantly hasn’t worked previously can now guide where automation can improve systems and processes within a brand.

Uncertain future

AI is impacting the marketing industry, even if the case studies aren’t as bountiful as we may have expected 3-4 years ago. The changes are real and happening now. We need to ensure we’re planning for the future of how humans continue to make the meaningful decisions within our organisations.

And marketers are delivering those results now, even if not all of them are public facing, with AI now delivering the attribution for marketers in the boardroom. Expect more senior/CEO hires from the 2026 CMO cohort, over the next 12 months.

To hear more discussion from TFM around AI in marketing, listen to That F*cking Marketing Podcast