The CMO's new playbook: Business transformation beyond traditional marketing boundaries

Fresh from the energy and innovation of Cannes Lions 2025, one thing is abundantly clear: the marketing landscape isn't just evolving—it's being reimagined. Cannes, as usual, doesn’t disappoint, and this year was no different. Three pivotal shifts emerged that are worth sharing.

First, generative AI wasn't just a buzzword; it was everything and everywhere. But what struck the most was the maturation of the conversation. Executives were laser-focused on scaling AI initiatives and demonstrating clear ROI. Second, the show of force from big tech and platform companies was impossible to ignore. While their influence isn't new, their dominance and strategic positioning felt more pronounced than ever.

Finally, while media and creativity remain central to the DNA of Cannes, this year's keynotes and panel sessions consistently centered on certain subjects. These subjects included customer experience, influencer ecosystems, data measurement and the rise of industry-specific media networks spanning retail, hospitality, and beyond.

These observations from Cannes perfectly set the stage for what our latest research reveals about the modern CMO's reality. It is a role that has fundamentally shifted from brand stewardship to business transformation.

A new global study by the IBM® Institute for Business Value surveyed 1,800 marketing and sales executives. It revealed that 64% of CMOs are now responsible for profitability, with 58% accountable for revenue growth.

It isn't just expanded responsibility. It's about reimagining how marketing leaders drive business outcomes in an era where most organizations are structurally incapable of delivering the results their boards now demand. Most marketing operating models are not equipped for a world where customer loyalty is measured in micro moments, trust precedes relevance and technology fragmentation cripples AI implementation. They are also not equipped for a world where customer experience requires complete operational alignment.

Today's CMOs must optimize both customer acquisition costs and the total cost of delivering holistic experiences. This expanded accountability requires innovative cross-functional collaboration. Yet only 28% of surveyed organizations report effective end-to-end customer experience ownership across functions. The research shows that fully aligning marketing, sales and operations might unlock a 20% revenue increase—making internal orchestration a critical competitive advantage.

Delivering exceptional end-to-end customer experiences requires more than a sophisticated martech stack. While 81% of surveyed CMOs view AI as a game-changer, 84% report that rigid, fragmented operations limit their ability to harness the technology effectively.

CMOs must ensure that they have an orchestrated and synchronized ecosystem of technology platforms such as Adobe, Salesforce, SAP and Oracle. Yet our study found that only 24% have platforms supporting consistent cross-functional collaboration, and just 44% have integrated systems for demand planning and fulfillment.

The most successful CMOs also recognize that employee experience directly impacts customer experience. With only 23% believing employees are prepared for AI-driven cultural shifts and 67% seeing culture transformation as their responsibility, the internal transformation challenge is substantial.

Perhaps the most transformative force reshaping the customer experience is generative AI. However, it comes with an execution gap as only 17% of surveyed CMOs feel ready to integrate agentic AI into their processes. Furthermore, just 22% of organizations have established AI guardrails for automated decision-making.

Yet with agentic generative AI we can anticipate not only what customers want, but also the purpose of why they are engaging with their brand of choice. Some examples are:

·      Travel: Instead of booking a room in Chicago, AI curates complete itineraries including flights, hotels, transportation and activities based on customer preferences.

·      Retail: Rather than searching for a blue shirt, customers receive curated complete outfits for work events or special occasions.

·      Financial services: Beyond individual product guidance, AI creates personalized financial plans aligned with specific goals and aspirations.

The research makes clear that while CMOs recognize AI's transformative potential, operational hurdles remain. The path forward requires a fundamental shift in how marketing organizations operate. CMOs must simultaneously expand accountability beyond traditional metrics, simplify fragmented technology infrastructure and build AI-empowered teams while maintaining operational excellence.

At IBM, we've collaborated with hundreds of organizations navigating this exact transformation. Our unique combination of deep marketing expertise, enterprise technology integration capabilities and cutting-edge AI innovations helps bridge the strategy-execution gap that's impacting so many marketing organizations today.

The future belongs to CMOs who lead comprehensive transformation from the inside out as well as the outside in. Our research shows that the stakes—and the opportunity—are higher than ever.

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