{
  "id": 6435409,
  "title": "Don’t believe what you read about the ‘death of the CMO’",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/09/dont-believe-what-you-read-about-the-death-of-the-cmo",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-09-09T14:47:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Fast Company",
    "slug": "fast-company",
    "url": "https://www.fastcompany.com/91587792/dont-believe-what-you-read-about-the-death-of-the-cmo-cmo-death-marketing-advice"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The recent surge of headlines heralding the \"death of the CMO\" is a misinterpretation of marketing trends. While some aspects of marketing are evolving, the role of the Chief Marketing Officer remains crucial. Marketing leaders are not becoming obsolete due to advancements in technology, such as AI. These tools can indeed expedite tasks like generating copy, summarizing research, and automating repetitive work. However, they cannot replace the nuanced judgment required in key areas like understanding customers, identifying market opportunities, and determining strategic investment. The misconception stems from the belief that marketing is merely about execution speed. In reality, great marketing leadership involves making strategic decisions that machines cannot replicate. As AI improves, more companies will produce more marketing, potentially turning content creation into a commodity. However, attention is becoming increasingly scarce, and companies need more than \"good content, faster\" to stand out. The real competitive advantage lies in making better strategic decisions, pinpointing which customers to target, which markets to enter, and how to differentiate a brand. Companies viewing marketing as a cost center may turn to AI to cut headcount, while those viewing it as a growth engine will leverage AI to focus on strategy, creativity, customer understanding, and cross-functional leadership. The best CMOs help define a company's market, build trust, and justify its place over competitors. As markets become noisier and competition intensifies, the role of a CMO will evolve, but the need for experienced leadership will remain. The \"death of the CMO\" is an exaggeration; the future of marketing leadership will involve more strategic influence rather than less.",
  "summary": "Every few weeks there’s another headline declaring the “death of the CMO.” The argument changes slightly each time but it’s basically the same thing, some version of: Companies are flattening leadership, marketing is becoming decentralized, AI can create campaigns faster than people can, or automation will replace marketing. The implication is always the same: The role is becoming obsolete. It’s…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}