The role changes, not the task
Rarely has a function been changed by tools as fast as marketing. Content, analysis, campaigns, variants — much of what once took teams and weeks now emerges in hours. From this it is hastily concluded that the role of marketing leadership is shrinking. The opposite is true.
What changes is the activity, not the task. A CMO's task was never to produce content. It was to decide what matters, what the brand stands for, and where resources go. That very task becomes more important in the AI era, because production becomes cheap and direction therefore decides everything.
When production becomes cheap, direction decides everything. And direction can't be automated.
What automation takes over
A lot, and that's good. Research, first drafts, variants, data analysis, reporting, routine communication. Anything with a pattern can be partly or fully automated. A marketing organisation that doesn't use this wastes substance on busywork.
But automation only shifts the bottleneck. When anyone can generate ten good variants in minutes, the scarce resource is no longer creation. It's the decision about which of the ten fits the identity — and which nine to throw away. That decision doesn't get easier with more output; it gets more frequent.
What judgement remains
Three things can't be delegated. First: prioritisation — the decision about what not to do. Second: identity — the question of what the brand stands for and what it doesn't, which every machine presupposes but none answers. Third: the no — the ability to decline attractive options because they don't fit.
These three are not tasks a model performs. They are judgements that presuppose context, a stance and accountability. An AI can play through every option. It cannot decide which option makes the organisation into the one it wants to be. That is leadership, not compute.
An AI can play through every option. It cannot decide which option makes the organisation into the one it wants to be.
Why interim makes sense now
In an upheaval, organisations need exactly the capabilities that are hard to hold permanently: clarity about marketing's new role, the experience to integrate tools sensibly, and the judgement to set direction before structures harden. An interim CMO brings that, focused and for a defined time.
The advantage isn't only speed. It's independence. Someone who isn't fighting for their own position can make the uncomfortable decisions — streamline structures, cut priorities, sharpen identity. In the AI era, where most organisations have to rethink their marketing function, that is often more valuable than a permanent hire who first has to defend themselves.
The tool doesn't replace the judgement
Marketing leadership in the coming years will use the tools as a matter of course — and precisely thereby focus on what only it can do. Direction, identity, prioritisation. Anyone who thinks AI makes the CMO redundant confuses production with leadership. Production is solved. Leadership never is.