Tracking the effectiveness of digital B2B marketing has always been difficult. These aren’t always straightforward customer journeys, since clients may not always purchase directly from you, and vendors and partners might not have systems that can interface with yours—if they share data at all. AI can make it easier to improve this reality, with the ability to connect and analyze data that you do have, and there is a push to create connected data ecosystems that can track everything.I talked to Nichole Gunn, CEO of Extu, which is working on one of these connected platforms, about how B2B marketers can best track down a more complete set of data to determine ROI and fine-tune campaigns. An excerpt from our conversation is later in this newsletter.Until next time.This is the published version of Forbes’ CMO newsletter, which offers the latest news for chief marketing officers and other messaging-focused leaders. Click here to get it delivered to your inbox every Wednesday. Artificial IntelligencegettyAI agents are most definitely not people, but in 2026, you need to acknowledge them. New data from BrightEdge Technologies found AI agents, especially from ChatGPT, are becoming extremely active nowadays. And this makes sense: As people are getting more used to asking AI chatbots for recommendations and advice, more AI agents are scouring the internet for that information. In its new data, BrightEdge found 96% of all live AI agent activity comes from OpenAI.But many companies are stuck in old practices, when increased bot activity on a website came from bad actors trying to slow down a site or steal data—and they got blocked, says BrightEdge CEO Jim Yu. Today, AI agents may be driving the same type of traffic spike that yesterday’s bots did, but they’re also penetrating deeper into your website to answer a potential customer’s question. Letting the agents in can help get customers by surfacing all of the relevant information you have available online in an AI response, he said. Blocking the agents, the same way bots were once blocked, means the information that goes back to that potential customer is greatly limited. When agents are blocked, they aren’t able to access information on your website and will just move on.“It will still reference things, like if it saw a review. ... They’ll still put mentions and citations and things like that, but it won’t have all the latest information,” Yu told me. “It’s a lost opportunity for you in real time.”How can brands respect the agents? After revamping bot-blocking strategies with the tech team, Yu recommends redesigning sites with an eye on potential tokens for AI agents to grab. Easy-to-access and straightforward information about products that can be found efficiently will help with AI agents. And while page design should be engaging for human users, Yu said, this information doesn’t need to be: AI agents don’t care about design or interactivity.Now TrendingFIFA World Cup action is in full swing and captivating sports fans around the world. And so far, one of the biggest controversies among viewers (other than Pope Leo XIV referring to the sport on X as “soccer”) surrounds the new mandatory hydration breaks. These breaks, mandated by FIFA ostensibly for player health and well-being, stop game action for three minutes midway through each half so players can rehydrate. Some players and enthusiasts say these breaks interrupt the momentum of games, and they’re critical of broadcasters using them as an opportunity to sell advertising. Forbes senior contributor Joshua P. Cohen notes Fox has been cutting to full-screen commercials, while Telemundo has not. Some European broadcasters are running advertisements in the breaks, while others are not.It’s been an open question whether the World Cup would be a viewership or tourism win for the U.S., which is co-hosting this year’s tournament with Canada and Mexico. While soccer is the No. 1 sport worldwide, its U.S. popularity lags behind the sport we call football and basketball. So far, viewership is smashing records. Last week’s opening match between Mexico and South Africa on Fox Sports had an average of 6.3 million U.S. viewers and peaked at more than 8 million, the most ever for a first-round match without the U.S. team, writes Forbes senior contributor Maury Brown. And as the games continue, some in the tourism industry may find themselves rooting for Europe’s teams. International tourism has been down since President Donald Trump took office, and European visitors fell 7% last month, writes Forbes’ Suzanne Rowan Kelleher. European tourists tend to stay longer and spend more, and can be more impulsive due to fewer visa-related rules. Travelers from seven of the top 10 FIFA-ranked nations can make short U.S. trips without additional visas, and enthusiastic fans are known for spending money on the experience. What remains to be seen, however, is whether the Trump administration will adopt a more welcoming demeanor for international fans—at least during the World Cup. On MessageHow AI Can Help Tell The Full Story Of B2B MarketingExtu CEO Nichole Gunn.ExtuTraditional digital marketing measurement has been better suited for B2C marketing because of the more linear consumer journey and simpler data tracking. Nichole Gunn, CEO of B2B marketing platform Extu, talked to me about how AI is reshaping the customer journey and allowing more opportunities for data collection. This conversation has been edited for length, clarity and continuity.AI has brought massive changes to the customer journey in the last couple years. How is the B2B customer journey changing, and where do you see marketing and data going with that change?Gunn: Historically, marketers had visibility into buyer journeys because customers moved through relatively predictable digital paths. We had search, website visits, content downloads, email and demo requests. Buyers are now gathering information through AI-generated summaries, recommendation engines, conversational interfaces. AI is forcing marketing to become more ecosystem-centric and intelligence-driven. Behavioral patterns matter more than isolated clicks now. Studying where they’re going and ecosystem influence matters more than single touchpoints. Predictive intelligence matters more than historical reporting. We’re not looking back anymore, we’re looking forward. Partner behavior becomes a critical sign. How are they behaving with anything from an email to your online advertising and marketing? Incentive engagement becomes a measurable indicator of future performance. I was speaking with [an analyst] and she’d said for the first time ever, they did one of their studies and co-branded marketing wasn’t the No. 1 demand of partners. It was being awarded for their loyalty to their manufacturers. Knowing that, incentive engagement becomes a measurable indicator, and it’s going to impact in a lot of ways.Since B2B marketing data has historically been so fragmented, how well informed were the decisions companies made?We have been making decisions based on partial data. If we saw someone convert on a webpage, that’s first-party attribution. But if they’re actually buying something from my dealer or distributor, I can’t see that anymore. So how [did we figure that out?] Taking the data that you have historically, and then trying to integrate all these other systems to pull reports. What was always interesting: I would come in with a data set, the sales team would come in with a data set, the product team would come in with a data set, and the CFO would come in with a data set. None of our data aligned. It was [the same] when we would meet with some of our clients—and these are some of the biggest companies in the world. It didn’t matter. From small businesses all the way up to these Fortune 500 companies, it was the same thing. Where is the data? In different ecosystems, different platforms. What are they acting on? The only thing they have in front of them. With AI now, you can crawl all this data and the AI tool will take the decision making off your hands. You can unify everyone from the C-suite to the VPs all the way down to individual contributors to say: Here are the engagement activities that happened, here’s how it influenced sales, here’s what your dealer distributors bought—all the way down to the consumer. When you start to look at that buyer’s journey collectively, it’s going to get into some really good predictions so that marketers, sales leaders, et cetera, can make the right decisions moving forward.What advice would you give B2B marketers to get the data they need to show the effectiveness of their work?Stop measuring channels. Channel is not an ecosystem strategy, it’s a direct response strategy. Instead, start auditing ecosystem fragmentation. Don’t underestimate how many disconnected systems you have, what you’re spending on all those disconnected systems, and how that’s influencing visibility, reporting, ROI and measurable results. Sit down and look at it across your org as best you can. Work with the right people, get that done. Macro data matching across marketing cells and finance and partner systems. If you can map that out and find a system that pulls it all together for you, you can start to unify that data. It’s time that manufacturers and OEMs get smart and allow partners to not only have their own site, but also ecosystems where they can manage their programs and collect data for themselves. The more they can see, the better they’re going to do for you. You want your partners to have full visibility across intent data. That way, they can make the best buying decisions because that influences all the way up.Comings + GoingsConsumer credit reporting agency TransUnion appointed Clayton Ruebensaal as its chief marketing and communications officer, effective June 15. Ruebensaal steps into the newly created role from Comcast, where he oversaw marketing, brand, media, and performance marketing for the consumer business.Healthcare talent solutions provider AMN Healthcare selected Kristy Willis to be its new chief commercial officer, effective June 15. Willis joins the firm after working as president of workforce solutions business PeopleReady. Uniform and workplace supplier Vestis tapped Steve Cochran as its new executive vice president, chief commercial and supply chain officer. Cochran previously worked for TSC Miami / Monster Digital as chief executive officer and a member of the board of directors.Strategies + AdviceHow can you attract Gen Z? With physical media. Today’s young people like the sense of ownership and autonomy of the non-digitized world, going back to the future with print magazines, DVDs and flip phones. When putting together panels or slates of speakers, it’s important to intentionally find the right group of people. And while it’s always good to feature people with different genders and racial backgrounds, a new study found attendees don’t always notice their absence—so your intention is crucial.QuizLast week, two film and theatrical production workers unions issued a strongly worded statement opposing which legendary Hollywood director for backing a company that uses AI technology for preproduction work?A. Martin ScorseseB. Christopher NolanC. Quentin TarantinoD. Spike LeeSee if you got it right here.