I’m writing this week’s newsletter from the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, where Fortune will spend the week covering the forces reshaping how companies connect with consumers.
One thing has become increasingly clear: As AI transforms how consumers discover, evaluate, and buy products, today’s CMOs are emerging as some of the most consequential leaders in the C-suite. Increasingly, they are responsible not just for brand building, but for growth, technology, data, and AI strategy. That places them at the center of one of the biggest business transitions in decades.
It’s also changing who gets considered for the top job. The traditional brand storyteller has rarely been viewed as a natural successor to the chief executive role. As their remit expands, so too does the pool of marketing leaders being considered for CEO positions.
The numbers suggest the shift was already underway before the current AI boom. Executive search firm Spencer Stuart found that while only about 10% of departing Fortune 500 CMOs move directly into CEO roles, roughly 37% of sitting Fortune 500 CEOs have marketing experience somewhere in their careers.
Now AI is raising the stakes. In a new Boston Consulting Group survey published last week, 90% of CMOs said generative AI is already reshaping how consumers discover and evaluate brands, making visibility in AI-powered recommendation and discovery systems a new competitive battleground.
