Beyond the buzz: how CMOs can lead enterprises out of the AI stalemate

By Mofeoluwa Awe

Everyone expected the corporate AI gold rush to transform everything. Boardrooms were buzzing with buzzwords like “predictive analytics,” “hyper-personalisation,” and “automated creativity.” However, after the first push, many businesses have now stalled. AI pilots have stalled. Promised returns are ambiguous. Despite the hoopla, AI hasn’t significantly changed the consumer experience for many firms.

This is the AI rut: the gap between exploration and significant, widespread adoption. So, who is best positioned to pull organisations out of it? The answer might be the Chief Marketing Officer.

Why CMOs Hold the Key

In contrast to expert leaders, chief marketing officers (CMOs) live where customer standards, business goals, and brand promise all meet. Because of this special position, they can carefully look at AI choices with a simple but important filter: Does this help the customer and grow the business?

Others see AI as a set of tools, but CMOs can see it as a way to improve the customer experience. This way, they can make sure that technology choices are based on what’s useful, not what’s new.

From Pilots to Purpose

Some companies get stuck in AI limbo because they start their projects with the technology and not the problem. To fix this, CMOs can define measurable customer outcomes before approving AI investment. They can also prioritise AI projects that improve brand trust, speed, and personalisation. Finally, they can use AI to unlock continuous learning loops, where each campaign makes the one before it better.

This way of thinking changes from “Let’s try AI” to “Here’s how AI will help us reduce churn by 15% or increase conversion by 10%.”

Bridging the Skills & Culture Gap

Even the smartest AI tools won’t work if the company lacks the readiness to use them. When it comes to cultural adoption, CMOs can:

Get marketing teams better at working with AI instead of being afraid of it.
Get people to try new things without punishing smart mistakes.
Break down walls so that AI insights can move from marketing to sales, customer service, and product teams.

Beyond the Metrics: Protecting the Brand

In the rush for AI, speed can be more important than duty. CMOs are very important for setting ethical standards and ensuring that their AI-powered marketing stays on-brand, unbiased, and emotionally intelligent. Careless technology is a quick way to hurt your image in a trust market.

The Leadership Imperative

If CMOs step up, the story will change from “AI is stuck” to “AI is scaling value.” The business can get out of a rut and into a phase where AI drives growth by basing AI on human needs, measuring its effects all the time, and encouraging an open-minded culture.

The hype around AI will wear off, but the next era of competitive edge will belong to the leaders who can turn noise into progress. This isn’t a technical problem for CMOs. This is a time for leadership.