According to leading researchers at the advisory firm at Gartner, there are three critical action items for CMOs to undertake going into next year in the midst of emerging technologies, enterprise evolution, and cross-functional collaboration.

“CMOs’ talent plans are at a crossroads; they must look to adapt and realign roles, or risk teams becoming obsolete,” said Ewan McIntyre, chief of research and VP analyst at Gartner.

The first priority is to build AI-enabled marketing teams. With tech like GenAI on the horizon, CMOs must equip their teams with the necessary tools to leverage these innovations effectively.

The Gartner survey shows that only 8% of cross-functional leaders indicate no plans to use GenAI, while 73% are currently piloting or using it. 

Next, the report says that CMOs should recast marketing’s value within an evolving enterprise. According to Gartner, over 40% of non-marketing collaborators feel marketing engages where its presence is unnecessary. 

“CMOs must leverage their skills to communicate a vision of the power of customer engagement strategies to support long-term growth,” said McIntyre.

This includes building business-wide alignment on new customer growth strategies, connecting marketing to enterprise strategy, demonstrating critical-project impact, and empowering others to understand their role in delivering customer impact.

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Finally the report shows that CMOs should orchestrate profitable growth across functions. Cross-functional complexity often hinders growth opportunities, according to the report. The report stresses the need for teams to make decisions with guidance from senior executives, rather than control, which it says will lead to better business outcomes. 

High collaboration drag on digital growth initiatives is experienced by 79% of cross-functional leaders, making them 37% less likely to exceed revenue and profitability objectives compared to their low collaboration drag counterparts.

“Our survey data shows that progress on this journey won’t necessarily be stymied by technology, but by people getting in their own way. What’s required is a new form of collaboration that cascades productively across teams,” concluded Sharon Cantor Ceurvorst, vice president, research in the Gartner marketing practice.