Why CMOs, Not CTOs, Should Lead Their Companies’ AI Strategy

Two years after the launch of ChatGPT, the business world is finally wake up. This isn’t just another tech trend that VCs are throwing money at while screaming “disruption” — one that may be gone in another year. AI it is the new electricity. It will impact everything.

Companies are groping in the dark, trying to figure out how to “AI” their business. So, who should lead their AI transformation? The default answer is: “Let’s give it to the CTO – they talk technology.” Makes sense, right? Wrong.

IDC says global spending on AI will reach $749 billion by 2028. That’s more than Sweden’s GDP. The stakes are massive. But here’s where most companies make a big mistake: they think AI is a technology problem. It is not. It’s a customer problem.

I have worked in technology, data and AI since the late 1990s when I started at Akamai Technologies, one of the early pioneers in machine learning and AI. Trust me when I say: AI is not just another CRM, ERP, or enterprise software package that you can throw at your CTO and say “make it work.” This is the intelligence that will fundamentally reshape how your company serves everyone it cares about, especially your customers.

So, who should lead your AI transformation? Your marketing manager.

I’m sure CEOs and boards will say, “Are you kidding me?” I understand. A Deloitte study shows that 69% of boards get their AI updates from the CTO or CIO. Another 26% from CFO. The CMO? Nothing to be found. Yet these are the same boards that say customers are their main stakeholders for AI.

Here’s why CMOs should run the point on AI: They understand customers better than anyone in the C-suite; they live and die by business results, not technical specifications; and they are already responsible for the customer journey (you know, the thing AI is supposed to improve).

Want to know why AI projects fail? Rand says 80% of them do-double the failure rate of regular IT projects. But why? Because technology teams treat them like science experiments instead of business solutions.