Author: Melissa Caffrey

Adopting AI isn’t about tools. It’s about trust, training, and transformation. And yes, about CMO’s getting their hands on the keyboard. 

In this Huddles Quick Take, GenAI consultants Tahnee Perry and Liza Adams break down the most common mistakes CMOs make when rolling out GenAI—from skipping change management to misunderstanding what “hands-on” really means for leaders. 

They also share practical use cases (like reducing a six-week video workflow to two) and explain why a great AI strategy is rooted in empathy, context, and curiosity—not just efficiency. 

What You’ll Learn: 

• Why productivity gains mean nothing without training and team buy-in 

• The difference between thought partnership and bad prompting 

• What to measure when making the case for GenAI investment

Join us 

Get more insights like these by joining our free Starter program at cmohuddles.com.

Watch the rest: Bonus Huddle: The AI-Powered Marketing Team  

Most marketers still treat all customers like they’re created equal. Spoiler: they’re not. Some will buy once and vanish, others will stick with you for years and fuel your growth. The challenge and opportunity is learning to tell the difference, predicting their future value, and acting accordingly.

That’s where Wharton professor and The Customer Centricity Playbook co-author Peter Fader comes in. He shows why real growth starts with admitting that not every customer is equally valuable, then using lifetime value as the north star for smarter acquisition, retention, and development moves. Forget chasing volume or squeezing acquisition costs. Peter makes the case for putting your chips on the customers who matter most and letting their behaviors guide your strategy.

In this episode: 

• Why chasing “average” customer value hides real growth 

• How lifetime value sharpens acquisition, retention, and upsell 

• The blind spots of treating CPA as a north star 

Plus: 

• What B2B and B2C leaders can borrow from each other’s strengths 

• How sticky offerings reveal your best customers 

• Why performance metrics must connect to customer value 

• How customer-based valuation is “reshaping how finance values companies 

If you want to see how lifetime value separates your best customers from the rest and why that changes everything, this one’s for you. 

Every product launch is a countdown to liftoff. High stakes. High visibility. High chance of failure if systems aren’t in sync. Misaligned messaging, unready sellers, vaporware promises. There are endless ways to completely blow it.

In this episode, Melanie Marcus (Surescripts), Kevin Brooks (Surescripts), and John Hale (Consilio) join Drew to dig into what it takes to pull off a successful launch. They explain why alignment cannot be assumed, how preparation has to be disciplined and ongoing, and why CMOs need to surface tough truths before the market does. Marketing may set the pace, but lasting success only happens when the entire company rallies behind the story and delivers it together.

In this episode: 

• Melanie shares how to stretch a brand into new markets without losing credibility 

• Kevin explains the launch-tiering framework that keeps efforts focused and sales-ready 

• John reveals why the secret weapon is “ours, not mine” and how humble listening drives alignment 

Plus: 

• How to avoid the vaporware trap that kills trust fast 

• Why one sharp value prop beats a laundry list of features 

• What leading indicators to track before revenue shows up 

• Where the real magic happens once a launch hits the market floor

If you want to hear how CMOs line up a launch and deliver when it matters most, this one’s for you. 

Think your tech stack is working for you? Think again. 

After analyzing 100 stacks from the CMO Huddles community, Ryan Koonce of Growth Bench exposes what’s broken, what’s bloated, and what to do instead. From misfiring attribution models to misused tools like Google Analytics and Salesforce, this episode offers a fast, practical reset for any CMO serious about smarter growth. 

What You’ll Learn: 

• Why Salesforce isn’t always the answer 

• The fatal flaw in Google Analytics you can’t ignore 

• The real reason attribution is still a mess 

• What “great” data access looks like for marketing teams 

For the rest of the conversation, visit our YouTube channel (CMO Huddles Hub) or click here: [https://youtu.be/wRWHIrzsD68]. Get more insights like these by joining our free Starter program at cmohuddles.com. 

There is no pause button on AI. Every day brings a fresh flood of tools, demos, predictions, and pressure to keep up. But what’s actually changing inside B2B marketing departments? What’s working, what’s still hype, and where should CMOs focus? 

In this episode, Kevin Ruane (Precisely), Gary Sevounts (Simpplr), and Jeff Morgan (Elements) join Drew to wrestle with how AI is being tested, contained, and scaled inside their teams. They push on when an experiment becomes a mandate, how to keep stacks from turning into a pile of disconnected tools, and why clean data is the deciding factor. The message is clear: AI will not rescue weak strategy. But in the hands of disciplined marketers who are willing to rethink the rules, it changes how marketing runs.

In this episode: 

• Kevin shares how an AI council and internal champions drive adoption across teams 

• Gary explains AI as the pipeline’s central nervous system that tracks stage flow and triggers timely action 

• Jeff breaks down SPARK, a Claude prompt framework that defines role, workflow, brand voice, rules, and KPIs 

Plus: 

• How to set AI goals and metrics your CEO will back 

• Why data readiness is the first step to any AI win 

• What skills and roles a marketing team needs to run AI safely 

• When to graduate a pilot into a standard workflow

If you want to hear how CMOs are experimenting with AI and resetting the rules of engagement, this one’s for you! 

Most B2B CEOs never spent time in marketing. Fewer than one in five ever held the title. Which explains a lot. From undervalued budgets to misaligned expectations, marketing often gets boxed in as a support function instead of the growth driver it is. If marketing is going to lead, CEOs need to understand what it can really do and what to look for in a CMO who’s built to deliver.

To set the record straight, Drew taps three marketing leaders, Rebecca Stone (Cisco), Grant Johnson (Chief Outsiders), and Jan Deahl (Drake Star), to reframe how CEOs see marketing. It is a strategic engine built to shape markets, guide buyers, and drive growth. Together, they make the case for what’s possible when CMOs are empowered to lead. 

In this episode: 

• Rebecca on why CMOs need to think and act like a CEO 

• Grant on how mismatched expectations set CMOs up to fail 

• Jan on aligning marketing’s role to company stage and goals

Plus: 

• The key questions every CEO should ask their CMO 

• What to fix when marketing is stuck in order-taking mode 

• How smart onboarding sets CMOs up to lead 

• Why growth depends on more than just demand gen

Tune in for signals that shift how your CEO sees marketing.