Home > CMO

 And it's accelerating.

"Over the next two years, the role of the Chief Marketing Officer will change more than it has in the past decade. Marketing leadership is moving from communications stewardship to enterprise orchestration."
Bronwyn Heys, CEO of the Australian Marketing Institute, January 2026
 "The role of the CMO today: Enterprise Orchestration".

You're being asked to 'rebuild the marketing engine while driving at full speed' as Bronwyn puts it.

The new reality:

CMOs must now orchestrate AI, data, and experience across the enterprise - not just run campaigns.

You're expected to:

Integrate AI without creating fragmentation or governance gaps
Connect marketing data across product, finance, operations, and customer experience
Deliver commercial impact (revenue, margin, LTV) not just activity metrics
Balance short-term performance with long-term brand building and equity
Collaborate horizontally with CFO/CTO/COO with strategic certainty

"CMOs who speak in activity metrics lose influence. Those who connect brand, demand, and capability to revenue and margin gain it."
As Bronwyn put it.

But most marketing teams have:

• AI bolted on without systems thinking - automating execution but creating new failure demand
• Data siloed across functions - can't drive strategic decisions because information is fragmented
• Customer ownership fragmented - no end-to-end view because marketing, product, service, and sales operate independently
• Activity metrics, not outcome metrics - lose board influence because can't connect marketing investment to business results

You need integrated architecture, a shaper sytem design - not more disconnected tools.
And you can't hire a "Head of Marketing Operations" for $280k when budgets are under pressure.

What I Do
I architect the marketing operations system that integrates AI, data, and experience into commercial impact.

• Not a marketing automation consultant.
• Not an agency delivering campaigns.
• Not a fractional CMO doing your job.
• Not another vendor promising a silver bullet

Marketing Operations Architecture - the system design that turns CMO mandate into executable capability.
One that lifts operational efficiency and doesn't burn out your team.

This Isn't For Everyone.
You need this if:

• Board is asking for commercial impact, not campaign reports
• AI investments haven't delivered expected productivity gains
• Customer experience is fragmented across marketing/product/service touchpoints
• You're spending on duplicate tools and disconnected vendors
• CFO/CTO relationships are transactional, not strategic

You don't need this if:

• Board are happy with revenue
• Campaign execution is the primary mandate
• No pressure to demonstrate ROI and commercial outcomes
• You're content with existing metrics and don't need board influence
  
  Start With a 3-Week Diagnostic
  Marketing Operations Architecture Audit: $15-20k

Deliverable: Clear roadmap showing where AI fits, where integration is broken, and what the commercial opportunity is.

If it doesn't deliver actionable clarity and ROI justification, you don't pay full fee.

[Book diagnostic]

________________________________

Dan Bradley MAICD  |  Fractional Strategic Design Director |  Perth / Melbourne / Sydney
0425 401 034 | hello@xen.global | LinkedIn

________________________________

We acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the lands on which we work across Australia: the Whadjuk people of the Noongar Nation in Boorloo, the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung and Bunurong Boon Wurrung peoples of the Eastern Kulin Nation in Naarm - and the Gadigal of the Eora Nation in Warrang. We pay our respects to their Elders past, present and emerging. Sovereignty was never ceded.