In this episode of CMOs Unscripted, host Lisa Martin talks with Brenda Bown, CMO of SAP Business AI, to explore one of the biggest challenges facing enterprise leaders today: turning AI experimentation into measurable business value.

Brenda shares a grounded, customer-first perspective on why so many organizations struggle to scale AI initiatives, and what CMOs can do to move beyond pilots and proofs of concept. The conversation explores how data foundations, business-process alignment, and trust are essential to achieving real ROI from AI investments.

Key topics include:

• Why AI success starts with customer problems, not technology features

• How companies get stuck in pilot mode, and how to break out of it

• The role of data harmonization and process optimization in AI ROI

• Why marketing AI is fundamentally about outcomes, not hype

• How SAP approaches AI as a trusted business transformation partner

• The importance of transparency, trust, and responsible AI adoption

• What CMOs should ask vendors to pressure-test AI claims

• How AI is reshaping marketing careers and future job opportunities

• Common AI myths, and why AI is not a “magic switch”

• Why imagination, learning, and adaptability are the new CMO essentials

This episode offers practical guidance for CMOs, senior marketers, and enterprise leaders navigating AI-driven transformation, with an emphasis on value, trust, and long-term impact.

If you’re a CMO, CRO, or senior marketer navigating AI disruption (or aspiring), this episode offers a practical, grounded roadmap for leading through change instead of reacting to it. Watch now on YouTube and subscribe for biweekly conversations with top industry leaders.

In this episode of CMOs Unscripted, host Lisa Martin sits down with Kipp Bodnar, Chief Marketing Officer of HubSpot, to unpack how AI is fundamentally reshaping modern marketing.

Kipp has helped build the modern marketing playbook—from the rise of inbound marketing to the MarTech explosion, to the emergence of RevOps, and now the AI-driven era that’s breaking long-standing KPIs and attribution models. In this candid conversation, Kipp explains why traditional top-of-funnel metrics no longer tell the full story, how conversion quality now outweighs raw traffic, and why CMOs must rethink how success is measured in an AI-first world.

Their discussion dives deep into:

• Why AI has “broken” marketing metrics that marketers relied on for years

• How personalization at scale is changing funnel shape and performance

• The growing importance of Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) across tools like ChatGPT and Claude

• Why attribution is becoming more like brand measurement than direct response

• How AI is enabling smaller, faster, agent-powered marketing teams

Kipp also introduces The LOOP Framework—his four-stage AI adoption model designed to help marketing teams adapt and thrive:

• Learn: Accelerate market and customer understanding using AI-powered research

• Operate: Build workflows that blend human insight with AI execution

• Optimize: Improve conversion rates through contextual personalization

• Progress: Scale impact with agents, assistants, and iterative learning

The episode wraps with a lightning round covering marketing myths, underrated AI use cases CMOs should prioritize now, and which MarTech tools are becoming obsolete in an AI-native stack.

If you’re a CMO or senior marketer navigating AI disruption (or aspiring), this episode offers a practical, grounded roadmap for leading through change instead of reacting to it. Watch now on YouTube and subscribe for biweekly conversations with top industry leaders.

What does it really take to create and own a category—especially when you’re competing against tech giants with 1,000x your resources?

In this episode of CMOs Unscripted, host Lisa Martin talks with five-time CMO Jason McClelland to unpack the art and science of category creation, modern repositioning, and why technical storytelling may be the most underrated superpower in B2B marketing.

From helping transform companies like Adobe and Heroku to leading DataStax through its evolution into an enterprise AI platform (and eventual acquisition by IBM), Jason shares hard-earned lessons on alignment, confidence, and navigating orchestrated chaos at scale.

The conversation also dives deep into how AI is reshaping marketing in real time—from LLM optimization and AI-driven research to the growing need for marketers who can lead through ambiguity, not just execute playbooks. Jason makes the case that while AI accelerates execution, human storytelling, emotional resonance, and C-suite trust remain irreplaceable.

If you’re a CMO, VP of Marketing, or senior leader trying to differentiate in an AI-saturated market, this episode is a premium workshop in staying relevant, fast, and credible.

Key Topics:

• Why category creation is essential for mid-market and challenger brands
  

• Lessons from Adobe’s Creative Cloud transformation (and why it was messier than it looked)
  

• How to align product, sales, and the C-suite around a single positioning narrative
  

• Why confidence—not consensus—is often the missing ingredient in category leadership
  

• How AI is accelerating marketing workflows (without eliminating the need for humans)
  

• LLM optimization, GEO, and why “Google isn’t the front door anymore”
  

• The danger of AI-generated sameness, and how storytelling prevents commoditization
  

• Why CMOs must build credible relationships with peers to succeed
  

• The underrated leadership skill most CMOs overlook
  

• Why this moment is a career-resetting opportunity, not a threat

As AI continues to accelerate the pace of change, this conversation is a powerful reminder that while tools, platforms, and tactics will evolve, the fundamentals of great marketing endure. Category creation still demands clarity, conviction, and alignment. Storytelling still shapes perception and builds trust. And leadership still requires the courage to move forward without a perfect playbook. Jason’s insights make one thing clear: the marketers who will thrive in this next era aren’t the ones chasing every new buzzword—they’re the ones who can combine technical fluency with human understanding and confidently lead their organizations through uncertainty.

No matter where you are in your marketing journey, this episode delivers valuable insights and real-world strategies you can put into action. Don’t miss out, watch now on YouTube and subscribe for biweekly conversations with top industry leaders.

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