The Evolving CMO Role: Decades of Change in the Last Six Years

The role of the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) has evolved significantly over the last several years, reflecting broader shifts in technology, buyer behavior, and business priorities.

Here’s a breakdown of some of the key differences between CMO job descriptions from 2019 and those in 2025 and what these changes tell us:

Shift Toward Results-Driven Focus: My review of job postings from 2019 compared to those from 2025 shows a strong shift from CMOs being brand stewards, focused on storytelling, brand equity, and traditional marketing channels to becoming results driven.

In 2025, the postings reflect a strong emphasis on revenue generation, customer lifetime value, and performance marketing—in effect CMOs are expected to be growth officers. The shift from brand to demand and then to growth is easy to see.

Emphasis on AI & Technology: The rapid evolution of technology and use of AI is also playing a significant role in changing expectations of the CMO. In 2019, digital transformation was already underway with leaders expected to integrate and consolidate their tech stack and provide analytics and advanced reporting. People management was mentioned more often and listed as a higher priority as well. In 2020, we began to see mentions of video technology as adaptations to Covid began to change the business landscape.

In 2025, CMOs are expected to be fluent in digital marketing, automation, and data science, while also being on the forefront of AI. There are expectations of using AI to drive personalization, efficiency and automation, leverage predictive analytics for improved decision-making and planning, and optimize the tech stack.

Need to Own Data-Driven Decisions: There has been a shift in expectations around data and decision-making as well. Data was very important in 2019, but often referenced or used for reporting, rarely “real-time decision making” or in context of a “data strategy.”

Today’s postings reflect a need for the CMO to own the customer data strategy, integrate insights across department—from product development to customer support/success—and use that data to drive “agile marketing” and real-time optimization and reporting. Many companies have moved from monthly or quarterly updates to daily reporting. In some cases, real-time dashboards are expected to manage execution based on the data at hand.

Knowledge of Customer Journey: While the focus on customer acquisition was strong in 2019, it was balanced with brand awareness with customer retention and loyalty a nice to have. It should be noted that roles with subscription-based models often had a strong retention and loyalty component, but other types of companies most often mentioned it as experience or expertise that was “nice to have.”

Today, CMOs are expected to be deeply involved in all aspects of the customer journey and life cycle. They are measured on customer retention and loyalty metrics and lifetime value. More and more often CMOs are owning or co-owning the customer experience (CX) and are responsible for orchestrating the strategies and tactics that lead to customer satisfaction and engagement.

Change in Leadership Expectations and Roles: Some of the biggest shifts are in the skills and leadership expectations. Creativity, communications, and campaign management skills were at the top in 2019.

In 2025, CMOs must be able to lead in hybrid environments, have strong analytical AND creative skills, be technologically savvy (AI and CRM expertise), and experience in cross-functional collaboration. The CMO job description of today reads more like the general manager or, often, the COO role of 2019.

Today, we sometimes see the CMO role actually disappear. It is being replaced with roles such as Chief Growth Officer, Chief Experience Officer, or Chief Customer Officer. There also appears to be more focus on Chief Revenue Officers having marketing skills and experience, where in 2019, they were more sales oriented.

Summary: While the rapid evolution of technology, shift to hybrid work environments, and changing customer behaviors have changed every C-Suite role in the last six years, few have had as significant changes as the role of the CMO.

The CMO role has never been more demanding, balancing data, creativity, tech, and growth. To stay resilient, today’s CMOs must build strong cross-functional teams, prioritize ruthlessly around business outcomes, and embrace AI to work smarter. Leadership today isn’t about doing it all—it’s about doing what matters most, with clarity and support.