Kieran’s Substack - The AI Marketing Generalist · Kieran Flanagan
articleplaybookThe CMO Role Is Dying. Here's Why I Think That's Temporary.
4 September 2026Growth
Source excerpt
About Kieran’s Substack - The AI Marketing GeneralistWhy the CMO role is under attack in B2B, and what I’d tell a founder who is about to stop hiring for one.
This is a limited feed-provided excerpt, not the full original work.
Apollo layer
What a founder can learn
Founder takeaway
Don’t abandon the CMO role because it is currently under pressure. First determine whether your company no longer needs senior marketing leadership or whether the mandate, capabilities, and accountability of that leader need to change.
Why it matters
Removing the role without clarifying who owns positioning, demand creation, and marketing decisions can leave a strategic gap. Redesigning the mandate before hiring—or deciding not to hire—helps match leadership to the company’s actual needs.
Put it to work
Before changing your hiring plan, ask: Which outcomes must a marketing executive own over the next 12 months, what capabilities do those outcomes require, and could another role credibly own them?