CMO Convo

As marketing teams head into 2026, the pressure is clear: move faster, prove revenue impact, adopt AI without losing what makes marketing work in the first place.In this episode of CMO Convo, CMO Michal Sever shares how she's navigating that tension from the inside. From building AI-powered creative machines to protecting human judgment, creativity, and trust, this conversation goes beyond surface-level AI talk and into real leadership decisions.Key ideas explored:→ Why marketing can’t afford to be treated as a cost center anymore→ How to scale creativity with AI without burning out teams→ The “athlete mindset” for modern marketing leaders→ Where AI genuinely helps — and where human validation is non-negotiable→ Preparing teams, budgets, and strategy for 2026 with clarity, not hype

As marketing teams head into 2026, the pressure is clear: move faster, prove revenue impact, adopt AI without losing what makes marketing work in the first place.In this episode of CMO Convo, CMO Michal Sever shares how she's navigating that tension from the inside. From building AI-powered creative machines to protecting human judgment, creativity, and trust, this conversation goes beyond surface-level AI talk and into real leadership decisions.Key ideas explored:→ Why marketing can’t afford to be treated as a cost center anymore→ How to scale creativity with AI without burning out teams→ The “athlete mindset” for modern marketing leaders→ Where AI genuinely helps — and where human validation is non-negotiable→ Preparing teams, budgets, and strategy for 2026 with clarity, not hype

B2B2C marketing sits in its own strange universe: part enterprise, part consumer, and entirely shaped by gatekeepers, complexity, and wildly diverse end-users. In this conversation, Annie Furlong (VP of Consumer and Growth Marketing) breaks down what makes the model uniquely challenging, especially in healthcare, where literacy, access, and timing fundamentally shape how people engage.Annie shares how she built a niche community for B2B2C marketers, why personalization must scale across wildly different audiences, and how trust becomes the differentiator when your product only matters at a moment of need. She also dives into leadership, vulnerability, and why curiosity is still an underrated competitive advantage.→ How to navigate the “no silver bullet” reality of B2B2C→ Why healthcare marketing requires translation, timing, and empathy→ The critical link between vulnerability, confidence, and leadership→ How to approach AI with skepticism, experimentation, and a beginner’s mindset→ What excites leading marketers heading into 2026

AI avatars are moving fast, faster than regulation, faster than most teams can adapt, and in some cases, faster than human comfort levels. In this conversation, marketing leader Tomer Zuker breaks down what’s actually happening behind the scenes: the real technology, the ethical risks, and why brands are quietly preparing for a hybrid future of humans, agents, and fully conversational avatars.Tomer shares what he’s seeing inside organizations adopting AI today, how synthetic influencers are reshaping audience expectations, and why authenticity now has two different meanings.→ What AI avatars really are (and the two types every marketer should know)→ How conversational avatars change customer experience→ The ethics, risks, and trust dilemmas brands can’t ignore→ When humans vs. avatars vs. AI agents make sense→ Why the future of authenticity is more complex than it looks

When marketing and finance work in silos, growth stalls. But when the CMO and CFO operate as true partners? The business moves faster and decisions get smarter.In this conversation, Audrey Masset (Senior Director of Marketing) and Mark Beakhouse (CFO) at Wegrow share what it really takes to build a high-trust, co-owned relationship between marketing and finance, one that goes beyond budget approvals and into shared growth responsibility.→ Why marketing can no longer be seen as a cost center→ How CMOs earn credibility with CFOs (data, transparency & shared KPIs)→ The systems and dashboards that align sales, finance, and marketing→ Why long-term impact matters just as much as short-term pipeline→ The mindset shift marketing leaders must develop to drive revenueThis episode is essential for CMOs, CFOs, RevOps leaders, and anyone shaping go-to-market strategy inside a scaling business.