Thanks for joining us for the third episode of The Break to Build podcast 🎉 After the first two episodes and the positive feedback we received, I realized we needed to mature the identity of the show in addition to making some improvements to the quality of the audio experience.
I’m really excited to finally get this out in the world, but more importantly, hear from YOU.
✍️ Is this information useful?
🚀Can you leverage it to level up productivity, intelligence, and how you create more meaningful executive relationships?
🙋🏽♀️Yes, or no, I’d love to hear from you. Feel free to send me a DM on LinkedIn.
Let’s dive in.
Who is Kexin Chen?
As Vice President of Executive Marketing, Kexin Chen develops programs that really identify and amplify Salesforce’s customer impact with CXOs in some of the world’s leading enterprises, including the Fortune 500. She is a sought-after expert on topics like executive engagement, integrated marketing, and aligning cross-functional teams. Her ability to understand stakeholder needs has earned her a reputation as someone who can chart sustainable growth trajectories for enterprises today, by creating a strong base of foundational relationships that drive customer insights and need.
You can find her via her LinkedIn.
Who This Conversation Is For
Heads of Marketing and aspiring CMOs
CROs (Chief Revenue Officer)
CIOs
CFOs
VPs of marketing
VPs of sales
Directors of customer experience
Marketing managers
Sales managers
Top Insights
Building and nurturing personal relationships with C-suite executives is as crucial as demonstrating the commercial and strategic value of partnerships.
The role of the modern CMO has significantly expanded, now influencing strategic decision-making and leading comprehensive customer experiences.
Aligning with the CRO, CIO, and CFO is essential to articulate marketing ROI and balance sustainable and efficient growth with technological progress.
Creating a culture of psychological safety, innovation, and calculated risk-taking across marketing teams fosters resilience and adaptability.
A well-structured data strategy is foundational for any successful AI integration within marketing operations, emphasizing trust, accuracy, and sustainability.
What We Cover In This Episode
0:00:03: Building personal relationships and showcasing commercial value as a reliable tactic for sustainable growth
0:04:02: Exploring why more CMOs are transitioning to CEOs and what contributes to this ascension at times.
0:09:46: Using data analytics to drive agile decision-making across the GTM function and then across the entire enterprise.
0:16:14: How marketing and sales leadership can enable sales teams to gain access to CEOs by ‘speaking their language’ in a meaningful, authentic way.
0:21:21: Diving into the top concerns and challenges for CMOs currently integrating AI into their enterprise planning as it relates to privacy, governance and mitigating brand risk.
0:28:13: Acknowledging the sustainability concern of GenAI and its carbon footprint
0:29:10: Identifying the need for continued AI research and understanding how foundational models can both help and disrupt how CXOs are leading today.
0:30:17: Dissecting the importance of a good data strategy that acts as a solid foundation for high-performing marketing teams and their leadership today.
0:31:24: The criticality of creating a unified customer profile and a birds’ eye view of your audience as a CMO in 2024.
0:33:00: Looking towards Q2 as a marker for success and motivation when it comes to your team’s morale and GTM confidence.
What You Can Do With These Insights
Actively become an ally with other CXO roles on your leadership team by creating a unified view of your audience data (customers, partners, employees etc) and distilling those insights in a way that’s relevant to roles like the CFO, CEO and CRO.
Implement a clear plan for onboarding AI enablement in your Marketing/GTM function as a modern-day leader by building a strong, quality, rich data foundation.
Advocate for a culture of agility that’s fostered by psychologically-safe collaboration and leadership.
References/Resources
https://boardroominsiders.com/ - A service/tool leveraged in the past by Kexin’s team to increase resonance and relevance within their ICP connections.
How generative AI model training and deployment affects sustainability - PwC
More about Chae O’Brien
I’m not interested in contributing to the digital noise our feeds get flooded with daily.
If there are topics/trends you’d like me to cover or other areas of these conversations you’d like to dive deeper into, drop me a message via one of the below. I’m a research junkie, and nothing is more fun than finding answers to the doubted or unknown ✌🏼
Website: https://www.chaeobrien.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chaenara/
Email: hello@chaeobrien.com
The Anatomy of the Modern-day CMO