Brands in the Fast Lane: Redefining Growth in the AI-Powered Marketing Era
Speakers
Will Lee is the CEO of ADWEEK, the leading media brand and platform serving the marketing and advertising industry. Prior to ADWEEK, Will served as Chief Operating Officer of NPR, overseeing strategy, transformation, and growth for the revered news and cultural organization and its network of 249 member stations.
Previously, Will led the digital businesses for PEOPLE, Entertainment Weekly, Sports Illustrated, and The Hollywood Reporter, and has two decades of experience in content creation, audience expansion, brand development and a continuing commitment to and evolution of diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Will lives in New York City with his wife Suejin and son Troy.
As Chief Marketing Officer of Viant, Jon heads brand and product marketing, advertising, marketing science, business development and strategic partnerships, corporate communications and creative services. Jon is a recognized industry thought-leader in automotive, digital marketing, CRM and data-driven targeting and measurement.
During his tenure as CMO, Jon led a comprehensive company rebranding and repositioning initiative, launched the Viant Advertising Cloud platform to the market and managed the company’s communications through a successful acquisition by Time Inc. As the lead marketer within a company focused on leveraging big data and analytics to drive media spend, Jon oversees numerous research initiatives designed to provide actionable data to brand marketers using insights from Viant’s people-based platform.
Jon joined Viant in 2008 as Senior Vice President, Global Category Development, and was responsible for growing revenue in the automotive category by over 40 percent in his first year. During a period of rapid growth and multiple acquisitions, he led business development and strategic partnerships across the enterprise on a global basis. Prior to joining Viant, Jon was a catalyst in the digitally-driven transition of U.S. brand marketing and advertising at Ford Motor Company, where he was Head of Digital Marketing and CRM.
Jon is a regular speaker and panelist at ad tech industry events and a lecturer at the University of Michigan Ross School of Business.
Jon has an MBA in Marketing from Indiana University and a BS in Management Information Systems from Central Michigan University.
Charisse Ford Hughes is the Former SVP and Chief Growth Officer at Kellanova, where she served as a strategic change agent redefining growth through digital transformation. She led the successful spin-off of the Kellogg Company, integrating AI-enabled tools and advanced analytics to drive a $400M value creation roadmap.
Prior to Kellanova, she was the CMO of Pandora Americas, where she spearheaded an omnichannel transformation and launched e-commerce across North America. At The Estée Lauder Companies, she served as SVP of Global Marketing, building the brand into a global powerhouse and achieving #1 rankings in digital beauty. A Forbes 50 Entrepreneurial CMO and board member for Crocs, Charisse excels at leading business model shifts at the intersection of data, culture, and purpose.
SUMMARY
This panel explores how the role of the CMO is rapidly evolving from a traditional marketing function into a central driver of enterprise growth. As AI accelerates speed, efficiency, and data access, the real differentiator is shifting toward human insight, cultural relevance, and strategic decision-making. The conversation highlights the need for marketers to move beyond campaign execution and become deeply embedded in growth strategy, working closely with CEOs and CFOs to align on outcomes that impact the business. In a performance-driven world, balancing short-term demand capture with long-term brand building is critical. The future CMO must combine commercial acumen, technological fluency, and creative courage to lead in an increasingly complex and fast-moving environment.
TRANSCRIPT
[00:00 – 00:01:30] Framing the Conversation: Marketing in an AI Era The panel sets up a discussion on how marketing leadership is changing in real time, especially for organizations that may not yet have a formal CMO role.
[00:01:30 – 00:03:30] The Expanding Role of Marketing Leadership Marketing is shifting from a tactical function to a strategic growth driver. Leaders are redefining their roles to include analytics, innovation, and enterprise-wide impact.
[00:03:30 – 00:05:00] From CMO to Chief Growth Officer One key evolution is expanding beyond brand and campaigns into ownership of growth, including innovation, analytics, and R&D. This signals a broader mandate and deeper business accountability.
[00:05:00 – 00:06:30] AI Adoption Challenges: Measuring Impact AI usage is increasing across organizations, but the challenge is now measuring ROI and productivity. The focus is shifting from experimentation to accountability.
[00:06:30 – 00:08:30] Awareness vs. Performance in Marketing Brands must balance demand capture, such as search and social, with demand generation, which builds long-term awareness. Over-reliance on performance marketing can limit growth.
[00:08:30 – 00:10:30] Aligning Marketing with Finance & Growth Successful organizations align marketing, finance, and leadership around shared growth goals and clear measurement frameworks. Marketing must contribute directly to business outcomes.
[00:10:30 – 00:12:00] The Importance of Brand Equity Measurement Focusing only on short-term metrics can erode long-term brand value. Companies need systems to measure and invest in brand equity alongside performance metrics.
[00:12:00 – 00:13:30] Real-Time Business Impact of Marketing In some industries, marketing decisions have immediate financial impact. This requires agility and alignment with supply, demand, and operational realities.
[00:13:30 – 00:15:30] Case Example: Automotive Market Dynamics Marketing strategy must adapt to external conditions such as supply shortages or oversupply. Messaging and incentives shift based on market realities.
[00:15:30 – 00:17:00] Case Example: Building a Global Brand (Pringles) Long-term brand growth comes from consistent identity, cultural relevance, and sustained investment in awareness, such as Super Bowl campaigns.
[00:17:00 – 00:18:30] The Human Edge in an AI-Driven World AI can optimize and automate, but human judgment is essential for cultural insight, creativity, and brand storytelling. These remain key differentiators.
[00:18:30 – 00:19:30] The New Skill Set for CMOs Future marketing leaders need:
Cultural fluency and awareness Commercial and financial acumen Technological confidence and data literacy
[00:19:30 – 00:21:00] Final Takeaway: Durability and Adaptability The most important trait for modern leaders is the ability to adapt, solve problems, and “figure it out” in a constantly changing environment.
