"The Unit Economics of AI - Can Large Language Models (LLMs) Actually Make Money?"

A CMO Confidential Interview with Dr. Dan McCarthy, Professor at Maryland and leading practitioner of Customer Lifetime Value (CLV).

Dan shares how the CLV lens can shed light on the LLM drive to acquire customers, spend billions to improve the models, ultimately pay back investors and the potential implications on both marketers and consumers.

Key topics include:

- Why Gemini has a built in pricing advantage which forces all freemium offerings to be very good

- Why all companies should have a “diversity of providers”

- The rationale for constantly evaluating each model

- Why “AI foundational knowledge” is key to generating success from both employees and students.

Tune in to hear about the "customer barbell" and why you should “talk to your phone.”

This episode is sponsored by Typeface - the agentic AI marketing platform that turns one idea into thousands of on-brand assets. Learn more: typeface.ai/cmo

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#AIEconomics #CustomerLifetimeValue #CLV #GenerativeAI #AIBusinessModels #OpenAIEconomics #ChatGPTMonetization #AIValuation #AIUnitEconomics #InferenceCosts #AITrainingCosts #FreemiumModels #SubscriptionEconomics #SaaSProfitability #MarketingStrategy #CMOInsights #MarketingLeadership #AIForMarketers #EnterpriseAI #AIRetention #AICustomerAcquisition #LargeLanguageModels #LLMEconomics #AIAdvertising #AIRandD #FutureOfAIBusiness

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A CMO Confidential Interview with Shiv Singh, CEO of Savvy Matters, Co-Founder of AI Trailblazers, former CMO of Lending Tree, and author of Marketing with AI for Dummies.

Shiv discusses how to operate in an environment where "We have no idea about what is coming," how managing humans and AI agents impacts leadership, and why he believes marketers will need to make fewer, harder decisions. Key topics include: why losing isn't fatal, but forgetting is; the risk of thinking human beings are special; and the concept of "invisible failure." Tune in to hear why you should rewrite your job description and become a "wartime" leader.

Topics Covered:

- Where Is AI Taking Marketing?

- Leadership in a Human + AI Workforce

- Fewer, Harder Strategic Bets for CMOs

- AI’s Impact on Creativity and Marketing Processes

- Context Graphs, Memory, and the Future of Marketing Operations

This episode is sponsored by Typeface - the agentic AI marketing platform that turns one idea into thousands of on-brand assets. Learn more: typeface.ai/cmo

Subscribe for weekly episodes featuring world-class marketing leaders, board members, and C-Suite executives.

⏱️ Chapters

00:00 – Welcome to CMO Confidential

01:38 – Meet Shiv Singh

02:35 – Where is AI Taking Marketing? The "Jagged Frontier" of AI

06:10 – What Does Leadership Look Like Managing Humans + AI Agents

09:35 – Making Fewer, Harder Strategic Bets

10:50 – Budget Pressure, Boards, and AI Expectations

14:43 – Invisible Failure in AI Adoption

17:26 – AI and the Future of Creativity

21:26 – Governance, Consumer Acceptance, and AI Bias

26:05 – The End of the Marketing Brief

27:40 – Who Remembers Wins: Context Graphs Explained

31:47 – Building a Marketing Context Layer

35:30 – What Marketers Should Be Doing Now

37:38 – Anthropic vs. Government: AI Ethics & Risk

42:38 – Predictions Through 2026

45:04 – The Changing Definition of a Marketer

45:50 – Funniest Story and Practical Advice

#AIMarketing #MarketingLeadership #CMOConfidential #ShivSingh #GenerativeAI #FutureOfMarketing #AIStrategy #CreativeAI #MarketingTransformation #EnterpriseAI

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week on CMO Confidential, we're revisiting our conversation with Peri Hansen from July of 2025 - this is one of our favorites with topics just as relevant to marketers today.

Peri discusses why the CMO position is becoming the vanguard of innovation, the importance of an "agile learner" mindset, and why there's no substitute for great leadership. Key topics include: how nothing "returned to normal" after COVID; the importance of org design; and why CMO's should own the entire customer life cycle and help drive company strategy. Tune in to hear why references matter more than ever and the importance of building a personal brand.

Topics Covered:

• Why CMOs are being tapped to drive innovation and transformation

• The post-COVID shift in org design and what it means for marketing

• The importance of leadership, agility, and continuous learning

• Why great references still matter in the hiring process

• How CMOs can (and should) influence company-wide strategy

This episode is sponsored by Typeface - the agentic AI marketing platform that turns one idea into thousands of on-brand assets. Learn more: typeface.ai/cmo

Subscribe for weekly episodes featuring world-class marketing leaders, board members, and C-Suite executives.

⏱️ Chapters

01:20 – Intro: The Evolving Role of the CMO

01:46 – Meet Peri Hansen: Korn Ferry CMO Practice Leader

02:39 – Why the CMO is Now the Vanguard of Innovation

05:53 – Three New Mandates for CMOs: Tech, Strategy & Lifecycle

07:05 – The CMO as a Change Agent and Team Builder

09:51 – Tech CMOs Are Leading—Who’s Catching Up?

12:25 – Building Tech Credibility as a Marketing Leader

14:18 – “Nothing Returned to Normal” After COVID

14:51 – Post-COVID Turnover: What CEOs and Boards Want Now

16:07 – What’s Replacing the Traditional CMO Role?

19:15 – Why Org Design Is a Top Priority in CMO Searches

20:58 – How Companies Realize They Need Org Restructuring

22:44 – The AI Era: Is There a Leadership Gap Forming?

24:14 – What Agile Leadership Actually Looks Like

25:51 – What Resumes Reveal: Pivot Points and Risk-Taking

27:21 – Why References Matter More Than Ever

29:09 – Final Advice: CMOs, Build Your Own Personal Brand

30:53 – Wrap Up & Where to Find More CMO Confidential Content

#CMOConfidential #PeriHansen @kornferryintl #ChiefMarketingOfficer #Leadership #OrgDesign #CustomerExperience #MarketingStrategy #PersonalBrand #ExecutiveSearch #CMOInsights

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