A CMO Confidential Interview with Peri Hansen, Korn Ferry Leader, CMO Practice, North America. 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.

Why the CMO Is Now the Innovation Leader | Peri Hansen, Korn Ferry CMO Practice

In this episode of CMO Confidential, Mike Linton sits down with Peri Hansen, leader of the CMO Practice at Korn Ferry North America, to explore how the role of Chief Marketing Officer has become the new vanguard of innovation, strategy, and customer-centric growth.

From org design to leadership development, Peri breaks down the key traits of successful CMOs and why companies are no longer returning to pre-COVID norms. She shares why agile learning, personal brand-building, and owning the full customer lifecycle are now non-negotiables for modern marketing leaders.

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

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⏱️ Chapters (Optimized for 29-minute Runtime)

00:00 – Intro: The Evolving Role of the CMO

01:00 – Meet Peri Hansen: Korn Ferry CMO Practice Leader

02:12 – Why the CMO is Now the Vanguard of Innovation

04:30 – Three New Mandates for CMOs: Tech, Strategy & Lifecycle

06:50 – The CMO as a Change Agent and Team Builder

08:30 – Tech CMOs Are Leading—Who’s Catching Up?

10:15 – Building Tech Credibility as a Marketing Leader

12:10 – “Nothing Returned to Normal” After COVID

13:30 – Post-COVID Turnover: What CEOs and Boards Want Now

15:30 – What’s Replacing the Traditional CMO Role?

17:10 – Why Org Design Is a Top Priority in CMO Searches

19:05 – How Companies Realize They Need Org Restructuring

20:45 – The AI Era: Is There a Leadership Gap Forming?

22:20 – What Agile Leadership Actually Looks Like

24:00 – What Resumes Reveal: Pivot Points and Risk-Taking

25:10 – Why References Matter More Than Ever

27:00 – Final Advice: CMOs, Build Your Own Personal Brand

28:40 – Wrap Up & Where to Find More CMO Confidential Content

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

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A CMO Confidential Interview with Dan Salkey, Co-Founder & Strategy Partner at Small World, an agency designed to create "entertainment first" brands. Dan discusses the concept of "Entertain or Die," the difference between "owning" and "renting" eyeballs, and why his focus is on "saves, likes, and shares." Key topics include: the fact that attention is earned; the difference between entertaining and selling; why many tech brands forget to entertain; and how to measure "attentive cost" versus cost per impression. Tune in to hear case studies on Liquid Death and Duolingo and why Net Scout produced a Werner Herzog film.

In this episode of CMO Confidential, Mike Linton sits down with Dan Salkey, Co-Founder and Strategy Partner at Small World, an agency on a mission to create entertainment-first brands. Dan unpacks his provocative framework: “Entertain or Die.” From building brand characters to measuring success in saves and shares—not impressions—this conversation is packed with insights for CMOs navigating the new attention economy.

🧠 Learn why the best brands own their eyeballs instead of renting them, what marketers can learn from creators like MrBeast, and why @netscoutinc made a Werner Herzog documentary to stand out.

🔍 Featuring case studies from Liquid Death, Duolingo, and other unexpected brand entertainers, this episode offers a blueprint for building marketing that actually gets watched—and shared.

🎯 Topics Covered:

• The rise of entertainment-first branding

• “Saves, likes, and shares” as new core KPIs

• Measuring attentive cost vs. cost per impression

• The hidden power of brand characters and mascots

• Why marketers need a writer’s room mindset

• How boring B2B brands can still break through

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Dan Salkey, Entertainment First Marketing, CMO Confidential, Mike Linton, Small World Agency, Liquid Death Marketing, Duolingo Brand Strategy, Branded Content, Entertain or Die, Brand Characters, Marketing Strategy 2025, Attention Economy, NetScout Werner Herzog, MrBeast Brand Playbook, Content Marketing, Virality Metrics, Branded Entertainment, Marketing Innovation, Social Media Marketing, Save and Share Strategy, B2B Brand Breakthrough, Branded Documentary, Marketing Podcast

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A CMO Confidential Interview with Andy Sack and Adam Brotman, Co-Founders and Co-CEO's of Forum 3, authors of the book AI First, previously at Microsoft and Starbucks. They discuss why AI is different from previous technology advances and the series of "Holy Shit!" moments experienced when interviewing Sam Altman, Bill Gates and others. Key topics include: their belief that AI is "moving faster than you think" since it isn't constrained by an adoption curve or infrastructure; the power of Artificial General Intelligence which will be smarter than most experts; why trying to calculate the ROI of AI is comparable to measuring the return on electricity; and the possibility of 95% of marketing and agency jobs being impacted over the next 5 years. Tune in to hear how Chat GPT scored a top grade on the AP Biology Exam, how Moderna became an AI leader, and their tips for staying near the front of the wave.

This week on CMO Confidential, host Mike Linton sits down with Adam Brotman, former Chief Digital Officer of Starbucks and co-CEO of J.Crew, and Andy Sack, venture capitalist and Managing Partner at Keen Capital. Together they co-authored AI First and co-founded Forum3, a company on a mission to educate businesses on how to thrive in the AI era.

In this episode, Adam and Andy recount their interviews with leaders like Sam Altman, Bill Gates, and Reid Hoffman—and unpack why we are at a true “Holy Sh*t Moment” in technology.

Learn how generative AI is poised to replace 95% of marketing tasks, what agentic AI means for the future of work, and why marketers need to shift from campaign thinking to orchestration and system design—fast.

Topics Covered:

• What Adam and Andy learned from interviewing tech’s top minds

• Why artificial general intelligence (AGI) is closer than you think

• How AI tools will transform agency and in-house marketing roles

• Why marketers must experiment now—or risk irrelevance

• The unexpected productivity ROI of adopting AI tools

This episode isn’t just about AI—it’s about how business leaders and marketers must transform to remain relevant in the age of exponential change.

00:00 - Intro & AI-Powered Marketing by Publicis Sapient

01:42 - Welcome + Adam Brotman & Andy Sack intro

04:45 - Why “AI First” started as “Our AI Journey”

08:13 - The “Holy Sh*t” moment explained

10:00 - Interviewing Sam Altman and the AGI revelation

15:50 - Bill Gates’ AI holy sh*t moment

20:30 - What AGI means for marketers and agencies

25:20 - Agentic AI and spinning up marketing agents

30:40 - Consumer behavior and synthetic influencers

34:50 - How agencies must evolve or die

38:20 - The case study of Moderna's AI-first approach

41:00 - Evaluating AI vendors + building internal councils

45:10 - The ROI of AI: Productivity & Unlocks

49:00 - Playbook for becoming an AI-first org

52:30 - Funny poker shirt story + parting advice

56:00 - Closing thoughts and next episode teaser

#GenerativeAI #CMOConfidential #AdamBrotman #AndySack #Forum3 #MarketingAI #AIInMarketing #AIRevolution #HolyShitMoment #AIFirst #SamAltman #BillGates #AGI #MarketingPodcast #DigitalTransformation #FutureOfWork #AIProductivity #ChiefMarketingOfficer #CMOLife #AIPlaybook #MarketingLeadership #AIForBusiness

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