In this powerhouse episode of CMOs Unscripted, host Lisa Martin sits down with Chandar Pattabhiram, one of LinkedIn’s Top 5 CMOs to Follow and now Chief Go-to-Market Officer (GTM Officer) at Workato. Together, they unpack the evolution of modern marketing leadership — from mastering the fundamentals of the C, M, and O to orchestrating full go-to-market strategy across marketing, alliances, enablement, and operations. Chandar shares candid lessons from his journey across startups, scale-ups, and global enterprises, explains how failure fuels growth, and reveals why board experience is now a strategic must for CMOs. The conversation concludes with actionable insights into how AI is reshaping marketing execution — and how to separate hype from high impact.

Key Takeaways:

• Failure is a Feature, Not a Bug: Chandar emphasizes that the most valuable leadership lessons come from failure. Each setback refines decision-making, resilience, and innovation capacity.

  
  

• The CMO Breakdown — C, M, O:

• • C = Chief: Leadership that creates leaders, absorbs ambiguity, and fosters clarity.

  • M = Marketing: Domain mastery that’s continually evolving with technology and AI.

  • O = Orchestrator: Bringing harmony across product, demand, and brand teams for unified execution.
    

• From CMO to Chief GTM Officer: The evolution isn’t just a title change — it’s an expansion of scope. The Chief GTM Officer oversees marketing, alliances, enablement, rev ops, and incubation sales — all aimed at setting sales up to win more, win faster, and win bigger.
  

• “From Harm to Harmony”: Chandar’s mantra for go-to-market alignment. Great organizations eliminate silos, aligning every function under shared goals and unified messaging.
  

• Engine Room vs. Alignment Room: CMOs must evolve from tracking vanity metrics (impressions, clicks) to alignment metrics (pipeline, win rates, ASPs). Board-level credibility comes from focusing on revenue outcomes.
  

• Board Experience as a Growth Multiplier: Serving on boards gives CMOs a panoramic view of enterprise strategy, financial oversight, and CEO succession — transforming them from function leaders to enterprise strategists.
  

• AI: From Experimental to Actionable: Workato’s Campaign Genie showcases how trigger-driven AI workflows can automate outreach, eliminate latency, and generate millions in incremental pipeline — without adding headcount.
  

• Why 95% of AI Projects Fail: Chandar attributes this to a lack of trust and predictability in models. Success comes from balancing AI’s creative power with structured “skills” and contextual grounding.
  

• The Next Big Challenge — Agent Sprawl: Just as “app sprawl” fragmented workflows, AI agents risk multiplying inefficiencies. The key is orchestration — creating cohesion between human and machine collaboration.

This episode is a masterclass in marketing leadership evolution. Chandar doesn’t just talk about adapting to change — he models it. From redefining the CMO role to embracing boardroom influence and harnessing AI for measurable outcomes, his insights provide a roadmap for every marketing leader seeking to elevate their impact. Whether you’re a current CMO, aspiring GTM officer, or simply passionate about the future of marketing, this conversation is your blueprint for growth, alignment, and orchestration in the age of AI.

No matter where you are in your marketing journey, this episode delivers valuable insights and real-world strategies you can put into action. Don’t miss out, watch now on YouTube and subscribe for biweekly conversations with top industry leaders.

In this episode of CMOs Unscripted, host Lisa Martin sits down with Madhukar Kumar, a longtime CMO turned CEO and Co-Founder of Robynn, to explore how AI agents, automation, and generative search are redefining modern marketing. From his journey as a journalist in India to building marketing technology in Silicon Valley, Madhukar shares his unique perspective on how “agentic AI” will revolutionize marketing teams, why context and creativity still matter, and how leaders must evolve from managing people to mastering tools. This is a must-listen for every marketing leader looking to stay ahead of the AI curve.

Key Takeaways:

• From Reporter to CEO: Madhukar’s career spans journalism, software engineering, product management, and marketing leadership—culminating in his creation of Robynn, a multi-agent marketing platform.
  

• What Are Agents? Agents are the next evolution of large language models—intelligent systems that can not only understand context but also execute actions and collaborate with other agents to achieve goals.
  

• Reimagining the Marketing Stack: Traditional marketing stacks with dozens of disconnected tools are collapsing into AI-driven orchestration platforms, where agents handle tasks once spread across CRM, automation, and analytics tools.
  

• The New Marketing Team: The future marketing leader will act as an agent orchestrator, blending strategic oversight with technical fluency. The human role shifts from execution to creativity, quality control, and brand authenticity.
  

• AI and Authenticity: With the ease of AI-generated content, marketers risk losing authenticity. Kumar warns that “with great power comes great stupidity” and stresses keeping a human in the loop to maintain voice and taste.
  

• GEO vs. SEO: Kumar breaks down Generative Experience Optimization (GEO)—the emerging layer of visibility across chat-based search platforms like ChatGPT and Perplexity—and how it complements traditional SEO rather than replaces it.
  

• The IC CMO Revolution: The most successful leaders in this new era will move from being managers to hands-on individual contributors, using AI tools to work smarter while maintaining a holistic strategic view.
  

• The Real Opportunity: Agentic AI is not about replacing marketers—it’s about augmenting their intelligence and efficiency, enabling them to do more impactful work faster and with better insights.

As marketing enters the agentic AI era, Madhukar Kumar reminds us that the future belongs to the curious, the creators, and the leaders willing to get their hands back on the keyboard. From integrating agents into marketing workflows to mastering GEO strategies that ensure brand visibility in generative search, this episode is a roadmap for forward-thinking CMOs who want to lead transformation, not chase it. Tune in to hear how humans and AI can truly collaborate to redefine what’s possible in marketing.

No matter where you are in your marketing journey, this episode delivers valuable insights and real-world strategies you can put into action. Don’t miss out, watch now on YouTube and subscribe for biweekly conversations with top industry leaders.