Screenshot 2025-10-22 at 16.03.07

- 48:14

Retail Intelligence in Action

or listen on

The Future CMO: Where Data, Design, and Intelligence Converge

📍New York, US

Artificial intelligence is rapidly reshaping how retailers think about marketing, forcing leaders to move beyond buzzwords and face the operational realities of transformation. For brands built on legacy systems, the challenge lies not in adopting AI tools but in redesigning the foundations that support them. As retail organizations become more data-driven, questions of structure, governance, and integration take center stage. The winners will be those who can connect data architecture with creative execution, turning insight into experiences that feel both personal and scalable.

The shift from channel-based to customer-based marketing marks a major evolution in the industry. Rather than managing isolated campaigns across email, social, or in-store, retailers are learning to orchestrate unified journeys around individual customers. This approach requires a fundamental rethinking of how teams, technologies, and KPIs align. With AI acting as the connective tissue between data and decision-making, marketing is becoming less about frequency and more about relevance — a change that rewards brands capable of delivering contextually intelligent engagement.

As this transformation unfolds, the role of the Chief Marketing Officer is undergoing profound change. Today’s CMO must navigate not only creative direction but also the complex world of data models, automation, and system design. It’s no longer enough to produce compelling campaigns; leaders must understand how the underlying architecture enables — or limits — innovation. This new breed of marketer sits at the crossroads of technology and storytelling, bridging the gap between engineering precision and emotional resonance.

Ultimately, the future of retail marketing depends on how effectively brands can balance intelligence with imagination. AI may provide the analytical power to predict customer needs, but it is human insight that gives meaning to those predictions. The brands that thrive will be those that see technology not as a replacement for creativity but as its amplifier — using intelligence to listen more closely, act more thoughtfully, and build relationships that endure.

Listen more

Trends

“Flat Is the New Up”: Richard Kestenbaum on Retail’s Uncertain Holiday Season

Richard Kestenbaum explains how rising prices and tariff uncertainty are forcing companies to pull back on inventory commitments, limiting discounts and changing the rhythm of holiday promotions.

Richard Kestenbaum explains how rising prices and tariff uncertainty are forcing companies to pull back on inventory commitments, limiting discounts and changing the rhythm of holiday promotions.

Trends

Richard Kestenbaum explains how rising prices and tariff uncertainty are forcing companies to pull back on inventory commitments, limiting discounts and changing the rhythm of holiday promotions.

“Flat Is the New Up”: Richard Kestenbaum on Retail’s Uncertain Holiday Season

Richard Kestenbaum explains how rising prices and tariff uncertainty are forcing companies to pull back on inventory commitments, limiting discounts and changing the rhythm of holiday promotions.

Retail Intelligence in Action

Beyond the hype: How AI fuels speed, insight, and story-doing

AI is becoming a catalyst for speed, sharper insight, and what they call story doing. The focus is not on more dashboards or bigger decks, it is on momentum, creative confidence, and choices that move the numbers.

AI is becoming a catalyst for speed, sharper insight, and what they call story doing. The focus is not on more dashboards or bigger decks, it is on momentum, creative confidence, and choices that move the numbers.

Retail Intelligence in Action

AI is becoming a catalyst for speed, sharper insight, and what they call story doing. The focus is not on more dashboards or bigger decks, it is on momentum, creative confidence, and choices that move the numbers.

Beyond the hype: How AI fuels speed, insight, and story-doing

AI is becoming a catalyst for speed, sharper insight, and what they call story doing. The focus is not on more dashboards or bigger decks, it is on momentum, creative confidence, and choices that move the numbers.

Trends

Build-A-Bear’s 1,900% Run: Experience and Digital That Convert

The secret is not a single product or promotion. It is an experience-first model where guests co-create a plush friend, name it, dress it, and leave with a memory that feels personal and worth sharing.

The secret is not a single product or promotion. It is an experience-first model where guests co-create a plush friend, name it, dress it, and leave with a memory that feels personal and worth sharing.

Trends

The secret is not a single product or promotion. It is an experience-first model where guests co-create a plush friend, name it, dress it, and leave with a memory that feels personal and worth sharing.

Build-A-Bear’s 1,900% Run: Experience and Digital That Convert

The secret is not a single product or promotion. It is an experience-first model where guests co-create a plush friend, name it, dress it, and leave with a memory that feels personal and worth sharing.

Retail Intelligence in Action

Trust, ethics, and identity: How to stay authentic in the age of AI

Campaigns win when the story is ownable by the brand and relevant to culture. The loop is simple but difficult to execute: authenticity builds trust, and trust builds loyalty.

Campaigns win when the story is ownable by the brand and relevant to culture. The loop is simple but difficult to execute: authenticity builds trust, and trust builds loyalty.

Retail Intelligence in Action

Campaigns win when the story is ownable by the brand and relevant to culture. The loop is simple but difficult to execute: authenticity builds trust, and trust builds loyalty.

Trust, ethics, and identity: How to stay authentic in the age of AI

Campaigns win when the story is ownable by the brand and relevant to culture. The loop is simple but difficult to execute: authenticity builds trust, and trust builds loyalty.

Interview

The Power of Premium Positioning: Illy Caffè’s Formula for Growth

Under the leadership of Cristian Arcangeli, Vice President of Marketing, Commercial Strategy and Digital, Illy has managed to stay true to its heritage while achieving remarkable growth in new markets.

Under the leadership of Cristian Arcangeli, Vice President of Marketing, Commercial Strategy and Digital, Illy has managed to stay true to its heritage while achieving remarkable growth in new markets.

Interview

Under the leadership of Cristian Arcangeli, Vice President of Marketing, Commercial Strategy and Digital, Illy has managed to stay true to its heritage while achieving remarkable growth in new markets.

The Power of Premium Positioning: Illy Caffè’s Formula for Growth

Under the leadership of Cristian Arcangeli, Vice President of Marketing, Commercial Strategy and Digital, Illy has managed to stay true to its heritage while achieving remarkable growth in new markets.

Receive new exclusive episodes


Sign up for our newsletter now!

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

Strictly Necessary Cookies

Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.

3rd Party Cookies

This website uses Google Analytics to collect anonymous information such as the number of visitors to the site, and the most popular pages.

Keeping this cookie enabled helps us to improve our website.