The more time CMOs spend implementing AI, the more human the conversations become.
Super Huddle in Silicon Valley last week reinforced this. We covered tools, tactics, experiments, strategies. All valuable. But three moments stood out as deeply human stories about trust, change, and leading people through transformation.
Denise Persson (CMO of Snowflake) and Chris Degnan (former CRO) sat down with Drew Neisser for one of the best fireside chats I’ve seen. Nine years together, four CEO changes, zero to billions.
Their book “Make it Snow” tells the story, but the partnership is what stayed with me. No daylight between sales and marketing. Issues resolved behind closed doors. When they came out, they were aligned.
They had each other’s backs and called each other out. Intensely customer-driven with deep trust.
This reinforced something I see in my work. Early alignment between sales and marketing can be the difference between scaling and failing. When hiring, prioritize cultural fit, urgency, and adaptability over where people worked before.
Kate Bullis (ZRG) and Hugh Marshall (Hedrick) both said executive recruiters aren’t being asked for AI expertise in CMOs right now. They want leaders who know how to drive change.
This didn’t surprise me. The hardest part of AI adoption isn’t the tech. It’s shifting how people think and work. We are the hardest part.
Kate’s advice resonated. Lean into your strengths as CMOs. We’ve been through transformations before. We know how to do this.
I keynoted on human + AI organizational transformation and co-facilitated four roundtables with Samantha Stark. We covered experiments, tools, use cases, KPIs, and how teams are reorganizing.
But the conversations that resonated most were about upskilling teams, inspiring what’s possible, meeting people where they are, and leading with compassion and confidence.
And giving ourselves grace. We need to take care of ourselves as we lead through this.
The fundamentals of leadership haven’t changed. But AI removes any room to ignore them.
The best part of the weekend was meeting new people and reconnecting in person. The conversations between sessions, the shared “oh god, us too” moments, the energy you can’t get over Zoom.
Big thanks to Drew Neisser and the CMO Huddles team. To all the inspiring speakers and to every CMO who showed up and shared openly. I’ll try to tag you in comments but I know I’ll miss many (I need a little grace here ;-))
Still processing so more to come. Looking forward to continuing these conversations.
(And yes, there were breakdancing penguins there. See link in the comments to see my previous post with video. If you’re going it alone, find your huddle.)