Summary

Every year, the CMO job gets a little more impossible. Growth targets rise. Budgets tighten. AI rewrites workflows. Buyers trust less and research more. So what still matters when the old playbooks start to wobble? That’s one reason we’re so grateful for the 2026 CMO Huddles Board of Advisors. They embody the leadership CMOs need.

Tools Don’t Fix Strategy. Alignment Does.

‍Heidi Bullock, CMO at Tealium, has never been one to confuse motion with progress. In her CMO Huddles Studio appearance on ABM, she cut through one of B2B marketing’s favorite fantasies: That the right platform will somehow make the strategy appear.

“Your tool is not your ABM strategy,” Heidi said in Building a Better ABM Motion.

Heidi’s strength is operator clarity. She reminds CMOs that great marketing starts with focus: The right ICP, the right account list, the right sales partnership, and the right internal expectations. Technology can accelerate the work, but it cannot replace the thinking.

Customer Obsession Has To Become An Operating System.

JD Dillon, Chief Marketing and Customer Experience Officer at Tigo Energy, brings a rare dual lens to the board: Marketing and customer experience. That combination matters because customer obsession is easy to say and hard to operationalize.

In a CMO Huddles clip on Tigo’s Green Glove program, JD’s team framed service as strategy: “Trust is built into the product.” The idea connects directly to his Studio appearances on Power of Focus and Customer-Led Growth.

That is the new CMO mandate. Not just acquire. Not just message. Help the organization listen, fix, communicate, and earn the next renewal.

Transformation Fails When It Is Only External.

Narine Galstian, Fractional CMO, ZANG Marketing Advisors, brings the mindset of a transformation leader. In her discussion of SADA’s evolution, global expansion, and brand alignment, she made a point too many companies miss: Change does not stick outside the company until it is understood inside the company.

“You would hit any messaging with the customer several times—you have to do the same internally,” Narine said in Leading Transformation.

Narine’s strength is helping organizations make transformation coherent, human, and adoptable. Employees are not a distribution afterthought. They are the first audience for change.

Events Are Not Logistics. They Are Human Psychology.

Jamie Gier, SVP CMO, Communications and Brand at TruBridge, sees events as more than booths, badges, and budget lines. She sees them as designed moments of memory, trust, and deal progression.

“The human psychology behind how you engage is super important,” Jamie said in The Event ROI Reality Check.

That is classic Jamie: Practical, creative, and deeply aware that B2B buyers are still people. Her contribution to CMO Huddles is this blend of rigor and imagination, connecting brand, experience, and revenue without flattening one into the other.

Marketing Must Measure What Actually Matters.

Grant Johnson, CMO at Chief Outsiders, has been pushing CMOs to tell a bigger and better story about marketing’s impact.

In The B2B Marketing Performance Index, Grant warned against dashboards that impress marketers but fail in the boardroom: “Don’t just measure stuff because you can.”

Grant’s strength is business fluency. He helps CMOs move beyond vanity metrics and narrow attribution debates toward a more complete view of market presence, brand strength, and pipeline health. At a time when CMOs are under pressure to defend every dollar, that kind of measurement discipline is not optional.

High-Performing Teams Are Built On Trust, Challenge, And Joy.

Dan Lowden, CMO at BLACKBIRD.AI, brings the perspective of a leader who has built teams in both large enterprises and fast-moving startups.

In Teams Built for Growth and Grit, Dan described high performance as building a team that “trusts each other,” “challenges each other,” and still has fun together.

Trust without challenge gets soft. Challenge without trust gets toxic. Dan understands that great teams need both, plus enough shared energy to keep going when the work gets hard.

The CMO Has To Be A Company Leader First.

Kathie Johnson, Interim CMO at Nintex, brings executive-level perspective to the board. Her view of the CMO role is expansive, and it should be.

“Our lens is across the ship, not just across marketing,” Kathie said in Chiefs of Marketing.

The best CMOs do not show up only to report campaign performance. They understand the business, help shape priorities, connect signals across functions, and earn influence by thinking beyond their own department.

The First 90 Days Are A Leadership Window. Don’t Waste It.

Paige O’Neill, CMO at Culture Amp, knows the CMO seat from multiple vantage points. In her recent Studio appearance, she talked about the urgency and opportunity of stepping into a new role, especially now that AI is accelerating the learning curve.

“Do not squander the power that you have in the first 90 days,” Paige said in The First 90 Days Just Got Faster.

That is not a call for reckless change. It is a reminder that fresh eyes have a short shelf life. Paige’s strength is knowing how to listen fast, test assumptions, unlock stalled team ideas, and turn early momentum into durable credibility.

Why This Board Matters

CMO Huddles was built on a simple belief: CMOs get better when they do not have to solve everything alone.

That belief only works if the community is shaped by leaders who are generous with what they know, honest about what is hard, and willing to help peers move faster with fewer unforced errors.

That is why we are so proud of our 2026 Board of Advisors: Heidi Bullock, JD Dillon, Narine Galstian, Jamie Gier, Grant Johnson, Dan Lowden, Kathie Johnson, and Paige O’Neill.

They are helping us build something more useful than a network. They are helping us build a place where CMOs can sharpen their thinking, pressure-test their plans, and remember that even the loneliest job in the C-suite gets warmer in the Huddle.

The CMO role is being rebuilt. We are lucky to have these leaders helping us see what should endure.

Q&A

Why does CMO Huddles have a Board of Advisors?

The board helps shape CMO Huddles with the perspective of experienced marketing leaders who understand the real pressures of the CMO role.

What do these advisors represent?

They represent the capabilities modern CMOs need most: Customer obsession, business fluency, transformation leadership, executive influence, team building, and practical community support.

How does this help prospective members?

Prospective members can see the kind of leaders who shape the community and the kinds of conversations CMO Huddles is built to support.

What is the bigger message for CMOs?

The CMO role may be changing fast, but the fundamentals still matter: Clarity, trust, alignment, courage, measurement, and the willingness to learn with peers.

CMO Huddles helps B2B marketing leaders win by bringing together peers, fresh perspectives, and opportunities to build stronger personal brands. Want to join the huddle? Learn more about CMO Huddles and apply to join the community.