CMOs are becoming the New Business Operators

Read notable CXO appointments in North America and how CMOs are becoming the New Business Operators.

CXO Spotlight- Notable C-Suite Moves (July)

Read in 90 seconds:

  1. Notable C-Suite Moves
  2. What’s New In Tech
  3. C-Suite Trends For Leaders
  4. From the Podcast

Notable C-Suite Moves (July)

  1. Cathy Peterman→ Executive Vice President and Chief People Officer, F5. Cathy will lead global people strategy, with a focus on talent development, organizational design, and culture. She held senior leadership roles at Wayfair, Amazon, QVC, and Gap International.
  2. Boris Braylyan→ Chief Data & Digital Officer, Parexel. Boris will lead enterprise data and digital initiatives. He joined Parexel in 2025 as Senior Vice President, Data & Technology, and previously spent more than two decades at Pfizer.
  3. Eric Tagliere→ Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer, R1 RCM. Eric will guide R1 RCM’s technology strategy. He held leadership roles at Humana, Marriott International, Ameriprise Financial Services, LLC, Experian, and Nielsen.
  4. James O'Reilly→ Chief Executive Officer, Latitude Food Group. He founded Brand Capital Consulting and previously served as CEO of Ascent Hospitality Management, Smokey Bones Bar & Fire Grill, and Long John Silver's, LLC.
  5. Micki Howl→ Chief Revenue Officer, 6sense. Micki will lead Global Customer Operations, bringing Sales, Customer Success, and Revenue Strategy. She had leadership roles at Zeta Global, Neiman Marcus and Marigold.

What’s New in Tech

AI is raising the bar for marketing leadership. A Gartner report on CMO AI literacy notes that only 15% of CEOs view their CMOs as having strong AI savviness for 2026. It also found that 65% of CMOs expect AI to change the CMO role dramatically, yet only 32% believe they need to significantly upgrade their personal skills.

That gap mentioned here matters as AI is no longer just a productivity tool for content, analytics, or automation. It has become a part of growth strategy, customer understanding, experimentation, and resource allocation. For CMOs, the next challenge is proving they can lead with it.


1. Influence is replacing hierarchy: The most effective leaders are not always the ones with the most authority on paper. CXOs who can interpret change, connect teams, and help organizations adapt in real time are needed.

2. The CMO is becoming the business’s early sensing system: Marketing leaders sit close to customer behavior, cultural shifts, market signals, and technology adoption. Their role is increasingly about bringing those signals into strategic decisions, not just communicating after decisions are made.

3. The best CMOs are becoming “chameleon” leaders: The strongest marketing leaders can move between strategist, translator, diplomat, operator, and entrepreneur depending on what the business needs. As the role expands, CMOs are expected to also be good at leadership beyond marketing.


From The Podcast

Building AI transformation without breaking the Business

In this CXO Spotlight conversation, host Chirag Khanijau speaks with Munir Hafez, CTO at Doubtless. about one of the hardest challenges in enterprise technology: building an AI-native future while keeping legacy systems running.

Munir brings 30+ years of experience across Siemens, PwC, Deloitte, EY, and TransUnion. He is leading a complex transformation across 10 acquired companies, 10 different legacy systems, and 800,000+ insured pets.

Why this matters: Many companies are trying to modernize without disrupting the revenue engine that funds the transformation. Munir’s approach offers a practical playbook for CIOs and technology leaders trying to protect today’s business while building tomorrow’s operating model.

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