Your next CMO will come from marketing operations

The CMO role is evolving, from creative to technical, and it may have finally found a C-suite ally in the CIO.

By ,
Head of Content & Media
Published on September 9, 2026 • Last updated on September 9, 2026 • 3 minutes read

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    Is the traditional, purely creative CMO becoming extinct? 

    In this episode of Conversations with MarTech, we sit down with Valeria Balaro, CMO at the AI-native technology consulting firm Star, to discuss the big shift redefining marketing leadership. 

    Driven by the rise of AI, increasing revenue accountability, and the absolute demand for clear ROI, the CMO role is rapidly transitioning from a creative focus to a critical technology leadership position. Because marketing leaders can no longer delegate technical data and infrastructure decisions, the path to the top is changing. 

    Valeria shares insights from recent research conducted with Forrester, revealing why a formalized martech background is becoming mandatory and why the next generation of CMOs will inevitably rise from marketing operations.

    In this episode, we discuss: 

    • The shift to technical leadership: Why modern CMOs must personally master technical workflows and data architecture to survive.
    • The CMO-CIO “power duo”: Exploring the shared ownership of technology investments, and navigating the friction between marketing’s desire for speed and IT’s focus on governance, security, and risk.
    • The reality of data integration: Why only 8% of organizations have achieved seamless data integration with agency platforms.
    • Automating vs. safeguarding: How Star uses AI agents to build a “go-to-market brain” for process automation, while fiercely safeguarding authentic human insight and thought leadership.
    • The biggest lie in marketing: Why viewing AI as just a campaign tool — rather than a fundamental structural shift to the entire marketing function — is a critical mistake.

     If you are a marketing professional looking to future-proof your career or a leader navigating the intersection of data, AI, and corporate strategy, this conversation is a must-watch. 

    About our guest

    Valeria Balaro is the CMO at Star, an AI-native technology consulting firm. Bringing a unique background in innovation and a highly technical mindset, she leads a team of 20 marketers across brand, demand generation, and content, based in London.

    Don’t forget to like, subscribe, and hit the notification bell for more insights from season 4 of Conversations with MarTech!

    Episode guide

    00:00 Introduction
    00:27 Meet Valeria Balaro
    01:25 How AI is changing the role of the CMO
    03:54 The CMO and CIO: The new “Power Duo”
    05:08 Today’s CMOs are more technical, with a MOps background
    07:44 What’s the state of the CMO-CIO relationship?
    12:32 What’s working for Valeria’s team at Star in its marketing?
    17:00 What’s the biggest lie marketing tells itself?

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    Mike Pastore
    Head of Content & Media

    Mike Pastore is the Head of Content & Media at Third Door Media, the publisher of the Martech and Search Engine Land websites and the producer of the SMX and MarTech Conferences. In nearly three decades in B2B marketing, Mike has worked as an editor, writer, and marketer. He first wrote about marketing in 1998 for internet.com (later Jupitermedia). He then worked with marketers at some of the best-known brands in B2B tech, creating content for marketing campaigns at both Jupitermedia and QuinStreet. Prior to joining Third Door Media as the Editorial Director of the MarTech website, he led demand generation at B2B media company TechnologyAdvice.

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