The Heinz Mid-Year Review and Marketing Jobs for Humans Marketing Episode

Episode notes

This week, former Forrester Research Director Jeff Clark is in the studio with our host Ian Truscott, to discuss a mid-year review from Matt Heinz called The State of the B2B CMO (almost) Halfway Through 2026 . They share 5 f’in’ things they take from his research are: Financial literacy is a required skill The role of the CMO is changing Where the buyer is versus where we pretend they are The organizational impact of AI Tensions defining 2026 Ian then joins Robert Rose in our virtual bar, The Rose and Rockstar, for one of his fabulous cocktails and a chat about a marketing topic. This week, Ian and Robert discuss a recent issue of his Lens Newsletter . In his newsletter, he said: For two years, we’ve been trapped in the dumbest debate in the business: will AI replace marketers, or augment them into X-Men? Panel after panel. Carousel after carousel. The whole industry is squinting at a coin flip. And it was the wrong question the entire time - wrong enough that answering it cost us two years and a fortune in tokens. The right question is one marketing has been dodging for 26 years: what work actually deserves a human’s time?

• The AI for Scale, Volume, and Cannes Episode67 / 100
• The Folklore and Mid-Year AI Reality Check Episode
• The LLMs as Analysts and Content Factory to Media Powerhouse Episode
• The Your Content is Your AI Problem and the Kayfabe Illusion Episode
• The 5 Tips to Get LLM Attention and Revisiting the Mullet Episode