Ray Kurzweil, futurist and Google’s Director of Engineering, predicts “Singularity”—the point when humans and AI-driven machines reach equal intelligence – will be achieved by the year 2045. While that’s 25 years from now, another form of singularity is happening right now in the C-Suite.
Any A-player CXO should now have equal digital literacy with what has traditionally been the digital team. This reality will make it nearly impossible to tell who is from IT and who is from marketing. And no single area of the company will be the sole source of technological innovation. Chief Marketing Officers, for instance, must share a toolbelt comparable to Chief Information Officers (CIOs) and Chief Digital Officers (CDOs), and vice versa. For executive buy-ins, ensure you include your CEO, COO, and CFO.
As the C-suite unifies, and enterprise-wide access to customer data prevails, three new requirements are emerging for the leadership team:
1. Engage: Led by the CMO, innovative companies will leverage data with customer engagement strategies anywhere in the buyer’s journey. Then create nimble marketing campaigns that can adjust as swiftly as your customers change.
2. Implement: Fuel your campaigns with customer data platforms (CDPs) and data management platforms (DMPs) that bridge your different touchpoints with each customer. Cloud giants such as Salesforce, Oracle, and Adobe are ones to watch, but there are many newer providers that may be easier and less expensive to implement depending on your needs.
3. Democratize: Finally, you’ll enjoy a cultural shift that destroys rigid silo-based thinking so innovations can emerge anywhere. When you democratize data across your company, your customers benefit, and your employees will excel. Personalized, timely and contextual marketing campaigns will win the hearts and minds of your customers.
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