In this episode of Future of Marketing, hosts Ethan Smith and Camille Ricketts sit down with  Idan Koren, CMO of Verkada, to explore what it actually takes to build a technical marketing organization in the AI era. From structuring a high-performing MDR function to using first-party data for real personalization, Idan explains why the biggest gains don’t come from flashy AI demos but from building better systems, infrastructure, and decision frameworks.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thefutureofmarketing.substack.com

In this episode of Future of Marketing, hosts Mada Seghete and Camille Ricketts sit down with  Lindsey Irvine, CMO of Square, to explore how marketing is evolving beyond the “AI bubble” and into the real world of SMBs. Lindsey shares how customer obsession, global market nuance, and a dual mandate of marketing to both humans and AI agents are reshaping modern go-to-market strategies. She also dives into how AI is transforming workflows, team structures, and even how marketers build and present ideas.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thefutureofmarketing.substack.com

In this episode of Future of Marketing, hosts Ethan Smith and Camille Ricketts sit down with Cecilia Stallsmith, CMO at Lovable, to explore what it takes to market a product in a category that’s still being defined. Cecilia shares how to win over developers and non-technical users at the same time, why brand and identity matter more than most teams admit, and how AI is reshaping both marketing execution and team structure in real time.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thefutureofmarketing.substack.com

In this episode of Future of Marketing, hosts Ethan Smith and Camille Ricketts sit down with Sheila Vashee, CMO of Figma, to explore what it really takes to scale a product-led growth company into an enterprise powerhouse without losing its soul. From community-driven movements like Config to AI-native workflows like Figma Make, Sheila shares how Figma balances craft, collaboration, and rapid innovation in a market flooded with automation. The takeaway: user love isn't a tactic. It's the strategy.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thefutureofmarketing.substack.com

In this episode of Future of Marketing, hosts Ethan Smith and Mada Seghete sit down with Kate Johnson, CMO of Dscout, to dismantle one of marketing’s biggest myths: single-source attribution. Kate shares why chasing “what channel won” is the wrong question, how deal storytelling reveals the real drivers of pipeline, and why small, cross-functional teams can outperform larger ones when structured around outcomes, not silos. The future of marketing isn’t about replacing humans with AI. It’s about freeing them to think.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thefutureofmarketing.substack.com

In this episode of Future of Marketing, hosts Camille Ricketts and Mada Seghete sit down with Sara Varni, CMO of Datadog, to explore how marketing teams must rebuild, not just automate, in the age of AI. Sara shares how to navigate developer-first go-to-market without losing executive buyers, why PLG and enterprise should operate as one funnel, and how AI should eliminate low-value work while preserving creativity and authenticity.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thefutureofmarketing.substack.com

In this episode of Future of Marketing, hosts Ethan Smith and Mada Seghete sit down with Dave Steer, CMO of Webflow, to explore why trust has become the real competitive advantage for brands navigating an AI-driven market. Drawing on leadership roles at PayPal, eBay, Cloudflare, and Webflow, Dave shares the trust equation modern CMOs need to survive, why most marketing teams fail to prove incremental ROI, and how AI is reshaping the marketer’s role into something closer to a go-to-market engineer.

Learn more about how Webflow helps marketing teams create, manage, and optimize personalized web experiences that drive real results.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thefutureofmarketing.substack.com

In this episode of Future of Marketing, hosts Camille Ricketts and Mada Seghete sit down with Lena Waters, CMO of Notion, to explore how AI is reshaping not just marketing workflows, but how teams work together. They unpack how Notion integrates AI natively into its product and go-to-market, why “show, don’t tell” beats traditional enterprise selling, and how to scale brand, PLG, and enterprise motion without losing warmth or clarity.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thefutureofmarketing.substack.com

In this episode of Future of Marketing, hosts Mada Seghete and Ethan Smith sit down with Meagen Eisenberg, CMO of Samsara, to unpack what it actually takes to build an AI-native marketing team. Meagen shares how marketing deployed live AI agents across marketing ops, web, field marketing, growth, PR, creative and more. The conversation goes beyond tools into culture, accountability, and why creativity and human connection still matter more than ever.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thefutureofmarketing.substack.com

Most marketers aren’t being replaced by AI, they’re being replaced by marketers who actually know how to use it.

In this launch episode of Future of Marketing, Camille Ricketts, Ethan Smith, and Mada Seghete cut through the AI hype to discuss what’s changing inside modern marketing teams. Drawing from real experience, they explore trends in marketing and AI adoption, where AI can create leverage, their own personal use cases for AI (including how to be funnier), and why human judgment, taste, and storytelling matter more than ever. Going over tradeoffs between authenticity, the risks of messy data, and over-personalization, this episode offers a grounded, practical look at how marketers can move faster without losing what makes their work resonate.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thefutureofmarketing.substack.com