The job description for a CMO has quietly—but radically—changed. Today’s top marketing leaders are expected to move at the speed of culture, understand creators as media ecosystems, deploy AI responsibly, and still deliver commercial growth under relentless scrutiny. The pipeline for that kind of leader, however, hasn’t always kept pace.

VaynerX and The Marketing Academy (TMA) are betting that changes now.

The modern integrated advertising company founded by Gary Vaynerchuk and the global marketing leadership organization led by Sherilyn Shackell have announced a shared commitment to accelerating the development of the next generation of marketing leaders worldwide. The collaboration brings together VaynerX’s culture-first, execution-driven approach with TMA’s long-standing focus on leadership development at the highest levels of marketing.

The partnership isn’t just symbolic. It’s designed to influence how future CMOs are identified, trained, and supported—well before they reach the top job.

The Future CMO Takes Center Stage

That shared vision was put into practice at VaynerX’s Future CMO Summit (FCMO), held at The Ranch at Rock Creek in Montana. The two-day, invite-only gathering brought together 20 high-potential marketers, each nominated by senior brand leaders, for an immersive professional development experience.

Rather than a traditional conference format, the summit emphasized candid conversation, real-time learning, and reflection. The focus was less on slides and more on the realities of leading in a world shaped by culture, creators, and AI.

At the core of the event—and the broader partnership—is a belief shared by both organizations: the most important person in the room is the future CMO. And the industry, they argue, has a responsibility to invest in that talent early, not after the title arrives.

A New Definition of Marketing Leadership

“Marketing is in the middle of a massive shift,” said Gary Vaynerchuk, Chairman of VaynerX. “Tomorrow’s CMOs must be fluent in culture, creators, AI, and speed, and most importantly, lead with empathy and accountability. Nurturing that talent early is essential for the future of our industry.”

That framing reflects a broader recalibration of what marketing leadership means. The modern CMO is no longer just the steward of brand and demand generation. They’re increasingly expected to be:

• A cultural translator who understands internet-native behavior

• A partner to creators and communities, not just media buyers

• A strategic operator who can apply AI without losing human judgment

• A leader capable of navigating organizational complexity and public scrutiny

This expanded remit has made the CMO role more powerful—and more fragile. Turnover remains high across many industries, often because the role evolves faster than leaders are prepared for.

VaynerX and TMA are positioning their collaboration as a way to close that readiness gap.

Why The Marketing Academy Fits This Moment

The Marketing Academy has spent years building a global network of senior marketers and future leaders, with a strong emphasis on confidence, capability, and values-based leadership. Its alumni network now includes more than 1,400 marketing leaders across the U.S., EMEA, and APAC.

“Our mission is to develop extraordinary leadership in exceptional talent,” said Sherilyn Shackell, Founder and Global CEO of The Marketing Academy. “By aligning with VaynerX around this shared ambition, we can help rising CMOs build the confidence, capability, and modern skillsets required to thrive in an increasingly complex world.”

The alignment makes strategic sense. TMA brings structure, mentorship, and long-term leadership development. VaynerX brings real-time exposure to how brands, platforms, and culture actually operate today.

Together, they’re aiming to blend theory with practice—something many leadership programs struggle to do in fast-changing digital environments.

From Summit Insights to Scaled Impact

The Montana summit wasn’t meant to be a one-off experience. Insights from the Future CMO Summit will directly inform programming throughout 2025 and 2026, shaping how both organizations approach leadership development.

Key themes emerging from the gathering include:

• Cultural fluency as a core executive skill, not a soft one

• Community-centric leadership, where audiences are participants, not targets

• Content ecosystem thinking, replacing campaign-first mental models

• AI enablement, with a focus on judgment, governance, and speed

These ideas reflect where marketing is heading, not where it’s been. As platforms fragment and attention becomes more contextual, CMOs are expected to orchestrate ecosystems rather than manage channels.

What’s Coming Next

Following the Future CMO Summit, VaynerX and TMA plan to roll out a series of coordinated initiatives aimed at emerging marketing leaders across regions. These include:

• Curated leadership development sessions and modern skill-building experiences

• Intimate roundtables and peer gatherings for future CMOs

• Cross-regional mentorship and connections with senior VaynerX and TMA leaders

• Ongoing thought leadership focused on the evolving role of the CMO

By spanning the U.S., EMEA, and APAC, the partnership also acknowledges that marketing leadership is no longer geographically uniform. Cultural context matters—and global CMOs must learn to operate across markets without defaulting to one-size-fits-all thinking.

Why This Matters to the Industry

At a time when AI is rewriting workflows and creators are reshaping media economics, marketing leadership development hasn’t always kept pace. Many organizations still rely on outdated playbooks or assume that experience alone will prepare leaders for what’s next.

This collaboration signals a different approach: proactive, intentional, and grounded in modern realities.

For brands, it suggests a future talent pool better equipped to handle complexity. For agencies, it reinforces the idea that leadership development is a shared responsibility, not just an internal HR function. And for rising marketers, it offers something increasingly rare—space to think, learn, and prepare before the pressure peaks.

The goal, as VaynerX and The Marketing Academy describe it, is simple but ambitious: to equip future CMOs with the tools, perspective, and community they need to shape the next era of global brand-building.

In an industry obsessed with what’s new, this partnership is a reminder that the most valuable investment may still be people.

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