Mark Kirkham, chief marketing officer of PepsiCo Beverages US, said at Cannes Lions that AI has moved from tech hype to everyday operational reality in marketing. The shift matters because disruption cycles that once took five to ten years now unfold in five to ten months, Kirkham told Marketing Vanguard host Jenny Rooney in a vidcast recorded live at Cannes Lions 2026.
Kirkham, a 15-year PepsiCo veteran who leads brand and category programs across Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Starry, Bubly, and Mug, said AI is no longer a pilot project topic. It's part of how marketing teams operate every day.
CMOs should evaluate AI through four lenses: growth, efficiency, insight, and discoverability, he said. That framework helps leaders separate tools that change marketing outcomes from those that just generate activity.
As AI becomes operational work rather than a hype topic, marketing teams need practical skills, not just awareness. Structured training such as AI for Marketing and an AI Learning Path for CMOs addresses that gap.
Disruption cycles run on months, not years
Kirkham said the compressed timeline changes what leaders need from the industry. Annual check-ins with peers and partners are no longer enough. CMOs need constant conversation with agencies, peers, and partners to stay close to what's evolving across brands and the broader ecosystem.
For Kirkham, the job isn't only to keep learning individually. It's also to share collectively. Cannes and communities like Marketing Vanguard create rare spaces for honest conversation, disagreement, and healthy tension.
"The day I stop learning is the day I stop being a marketer," Kirkham said. "But the day marketers stop sharing with each other is the day the industry stops learning."
Challenger brands and Cannes curation
Kirkham pointed to Poppi, the prebiotic soda brand, as an example of why traditional marketing teams need different perspectives in the room. Bringing in talent from a brand built through organic social forces a large organization like PepsiCo to see brand building differently.
It's not about one model being better than another, he said. It's about exposing teams to different instincts, different speeds, and different ways of earning attention.
Kirkham also said the compression at Cannes is a good thing if it leads to better curation. Fewer people, fewer submissions, and more intentional participation can improve the quality of work, conversation, and networking.
For CMOs, the takeaway is clear: showing up everywhere and submitting everything is not a strategy. The stronger move is knowing what deserves attention and making those moments count.
Why this matters for marketing professionals
Kirkham's comments point to a concrete shift in how marketing leaders work. If disruption cycles now run in months, marketers can't wait for annual conferences or quarterly reviews to adjust strategy. They need continuous input from peers, practical AI skills, and the discipline to focus on fewer, higher-quality initiatives. His evaluation framework - growth, efficiency, insight, discoverability - gives marketing teams a way to assess AI investments without getting caught in the hype.
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