CMOs, Pick a Lane: Karin Timpone's Strategy to Turn AI Into Results

Marketing Vanguard: Using AI with Clear Intent - Insights from ClearPrompt CEO Karin Timpone

Live from the 2026 World Economic Forum in Davos, ClearPrompt founder and CEO Karin Timpone cut through the noise: AI works when it serves strategy, not the other way around. Her message to executives is simple-start narrow, prove value fast, and align the C-suite around measurable business outcomes.

Timpone, formerly CMO at MLB and Marriott, built ClearPrompt as an AI-powered strategy platform for marketing leaders. The goal isn't more content or dashboards. It's shared strategic clarity that finance, operations, creative, and marketing can execute against in the same language.

What you'll learn

• Why CMOs are set up to lead AI strategy across the enterprise
• How to break AI into phased pilots instead of risky, sweeping bets
• The difference between adopting tools and driving actual strategic impact
• How to build cross-functional alignment in the C-suite
• Why you should pick one lane and go deep instead of trying to cover all of AI
• Why industry moments matter for peer learning and faster decision-making

Create AI Tools That Unite the C-Suite Around Strategy

The breakthrough isn't faster content. It's a shared foundation. ClearPrompt converts business strategy intake into instant, collaborative drafts that every function can read the same way-four Ps, growth templates, positioning, and message hierarchies.

That positions the CMO as orchestrator of enterprise strategy, not just owner of campaigns. AI accelerates consensus-building across functions so execution moves in lockstep.

• Standardize inputs: objectives, constraints, audiences, channels, budgets
• Codify outputs: one-page growth plan, brand narrative, message ladder
• Make this the single source of truth before creative or analytics begin

AI Is a Means to Better Execution-Not the Goal

Leaders get stuck asking, "Should we use AI?" The better question: "What business problem are we solving, and does AI speed up a proven path?" The mission is unchanged-growth, relationships, reputation. AI just compresses time and increases personalization.

• Replace "AI-first" talk with "outcome-first" briefs
• Define the customer moment you want to improve and how you'll measure it
• Let the tech follow the strategy, not lead it

Tie Every AI Initiative to Explicit Business Outcomes

Introducing AI without strategic anchors creates misalignment across creative, analytics, and platform teams. The fix is an agile cadence that locks each pilot to one testable outcome in Phase One.

• Pick one: growth rate, competitive differentiation, or customer lifetime value
• Write the hypothesis: "If we do X with AI, Y metric will move by Z% in 30-60 days"
• Get pre-commit from finance and ops on what "good" looks like

Run Focused, Phased Pilots Instead of Betting the Farm

Big-bang rollouts stall. Phased pilots create momentum without organizational risk. Keep the scope small, the feedback loop short, and the scoreboard visible.

• Phase 1: Prove one outcome with one team on one use case
• Phase 2: Scale to adjacent teams and shared workflows
• Phase 3: Integrate into processes, governance, and data pipelines

Pick a Lane Instead of Trying to Do It All

Trying to cover every AI application leads to analysis paralysis. Choose one strategic lane that already matters to your plan: storytelling, data analysis, customer insights, or speed-to-market.

• If you pick storytelling: standardize brand narratives and message ladders
• If you pick insights: unify data sources and automate weekly decision briefs
• If you pick speed: build a brief-to-asset pipeline with approvals baked in

Frontier CMO: The Questions Leaders Actually Need to Answer

Google's VP of AI and Marketing Strategy, Joshua Spanier, brings a practical filter to AI, brand relevance, and team design in Frontier CMO. The conversation is blunt: lead like a human, use AI for leverage, and rebuild workflows that make work faster and smarter.

• AI as a leadership test: build teams that can use new tools with judgment
• Brand relevance: show up where your audience already spends attention
• Agentic commerce: move from "speed vs. certainty" to fast and smart shopping
• The new marketing org: restructure roles and agency models for real-time work

Each episode pushes practical moves executives can apply next week.

Executive Playbook: The 30-60-90 Plan

• 30 days: Pick one lane, define one outcome, and draft the shared strategy doc
• 60 days: Launch the pilot, run weekly reviews, and document learnings
• 90 days: Scale the winning workflow and cut anything that didn't move a metric

Next Steps

• Codify your growth strategy into a one-page template everyone uses
• Select a pilot that touches revenue, cost, or customer value-nothing abstract
• Stand up governance: data access, human-in-the-loop, approvals, and audit logs
• Set a visible scoreboard and review progress with the C-suite biweekly

If you're standing up strategic AI programs inside marketing, start here: AI Learning Path for CMOs. For broader governance and enterprise alignment, see AI for Executives & Strategy.

Karin Timpone's bottom line: treat AI as an accelerator on a clear strategy, not a replacement for it. Pick your lane, prove value fast, and use that momentum to align the enterprise.