Marketing lessons from the Frontier: 7 ways top CMOs turn AI into growth

Over the past year, Josh Spanier, Google’s VP of AI and marketing strategy and host of Frontier CMO, sat down with more than 200 marketing leaders to learn what’s actually working — and what isn’t. “Lessons from the Frontier” distills a year of these conversations from the Frontier CMO podcast and newsletter into seven hard-won marketing lessons from leaders at Estée Lauder, JPMorgan Chase, L’Oréal, Gap Inc., AT&T, Chime, Liquid Death, and Google.

Looking across those conversations, the bigger picture is coming into view: 2025 was the year of wow, all of us marveling at the parlor tricks generative models could perform, and 2026 was the year of experimentation across thousands of pilots and test kitchens. Now, 2027 is the year to stand and deliver.

Consider this report a year of practical field notes from the leaders doing the hard work. Highlight it, argue with it, send the key takeaways to your CFO, and hand the checklists to your team on Monday morning.

Each of the seven lessons ends with a Monday morning playbook: one move for the C-suite/board, one for leading your team. Plus, a Signal or Noise roundup where marketing’s top leaders settle the hottest debates in the industry. Read it, debate it with your team, and bring it to your next board meeting.

Download the full report.