How to Evolve as a CMO: Navigating New Markets, Personas, and Business Models with Kady Srinivasan

The Exit Five CMO Podcast (Hosted by Dave Gerhardt)

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#276 Career Growth | Dave is joined by Kady Srinivasan, CMO at You.com, an AI-first company building infrastructure for enterprise agents. Kady has led marketing at some of the world’s most recognizable companies, including Dropbox, Klaviyo, and Lightspeed, where she scaled teams, drove massive revenue growth, and navigated ICP pivots. Now, she’s bringing that experience into the fast-changing world of AI.

Dave and Kady cover:

How to evolve as a CMO across industries, personas, and business models
The three core systems CMOs need to scale teams and drive alignment
How AI is reshaping marketing roles, workflows, and the skills future CMOs will need

You’ll walk away with lessons you can apply to your own career, no matter what market or role you’re in.

Timestamps

(00:00) - – Intro
(02:23) - – From engineer to reluctant marketer
(04:57) - – Gaming years and “coolest mom” cred
(07:12) - – The story behind You.com’s domain
(08:51) - – Why she jumped into AI
(11:20) - – Reinventing yourself as a CMO
(13:20) - – Fundamentals that never change in marketing
(15:33) - – Aligning marketing with company strategy
(18:44) - – Pivoting the ICP at Lightspeed
(21:46) - – Lessons on cross-functional alignment
(24:28) - – Letting go to grow as a leader
(27:13) - – Systems every CMO should set up
(34:03) - – Why no single playbook works
(35:44) - – How AI is reshaping marketing roles
(50:24) - – Building an AI-first marketing org and closing thoughts

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