The Future of the CMO

What began as a quiet elimination of CMO roles across top health systems is now a full-blown reckoning: healthcare economics, financial pressures, and the rise of AI are forcing healthcare marketers to face new realities, or face dwindling influence, budgets and job security.

In 2023, BPD called this moment “Rome is Burning.” By 2025, it’s clear the threats are real, and growing. What’s also clear is that opportunities for CMOs and those in marketing are also real. This report is based on two years of research and conversations with CMOS, CEOs and other executives in the health system sector, including conference panels, the 2024 Joe Public Retreat, and qualitative interviews with more than three dozen executives.