How marketers are thinking like founders and embracing AI from the top down

Jul 6, 2025

Paramark News Desk

Credit: onedge.co (edited)

Key Points

  • Edge CMO Carolyn Bao discusses how the divide between brand and data is disappearing, requiring marketers to integrate creativity with analytics.

  • Data quality issues limit the execution of AI-powered personalization in marketing.

  • Effective marketing now requires cross-functional collaboration and a founder-like mindset.


Some marketers are deeply data-driven, others are not. But the truth is, to navigate today's landscape, every marketer must become data-driven. I often think of it like two rivers meeting—they merge, but the colors of the water remain distinct.

Carolyn Bao

Chief Marketing Officer
,
Edge

The divide between brand and data is gone. Today’s marketers can’t just pick a lane, they need to blend creative instincts with analytical chops. The currents have collided, and there’s no swimming back.

Carolyn Bao is Chief Marketing Officer at Edge, a modern talent solutions platform providing pre-vetted, pre-trained global talent to fill in essential back office jobs while ensuring ongoing compliance, security, and quality of the employment. With two decades in go-to-market strategy at Intuit, Meta, and a slew of other tech leaders, she calls it what it is: a foundational reset.

Currents collide: "Some marketers are deeply data-driven, others are not. But the truth is, to navigate today's landscape, every marketer must become data-driven," says Bao. "I often think of it like two rivers meeting, they merge, but the colors of the water remain distinct." That merging is no longer optional. As foundational assumptions erode, the very definition of success is shifting. "In the past, we knew that SEO was all about optimizing for Google's algorithm. That's no longer true," she says. Across brand, SEO, and paid, once-reliable strategies are faltering, accelerated by data gaps from cookie loss and platform changes.

No empty output: The disruption demands more than just adaptability. It calls for entirely new skill sets. "It’s incredibly critical for marketers to be AI-comfortable and AI-savvy," Bao says. And it’s not just about ChatGPT. Mastery of a broad range of AI tools is becoming essential, not only to boost productivity, but to lead with ideas and create standout content at speed. "It’s beyond just output," she says. "It’s about becoming a thought leader."

Reality check: When it comes to AI-powered personalization, Bao doesn’t sugarcoat it. "The amount of execution in personalization is less than 30%, people talk more than they’re able to execute," she says. The biggest barrier, Bao says, is that "most of us struggle with murky data to begin with." Her team adopts a "crawl, walk, run" approach, applying automation only where data is clean and controlled. As for the broader market? "The vision is great, but not even 50% of organizations can truly do it, especially in B2B, where our data is just much smaller."

Are we connected enough with adopters that they help us improve—and are willing to review and refer?

Carolyn Bao

Chief Marketing Officer
,
Edge

It takes a village: Adapting to AI, data complexity, and evolving buyer journeys is forcing a restructure not just of teams, but of mindsets. "Every executive needs to think like a founder and beyond 'what I’m supposed to do,'" says Bao. That kind of leadership maturity creates space for cross-functional collaboration where issues are addressed early and where marketing no longer operates in a silo. "I’m seeing outbound and ABM become more of a shared priority, not just something marketing pushes on everyone else," she says. Strategies like that demand go-to-market fluency across the org.

Not your grandma's RevOps: "The type of RevOps I worked with—and am forever grateful for—think almost like internal McKinsey consultants," says Bao. Not just operators, but strategic partners. The best ones go beyond dashboards to shape go-to-market strategy, refine ICPs, and bring scoring models to life. Crucially, they keep marketing and sales in sync. "This is where RevOps, operating like a COO, can step in to mediate, clarify, or even say, 'Stop counting beans' when it comes to multi-touch attribution in B2B."

Some rules still rule: While GTM strategies have evolved, a few fundamentals still hold, especially for startups. "First, do we deeply understand who loves the solution and why they love it?" Bao asks. Next: real feedback loops. "Are we connected enough with adopters that they help us improve, and are willing to review and refer?" That deep connection fuels her belief in referral-based marketing. And finally: human connection still matters. "Nothing online truly replaces that in-person experience," she says, pointing to the renewed energy behind conferences and community-led growth.

How marketers are thinking like founders and embracing AI from the top down

Jul 6, 2025

Paramark News Desk

Credit: onedge.co (edited)

Key Points

  • Edge CMO Carolyn Bao discusses how the divide between brand and data is disappearing, requiring marketers to integrate creativity with analytics.

  • Data quality issues limit the execution of AI-powered personalization in marketing.

  • Effective marketing now requires cross-functional collaboration and a founder-like mindset.


Some marketers are deeply data-driven, others are not. But the truth is, to navigate today's landscape, every marketer must become data-driven. I often think of it like two rivers meeting—they merge, but the colors of the water remain distinct.

Carolyn Bao

Chief Marketing Officer
,
Edge

The divide between brand and data is gone. Today’s marketers can’t just pick a lane, they need to blend creative instincts with analytical chops. The currents have collided, and there’s no swimming back.

Carolyn Bao is Chief Marketing Officer at Edge, a modern talent solutions platform providing pre-vetted, pre-trained global talent to fill in essential back office jobs while ensuring ongoing compliance, security, and quality of the employment. With two decades in go-to-market strategy at Intuit, Meta, and a slew of other tech leaders, she calls it what it is: a foundational reset.

Currents collide: "Some marketers are deeply data-driven, others are not. But the truth is, to navigate today's landscape, every marketer must become data-driven," says Bao. "I often think of it like two rivers meeting, they merge, but the colors of the water remain distinct." That merging is no longer optional. As foundational assumptions erode, the very definition of success is shifting. "In the past, we knew that SEO was all about optimizing for Google's algorithm. That's no longer true," she says. Across brand, SEO, and paid, once-reliable strategies are faltering, accelerated by data gaps from cookie loss and platform changes.

No empty output: The disruption demands more than just adaptability. It calls for entirely new skill sets. "It’s incredibly critical for marketers to be AI-comfortable and AI-savvy," Bao says. And it’s not just about ChatGPT. Mastery of a broad range of AI tools is becoming essential, not only to boost productivity, but to lead with ideas and create standout content at speed. "It’s beyond just output," she says. "It’s about becoming a thought leader."

Reality check: When it comes to AI-powered personalization, Bao doesn’t sugarcoat it. "The amount of execution in personalization is less than 30%, people talk more than they’re able to execute," she says. The biggest barrier, Bao says, is that "most of us struggle with murky data to begin with." Her team adopts a "crawl, walk, run" approach, applying automation only where data is clean and controlled. As for the broader market? "The vision is great, but not even 50% of organizations can truly do it, especially in B2B, where our data is just much smaller."

Are we connected enough with adopters that they help us improve—and are willing to review and refer?

Carolyn Bao

Chief Marketing Officer
,
Edge

It takes a village: Adapting to AI, data complexity, and evolving buyer journeys is forcing a restructure not just of teams, but of mindsets. "Every executive needs to think like a founder and beyond 'what I’m supposed to do,'" says Bao. That kind of leadership maturity creates space for cross-functional collaboration where issues are addressed early and where marketing no longer operates in a silo. "I’m seeing outbound and ABM become more of a shared priority, not just something marketing pushes on everyone else," she says. Strategies like that demand go-to-market fluency across the org.

Not your grandma's RevOps: "The type of RevOps I worked with—and am forever grateful for—think almost like internal McKinsey consultants," says Bao. Not just operators, but strategic partners. The best ones go beyond dashboards to shape go-to-market strategy, refine ICPs, and bring scoring models to life. Crucially, they keep marketing and sales in sync. "This is where RevOps, operating like a COO, can step in to mediate, clarify, or even say, 'Stop counting beans' when it comes to multi-touch attribution in B2B."

Some rules still rule: While GTM strategies have evolved, a few fundamentals still hold, especially for startups. "First, do we deeply understand who loves the solution and why they love it?" Bao asks. Next: real feedback loops. "Are we connected enough with adopters that they help us improve, and are willing to review and refer?" That deep connection fuels her belief in referral-based marketing. And finally: human connection still matters. "Nothing online truly replaces that in-person experience," she says, pointing to the renewed energy behind conferences and community-led growth.