Frontier CMO Podcast by Think with Google

Marketing is being rebuilt from the infrastructure up. Search is changing. Commerce is becoming agent-driven. Measurement is being redefined in real time. And the line between engineering and marketing is disappearing.

In this episode of Frontier CMO, host Josh Spanier sits down with Vidhya Srinivasan, Head of Ads and Commerce at Google. As the leader responsible for Google Ads, YouTube Ads, Shopping, Merchant Center, Gemini integrations, and payments, Vidhya is helping architect how the modern marketplace actually works.

The conversation explores what “agentic commerce” really means, why the Universal Commerce Protocol could reshape how brands interface with AI systems, and how Gemini is already rewiring performance, creative, and intent matching across the ad stack. Vidhya explains why CMOs don’t need to code — but must become technologically fluent — and outlines a five-part leadership blueprint for navigating AI transformation with optimism, speed, and accountability.

00:00 – The Vision: Reducing the “Commute Cost” from Desire to Purchase

00:28 – Engineering Meets Marketing: Why the Worlds Are Merging

01:31 – Inside Google Ads & Commerce: The Scale of the Role

03:13 – Agentic Commerce & the Universal Commerce Protocol Explained

04:29 – AI Search, Longer Queries & Reimagining Ads

05:05 – YouTube Creators, Culture & the Creator Partnership Hub

06:18 – How Gemini Powers Google’s Ad Systems

07:06 – Why Trust Is the Foundation of AI Advertising

07:51 – What CMOs Must Understand in the AI Era

14:19 – Measurement, First-Party Data & Cracking Attribution

21:38 – Leading AI Transformation: A 5-Point Playbook

25:32 – The Holy Grail: The Right Ad, Right Person, Right Moment

Marketing is colliding with a creator economy that looks more like television, community, and culture, rather than what we used to think of when we think of social media.

In this episode of Frontier CMO, Josh Spanier, VP of AI & Marketing Strategy at Google, sits down with Colin Rosenblum and Samir Chaudry, creators and hosts of Colin & Samir, to unpack how the creator landscape has fundamentally changed, and what CMOs can do to get creator partnerships right.

They explore why attention without connection is a dead end, how creators have become the arbiters of taste, and why brands must stop treating creator partnerships like performance ads and start building long-term, value-aligned relationships.

A practical, forward-looking discussion on creators, community, and the shift from attention to connection.

Brands are currently caught between two realities: the pretty strategy deck and the real world where attention is the currency. Gary Vaynerchuk, CEO of VaynerMedia joins Josh Spanier, VP of AI & Marketing Strategy at Google to discuss why traditional brand models are failing and which channels remain the C-suite’s most misunderstood growth levers.

Gary argues the bottleneck isn’t media—it’s creative slowed by excessive approvals and organizations built for campaigns rather than culture. To win, brands must collapse the walls between media and production, treating social as a daily operating system. This is a candid conversation for any leader ready to bridge the gap between boardroom theory and real-world business results.

00:00 — Creative vs. Media: What Actually Drives Results

01:38 — Practicing in the Trenches, Not the Decks

02:38 — The Real Role of the CMO in 2025–2026

03:51 — Performance vs. Brand CMOs: Why Both Miss the Mark

05:13 — “Day Trading Attention” and Measuring Real Outcomes

07:28 — Creative Is the Variable of Success

09:49 — LinkedIn Is the B2B World’s TikTok

11:21 — Relevance at Scale Beats “Matching Luggage”

13:49 — Why Production, Creative & Media Must Merge

15:05 — Who Wins in an AI-Powered Marketing World

18:42 — Rebuilding an Agency for the AI Era

21:06 — Brand Means Different Things to Different People

26:07 — How to Pitch Marketing to the CFO

30:41 — Rapid-Fire: Metrics, Media & Buzzwords

32:05 — Field Notes from the Frontier

Today’s CMO is  being asked to deliver growth in a  landscape defined by radical uncertainty and AI disruption.

In this episode of Frontier CMO, Norm de Greve, Chief Growth Officer at General Motors, joins Josh to explore what it takes to drive reinvention inside one of the world’s most complex legacy brands. Norm uses his experience making high-stakes decisions that have defined his career— walking away from $2 billion in tobacco revenue at CVS to steering GM’s resurgence—and turns it into actionable tactics for modern leaders. His thesis: Own the entire business engine, not just the brand.

Learn how to move at the speed of change, without losing your creative soul. 

Whether you are navigating the anxiety of the AI era or managing the tension between short-term performance and long-term brand building, this episode offers a masterclass in building sustainable systems for growth.

00:00 – Creative Still Matters in the Age of AI

00:24 – Welcome to Frontier CMO & Norm De Greve’s Journey

01:22 – Inside GM’s Turnaround and Reinvention

02:26 – Why Automotive Is One of the Most Powerful Brand Businesses

05:01 – Bankruptcy as the Catalyst for Change

06:11 – EVs, Profit Pressure, and a New Marketing Model

08:38 – Leading Teams Through Constant Change and AI Anxiety

10:11 – From CMO to Chief Growth Officer

13:48 – Short-Term Sales vs Long-Term Brand Building

23:48 – Rebuilding GM’s Agency Model with MediaMonks and Metropolis

31:34 – Why Brand and Human Taste Matter More in an AI World

34:24 – Field Notes from the Frontier: Growth, Change, and the Human Soul

Learn more at Think with Google: https://business.google.com/us/think/frontier-cmo/ 

You can also find us on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/frontier-cmo-podcast-by-think-with-google/id1860114911 

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2frcKgPI191iwfmVMHGfgYAmazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/f0b58c08-3ce3-418d-9dad-bd0635141ff4/frontier-cmo-podcast-by-think-with-google

In marketing, AI is not a technology problem, it’s a leadership challenge and opportunity. Our premiere episode of Frontier CMO comes to you from CES 2026. We skipped the crystal ball hype to get to the point: AI is not just a tech shift, it’s a leadership test.

In the first episode, Josh Spanier sits down with Shelly Palmer—CEO of The Palmer Group, Advanced Professor in Residence, and one of the most trusted advisors to the Fortune 500—to separate business-model signals from gadget noise. Shelly was direct: reorganize your marketing around human-agent pairs. In this new era, subject matter expertise is more important than ever. The better you are at your craft, the better your agents will be. Set your department up for continuous adaptation—or watch it grind to a halt.

Thesis: The role of the CMO today is akin to a driver teaching a self-driving car. You are co-working in human-machine pairs, training the system until the day you can move from tactician to pure strategist.