The 'AI update' has become a standing agenda item in roughly 70% of the boardrooms we've surveyed. Most CMOs are walking in with a strategy slide. The CMOs keeping their seats are walking in with a working demo.
The deck that's working has three slides. Slide one: one workflow we automated this quarter, with the before/after cost and cycle time. Slide two: one capability we built in-house that we used to buy. Slide three: one role we redesigned (not eliminated, redesigned) and what that operator now owns.
The two metrics: cost per qualified output (down) and cycle time per campaign (down). Both are defensible without a measurement debate. Both are the language the CFO already speaks.
The demo is non-negotiable. Walk in, open the laptop, run the workflow live. The board does not need to understand the prompt. They need to see the output appear.
"The board doesn't want a strategy slide on AI. They want to see one workflow that runs, today, without you in the room."