Why CMOs Need To Rethink the Modern Tech Stack

It’s been a tough few years to be a Chief Marketing Officer. Unstable economic conditions around the globe have resulted in dramatically reduced budgets, headcounts and resources. For the past few years, the marketing mantra has been “do more with less,” a slogan that most CMOs would be happy to never hear again.

But the truth is that budgets are not coming back any time soon. “Do more with less” is no longer a temporary state, it’s the new normal. Marketing teams can no longer simply tighten their belts and try to “wait out” budget constraints with the idea that some magical pot of gold is awaiting them in the next quarter or two. In most cases, help is not on the way. But companies still need to grow and CEOs still expect results.

To propel pipeline forward with today’s budget constraints, we need to take a new view of the decisions that go into building a modern tech stack. The odd thing about martech is that while budgets are generally constrained, the average size of the marketing tech stack continues to grow. According to the 2025 State of Your Stack Survey from Chiefmartec.com and MarketingOps.com, 62.1% of respondents use more tools than two years ago. The famed Scott Brinker chart that captures the enormity of the martech landscape now features more than 14,000+ tools and apps, and the explosion of new AI software will certainly drive that number way up. Not exactly a recipe for “do more with less.”

There are now multiple tools and platforms to answer every marketing challenge. The question is how we build a smart tech stack that enhances our ability to drive results without adding complexity or requiring more headcount and investment.

Here are a few simple rules that can help:

1. Focus on technologies that integrate with, and share data, across your tech stack

Data, especially first-party data, is the magic that makes digital marketing effective. Any technology that generates data, and most should, must be able to integrate with the foundational systems that sit at the center of your programs, like marketing automation and CRM platforms. An example of effective data sharing would be webinar and event software that feeds first-party audience data into a marketing automation platform, which runs that data through a predictive analytics tool, and then creates nurture paths leveraging orchestration or ABM software. By creating a unified flow of data, we get more value from each of these systems.

2. Prioritize marketing technologies that automate core functionality and processes

With limited resources including headcount, many marketing teams simply don’t have the bandwidth to manage any complex systems that require a lot of manual labor to get the most value from those technologies. The good news is that marketing software is increasingly integrating machine learning and AI capabilities to perform basic configuration and management functions that used to require more headcount to manage. And this is just the beginning, config wizards will soon be replaced by AI-driven agents that should not only decrease the need for additional people power. These intelligent agents should also increase the value that we get from these systems as they guide us to use them more effectively.

3. Leverage AI that is integrated into the foundational systems you already have

AI is transforming marketing in innumerable ways. Generative AI and large language models (LLMs) have made content creation faster and more efficient than we could have ever imagined. But that doesn’t mean that you need to start adding a flurry of AI apps into an already complex tech stack. AI capabilities are being integrated into most of the foundational technologies that already power your marketing today. AI tools can have a faster and more profound effect on your marketing programs when they do not interrupt your current workflows by adding new software. From marketing automation to customer engagement platforms, the most cost-effective way to harness the power of AI is by leveraging those capabilities as they are being added to your existing core systems.

4. Prioritize technologies that deliver measurable and actionable results

Marketers have normalized the idea of dedicating a certain amount of martech spend on technologies that are “nice to haves” rather than critical. But at some point, hard choices need to be made. An old-fashioned cost/benefit analysis is likely to show that there are some elements of our tech stack that are simply not as mission critical as others. In today’s environment, every single tool in the modern martech stack should have a strong, provable ROI that can be measured in pipeline impact — a rule that should make it easier to make those tough decisions when budget cuts are necessary.

5. Embrace technologies that help your prospects, not just sell to them

It’s important to never forget that at the end of every bit of marketing technology is a human being. Marketing tools are just that, tools to market to people. But the best marketing tools are the ones that deliver value to the person you are trying to sell to. From intelligent content hubs, to personalization tools, to AI-driven recommendation engines, embrace the technologies that are the most effective at helping you connect with your customers. Modern marketing means that every audience touchpoint should be personalized, and that every interaction tells you more about the people you engage with. “Humanizing” your marketing may be as simple as being the company that can deliver exactly the right content, in the right way, at the right time. Because helping is selling.

If this is indeed a new normal, CMOs will have to re-align both how they build their teams and which technologies they choose to help them achieve their goals. And those “must have” core technologies will be the ones that automate processes, integrate and effectively share data across systems, and deliver measurable ROI and pipeline impact. “Do more with less” needs to simply become “do more” and an intelligent tech stack that meets these criteria can be a critical first step.