CMOs today need to disrupt themselves, says Adobe's top marketer Lara Balazs

At Adobe, the marketing team is first to test many of its own products. “I am customer zero at the company,” said Lara Balazs, Adobe’s chief marketing officer. “We are co-creating the products that allow us to go to market.

I can give the product people feedback on what works and what doesn’t.” Balazs joined Adobe 18 months ago from Intuit, where she also led marketing.

She said that being a CMO today means getting ahead of constant changes. “You’re disrupting yourself.

You’re reinventing yourself so that you’re a learner all the time, and not assuming that what you did yesterday is going to get you where you’re going to be tomorrow,” she said.