Fractional CMOs in an AI Buyer Economy: Designing Growth When You Don’t Control the Journey with Tanay Sarpotdar

If you don’t control the buyer journey anymore… what exactly is your role?In this episode, we bring the series together by redefining the role of marketing leadership—especially Fractional CMOs—in an AI-shaped world.Building on the Shadow Buyer, Algorithm Economy, 6-Second Decision Engine, and AI Buyer Committee, we introduce a new mandate: 👉 From campaign execution to decision architecture.You’ll discover the three critical layers of modern growth:Pre-decision influence (where AI shapes perception)Decision compression (where direction is locked quickly)Post-decision validation (where choices are justified, not made)This episode is not about doing more marketing. It’s about designing the system in which decisions happen.Because in 2026, growth doesn’t come from controlling the journey.👉 It comes from influencing what happens before the journey even begins.