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For years, marketers worried about being replaced by AI.
Turns out, we’re being replaced by experience.
What the Data Says
Source: Tailgence, September 2025
C-level and VP roles are booming. Up nearly 30% YoY.
Mid-level roles? Flat.
Specialists and entry-level? Down hard.
The result is marketing orgs aren’t flattening, they’re aging. The center of gravity is shifting upward, toward judgment, experience, and multifunctional skill.
Why It’s Happening
1. Automation kills apprenticeship.
Junior roles used to exist so you could “learn by doing.” Now, the doing is automated. Fewer interns. Fewer coordinators. Companies expect new hires to arrive pre-trained.
2. Budgets reward certainty.
In tight markets, no one wants to gamble on potential. They want the person who’s seen the movie before. Someone who can skip the montage and get to the outcome.
3. Leverage lives at the top.
The best modern CMOs don’t manage functions, they compress them. One senior generalist who can write, analyze, and strategize is worth three mid-level specialists who can’t see the whole board.
The New Hiring Archetype
Marketers aren’t being hired for a channel anymore. They’re being hired for adaptability.
The new brief sounds like this: “We need someone who can own strategy, brief the team, build the funnel, and talk to finance.”
That’s not a department head. It's a full-stack operator. And that’s who’s winning right now.
The Vanishing Entry Point
Here’s the dark side… If you’re a new marketer, the on-ramp has all but disappeared.
There are fewer apprenticeships, fewer training grounds, and fewer patient managers. Marketing has become a sport where the rookies don’t get to play.
That’s a long-term problem for the industry. But a short-term reality for the people hiring today.
The Takeaway
Marketing isn’t democratizing. It’s concentrating. Experience compounds, and companies are paying for the compounders.
We used to think AI would replace people. Instead, it replaced the need for repetition. And when repetition disappears, so do entry points.
The org chart isn’t flattening. It’s tilting upward.
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