Speaker Bio
Kristina LaRocca-Cerrone is a Vice President, Advisory for Gartner for Marketing Leaders, based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. She acts as Gartner's marketing headlining speaker.
Kristina helps CMOs with developing marketing strategy, communicating strategy to the rest of the C-suite, and helping translate strategic objectives to operational plans and goals. She also supports CMOs in leadership: change management and team culture, driving employee behavior change, improving cross-functional collaboration, upskilling marketing's strategic thinking, and in org design and operations: understanding org trends and structural tradeoffs or pros and cons, evaluating potential operating models, conducting org restructures and communicating about structural changes. And, she has a deep background in buyer and customer research, focused on understanding how people (B2B buyers and customers) buy and make decisions, especially in digitized environments. This includes topics like how buying groups conduct research, how online and offline experiences drive commercial outcomes, and how marketers can impact customer behavior. Kristina has helped to develop Gartner's research on Collaboration Drag, Catalytic Marketing, and Market Shaper CMOs.
Kristina has over a decade of experience in public speaking from webinars, conference presentation, workshop facilitation and designing and leading focus groups, to delivering conference keynotes to audiences of 2000+
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Sessions
Monday, 11 May, 2026
09:30 AM - 10:15 AM BST
Gartner Opening Keynote: Accelerating Marketing’s AI Advantage ─ The Path to 2030
Kristina LaRocca-Cerrone,
VP Analyst, Gartner
Jay Wilson,
VP Analyst, Gartner
AI isn't just a tool, it is redefining what's possible in Marketing. Gartner’s opening keynote will reveal the three stages of AI maturity and why so many organizations get stuck in the “messy middle." We will uncover pitfalls to avoid and strategies to unlock true AI Advantage, to outpace the competition and set the standard for 2030 and beyond, regardless of where you are on your AI journey.
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Monday, 11 May, 2026
02:30 PM - 04:00 PM BST
CMO Circle Research Discussion: From Vision to Value: Operationalizing Your AI-Powered Marketing Organization
Kristina LaRocca-Cerrone,
VP Analyst, Gartner
As AI adoption accelerates, CMOs face mounting pressure to translate technological potential into tangible business outcomes. Yet, the path to ROI is difficult to navigate. Join this session to learn what a realistic vision for an AI-powered marketing organization looks like, how to move beyond technological-focused change to harness strategic, structural and cultural opportunities, and how to manage the multiyear transition process for reshaping marketing roles and workflows.
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Tuesday, 12 May, 2026
10:30 AM - 11:00 AM BST
Become a Market-Shaper CMO
Kristina LaRocca-Cerrone,
VP Analyst, Gartner
Fewer than half of CMOs surpass C-suite expectations, despite hitting commercial targets. However, market-shaper CMOs are 88% more likely to exceed CEO and CFO expectations. This session reveals the profile and competencies that set market-shaper CMOs apart, along with real-life examples from leaders already taking this approach.
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Tuesday, 12 May, 2026
02:00 PM - 03:30 PM BST
CMO Circle Workshop: Maintain Employee Engagement by Building Marketing's Change Resilience
Kristina LaRocca-Cerrone,
VP Analyst, Gartner
Marketing is in an age of evolution! But without the right practices during change or disruption, employee engagement and team culture can suffer. Join this session and learn how to build change resilience into your team culture, so you can drive adoption of new behaviors and habits, without sacrificing employee engagement.
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