Inside Google’s Creative Frontier with Josh Woodward & Robert Wong

Inside Google’s Creative Frontier with Josh Woodward & Robert Wong

On this special episode of the Frontier CMO podcast, host Josh Spanier, VP of AI and Marketing Strategy at Google, sits down with two of the driving forces shaping the future of AI and creative: Robert Wong, head of Google’s Creative Lab, and Josh Woodward, head of Google Labs, Gemini, & AI Studio.  Together, they tell the story of how their teams of engineers and marketers came together to create Flow, a groundbreaking AI tool that is unlocking creativity and storytelling in marketing, Hollywood and beyond. Taped at Google Marketing Live, Google’s biggest marketing event of the year, this conversation offers a rare look at how Google is reimagining creativity in the age of AI. 0:00 – AI’s Creative Breakthrough Moment 2:05 – Mind-Blowing AI Projects & Experiences 4:15 – Building Gemini & What’s “Almost Possible” 6:15 – Bringing Soul & Humanity Into AI 7:20 – Staying Ahead in the AI Era 10:05 – Lowering Fear to Unlock Creativity 12:05 – The Frustrations & Limits of AI 15:05 – Why AI Still Needs Human Creativity 16:00 – Building Flow for Creative Professionals 20:05 – The Future of Personalized AI Tools 22:00 – The Best Google AI Tools to Try Now 25:05 – Why Great Creative Still Matters 26:00 – The AI Creative Renaissance Ahead

Beyond the Pitch: Inside Arsenal’s Global Fandom Playbook

Most football clubs are built around matchday but not Arsenal. As it enters its 140th year, the team in a lot of ways, is only just getting started.  In this episode of Frontier CMO, Josh travels to London to meet Juliet Slot, Chief Commercial Officer at Arsenal Football Club, on home turf to go inside the playbook behind one of the most engaged global fanbases in sports.  From the rapid rise of the women’s league to the clubs’ staying power of “cool,” Juliet shares why serving your fanbase is better than trying to sell them.  This conversation lands at a historic moment with the club reaching its first UEFA Champions League Final in 20 years and is within reach from capturing the Premier League title. As FIFA tournaments kick off around the globe, this is your front row ticket to exploring how one of the world’s biggest clubs is making its mark across platforms, geographies, and generations. 00:00 Arsenal’s Global Brand Philosophy 02:00 Serving Fans Beyond Match Day 04:10 Building a Modern Global Football Brand 06:00 Fashion, Culture & the Arsenal Identity 07:30 Personalization, Content & AI Strategy 09:40 Understanding Different Types of Fans 10:45 Measuring Real Fan Engagement 12:30 The Viral Women’s Football Dating Campaign 14:00 Fans as Co-Creators of the Arsenal Brand 16:30 Authentic Marketing vs. Over-Selling 18:40 Growing Arsenal Women Into a Global Business 22:45 Choosing the Right Brand Partnerships 24:20 Purpose-Driven Campaigns & “No More Red” 25:45 Creating One Unified Club Culture 27:00 Winning Beyond Trophies 29:20 The Future of Sports, Tech & Virtual Viewing 32:00 Why Arsenal Resonates Around the World 34:00 Final Lessons on Community & Long-Term Growth

Asmita Dubey on AI, Fragmentation, and the Future of Marketing

Marketing is entering its most complex era yet. AI is accelerating everything—but the real challenge is making sense of a system that is fragmenting faster than ever. In this episode of Frontier CMO, Josh Spanier sits down with Asmita Dubey, Chief Digital and Marketing Officer at L’Oréal Groupe, who leads digital transformation across the world’s largest beauty company. With more than 90,000 employees and dozens of global brands, Asmita is responsible for navigating how AI, data, and creativity reshape marketing at enterprise scale. The conversation explores why fragmentation defines modern marketing—from the consumer journey to the marketing organization itself—and how leaders must respond by building systems that scale learning. Asmita shares how L’Oréal has operationalized transformation through massive upskilling, AI-powered content creation, and a culture built around what she calls the “dual muscle” of math and magic: the balance of technology, creativity, speed, and brand building.  For CMOs and founders navigating a moment where AI is reshaping every layer of marketing—from insight to creation to commerce—this conversation offers a practical blueprint for leading transformation while protecting the creative heart of the brand. 00:00 – The Marketer’s Dilemma: Fragmentation in the AI Era 01:00 – Meet Asmita Dubey & L’Oréal’s “Math + Magic” Philosophy 02:00 – A Global Career & How Background Shapes Leadership 03:30 – Growing Up in a Family of Teachers & Lifelong Learning 04:45 – Leading Through Influence in a Complex Organization 06:00 – Inside L’Oréal’s Massive Marketing Ecosystem 07:30 – Stakeholders Then vs. Now: The Expanding Marketing Universe 09:00 – Marketing Meets Engineering: The Rise of Beauty Tech 10:30 – Staying Ahead: Culture, Curiosity & Continuous Reinvention 11:45 – Building an Entrepreneurial Culture at Scale 13:00 – Upskilling 30,000+ Marketers & Skill-Based Organizations 15:00 – L’Oréal’s Digital Transformation: From 5% to 30% E-Commerce 17:00 – Changing Consumer Behavior & New Operating Models 19:00 – Measurement Matters: Balancing Short-Term ROI & Brand Equity 21:00 – Lessons from China: Speed, Scale & Consumer-First Thinking 23:30 – Agentic Commerce & the Future of Beauty Shopping 26:00 – Why Fragmentation Is the Biggest Marketing Challenge 29:00 – AI’s Role in Rebundling Marketing & Breaking Silos 31:00 – AI-Powered Consumer & Marketer Journeys Explained 33:00 – Inside L’Oréal’s AI Tools: Creaitech & Content at Scale 35:00 – What’s Next: The Future of Marketing in the AI Era 37:00 – Rapid Fire: Signal vs. Noise (AI, Influencers, Innovation) 40:00 – Final Takeaways: Fragmentation, Learning Systems & Dual Muscle

Emma Grede on Operationalizing Culture, Speed, and AI

Marketing is no longer downstream from product. It is the operating system. In this episode of Frontier CMO, Josh Spanier sits down with Emma Grede, founding partner and Chief Product Officer at SKIMS, Co Founder & CEO of Good American, and Co Founder of Off Season, to unpack what it really takes to build durable brands in a culture obsessed with moments. Emma shares why product discipline matters more than hype, how to operationalize cultural relevance, and why speed is the ultimate competitive advantage. The conversation explores AI adoption inside fast-scaling companies, where automation should power the business, and where it should never touch creative. Emma also reflects on talent partnerships, decision velocity, resilience, and why the best leaders aren’t the ones who make perfect decisions, but the ones who make more of them. For founders and CMOs navigating growth where culture, commerce, and AI collide, this is a blueprint for building brands that last.

Carla Hassan on Trust, AI, and Leading Under Pressure

Marketing leadership today is defined by pressure: AI disruption, declining trust in institutions, cultural fragmentation, and relentless growth expectations. In this episode of Frontier CMO, Josh Spanier sits down with Carla Hassan, Chief Marketing Officer of JPMorganChase, who leads more than 3,000 marketers across one of the world’s most recognized financial brands. From her early life shaped by displacement to stewarding a 200+ year-old institution, Carla shares how resilience and clarity shape her leadership. The conversation explores why “you don’t build trust with a tagline,” how trust is earned locally at scale, and what it really takes to modernize a marketing organization. Carla unpacks how AI is transforming roles from writers to editors, why layering AI onto broken processes fails, and how CMOs must rethink org design, workflows, and decision rights. For leaders navigating complexity inside large systems, this episode is a candid look at transformation, operational discipline, and building durable brands in uncertain times. 00:00 – Training Teams in the AI Era 01:00 – The Pressure of Being a Modern CMO 02:00 – Carla Hassan’s Journey & Resilience 04:30 – Global vs Local Marketing: Getting It Right 06:30 – Why Brand Consistency is Non-Negotiable 08:30 – Cultural Differences in Money & Messaging 10:30 – Building a Purpose-Driven Global Brand 11:30 – Trust, Transparency & Big Institutions 13:30 – What Modern Marketing Looks Like Today 17:00 – How AI is Reshaping Marketing Teams 20:30 – Speed, Testing & Real-Time Content Feedback 40:30 – Final Takeaways: Trust, AI & Local Relevance