Bringing martech and engineering together
Recently at work we hosted a Q&A session with martech thought leader Scott Brinker, editor of the Chief Martec blog and author of Hacking Marketing. During the talk he shared insights from his seminal article Rise of the Marketing Technologist and argued that marketing must control its technological destiny. He proposed a new role inside marketing: a marketing CTO or chief marketing technologist, whose mission is to provide technology navigation and ensure that marketing owns its tech stack. This role sits at the intersection of marketing technology and provides technical leadership.
Lessons from other engineering leadership blogs
- Tokyo Tech Lead – This Substack shares experiences from a software engineer and engineering manager, offering actionable advice on leadership and soft‑skill development for engineers.
- The Engineering Manager – The tagline is “empowering ourselves to empower others,” and it covers management fundamentals and practices like “going direct” that encourage open communication.
- Tech With Supun – Supun Sashika shares insights from his journey as a tech lead and offers tips for excelling in software engineering.
- Engineering Manager – This site acknowledges how hard it is to transition from senior engineer to manager and stresses that good management is crucial for retention and culture.
These blogs underscore that leadership development and technical fluency are universal themes across engineering and marketing.
Key takeaways from the Q&A
- Recognise the rise of the Chief Marketing Technologist. The talk emphasised that marketing needs its own technologists and proposed a marketing CTO role to provide technology navigation and ensure that marketing controls its tech strategy.
- Break down silos. Similar to James Stanier’s “go direct” philosophy, the chief marketing technologist role sits at the intersection of marketing and engineering, fostering closer collaboration.
- Develop leadership skills early. Blogs like Tokyo Tech Lead stress learning soft skills and leadership as an engineer. The talk echoed that leadership is a behaviour that can be practiced at any career stage.
Links to more on my site
If you enjoyed these reflections, here are a few related posts on my site:
- How to edit your work with ChatGPT as a red pen, not a ghostwriter – I explain how I use AI strictly for editing by having the tool propose bracketed replacements without generating new content.
- Revolutionizing Content Marketing with AI: Top Types and Best Practices – This article explores how AI helps create social media posts, product descriptions and email campaigns, with tips on timing and A/B testing.