To harness the impact of AI, CMOs must navigate a fundamental tension: They need a clear, growth‑anchored vision while also making room to lead through the uncertainty this disruptive technology creates. Doing so requires CMOs to own the role of change leader in order to become a better growth leader — constantly striking the right balance between AI automation and the human touch. CMOs: This is no easy feat, but rest assured, we’ve got your back. This report helps CMOs (B2B, B2C, and B2B2C) understand AI’s current and future impact on their responsibilities and how to prepare for a new level of growth accountability.

Partner ecosystems are essential for scaling B2B marketing and sales, but they often suffer from a lack of transparency that erodes partner trust. Siemens, a global industrial software provider, recognized that as its partner ecosystem scaled, partners lacked clear visibility into how lead routing and opportunity attribution worked in practice. To restore trust and improve collaboration, Siemens designed a partner-facing dashboard that visualizes campaign performance, lead flow, and sales outcomes. In this case study, we describe how Siemens rebuilt partner trust and increased engagement by creating a data-driven dashboard that operationalized transparency.

B2B partner enablement is a constant challenge for suppliers and a frequent point of contention for partners. Enablement is critical to the success of an organization’s partner ecosystem because it directly influences revenue and overall growth. Partner ecosystem leaders must rethink outdated enablement models because legacy approaches often fail to support how modern B2B buyers make decisions. By modernizing partner enablement strategies, suppliers will foster stronger partnerships, increase partner loyalty, and drive sustained growth. This report explains the forces disrupting partner enablement and offers a future-ready vision.

As B2B buying behaviors continue to evolve, partner ecosystem marketing and demand strategies must keep pace — or risk falling behind. Transformative trends in preferences and the AI revolution mandate the need for change within partner demand programs. This report explores the latest B2B buyer trends and outlines strategic recommendations for partner ecosystem marketing leaders and their teams.

For business buyers, trust often determines purchase intent. For partner ecosystems, establishing trust fuels partner loyalty. Learn what it takes to build and sustain trust in these relationships.

Recent insights from the Forrester Buyers’ Journey Survey, 2025 reveal that B2B buyer preferences are continuing to evolve in significant ways. Unfortunately, many partner ecosystems demand that strategies remain anchored in the past, so they’re not keeping pace with modern buyer expectations. To remain competitive, partner ecosystem marketing leaders must address these transformative trends. During this session, we will highlight key B2B buying trends and discuss their implications for partner demand strategies:The growing influence of AI on buyer decision-making The rise of complex buying groups The shifting of buyer preferences  This conversation will be hosted by Forrester VP and principal analyst Kathy Contreras and will include open discussion with participants, so please bring your questions and experiences to share with the group.  Peer discussions are available exclusively to Forrester Decisions VIP Leaders and Leader license holders for their own participation.

B2B partner ecosystem and channel marketing leaders are increasingly evaluating partner ecosystem management (PEM) solutions as an extension to or as a replacement of CRM and partner relationship management (PRM) platforms and manual processes. Growing complexity and expectations are driving the need for purpose-built ecosystem management tools that help B2B suppliers move from managing partners to empowering dynamic partner ecosystems. These tools enable suppliers to drive scalable, data-driven, partner-centric growth. This report describes the trends shaping PEM solution technology and their impact on partner ecosystem orchestration.

B2B marketing decision-makers are showing surprising optimism about their budgets looking ahead to 2026, even though the first half of 2025 has proven economic and geopolitical change can come quickly. Forrester recommends that marketing executives focus their investments on segments that can withstand change with careful extraction from riskier, less stable segments. Expect stressful times with pressure for hard results and a redirection of resources into demand generation activities in safer markets. In this year’s budget planning guide, we share our advice on where to invest, divest, and experiment as B2B marketing executives navigate their path to growth.

B2B organizations have rising expectations for revenue and growth from their partner ecosystems. However, many B2B partner ecosystem marketing leaders find it challenging to support escalating requirements along with a growing and diverse universe of partners. These increasing demands are reshaping the dynamics and priorities of partner ecosystem marketing organizations. This report highlights the state of partner ecosystem marketing organizations and current and future challenges and opportunities for partner ecosystem marketing leaders.

This B2B role profile provides a job description and competencies for the senior vice president or vice president of partner ecosystem marketing role. This role is responsible for leading the development of the partner ecosystem marketing strategy using collective insights and market intelligence; building and driving a high-performance department to achieve functional success; and forging alignment with executive leadership to meet business goals and objectives.