MONDAY MOVES | Meet Accenture’s New CMO: Emma Chalwin
On her first day as CMO, Emma talks about AI, reinvention, taking the right career risks, and the trusted search that brought her to Accenture.
Today is Emma Chalwin’s first day as Chief Marketing Officer of Accenture.
It’s a significant new chapter in a career spanning nearly 30 years in technology marketing, and it comes at a fascinating time to take the helm of a global marketing organization.
AI is reshaping the businesses marketers are responsible for growing and the marketing function itself. For Emma, that made Accenture particularly compelling. She saw the opportunity to join a company helping some of the world’s largest organizations navigate reinvention, while exploring what that same transformation could look like within its own marketing organization.
The move came together through an executive search led by Monday Talent CEO & Co-Founder, Jamie McLaughlin, who has known Emma for years through The Marketing Academy. Emma wasn’t working against a timeline or looking to make a move for the sake of it. As she put it, “It really had to be the right one.”
Ahead of her first day, we sat down with Emma to talk about what made Accenture that opportunity, her ambitions for the role, and why, even after three decades in the industry, she believes the best career moves should make you a little uncomfortable.
The Opportunity to Reinvent
For Emma, the timing of the opportunity mattered just as much as the role itself.
“I wanted to be part of an amazing transformational business at this inflection point we’re at in this new world of work with AI. The whole theme around reinvention at Accenture was super compelling.”
After 30 years in tech marketing, she wanted to remain at the forefront of technology while taking on a challenge with global scale. Accenture offered the chance to bring together brand and reputation, demand and client advocacy, while helping tell a differentiated story in an increasingly crowded market.
There was also the opportunity to work alongside Accenture Chair and CEO Julie Sweet.
“It’s really important to me to work for someone inspirational. Julie Sweet is a powerhouse of a female CEO who I know that I will love to serve alongside and learn from.”
But one of the most interesting parts of the opportunity was the role marketing itself could play.
Emma sees Accenture occupying a unique position in the AI conversation: helping businesses understand how to reinvent at a time when, in her words, “there’s no playbook.”
“Accenture is incredibly relevant right now because it is at that intersection of really being that trusted advisor.”
For Emma, that creates an opportunity not only to communicate the value Accenture brings to its clients, but to demonstrate it through the company’s own marketing function.
“Thinking about how we showcase to our clients what an AI-first marketing organization looks like is really exciting to me.”
Building Marketing’s Next Model
Ask Emma what she is most excited to take on, and the ambition is clear.
“A really differentiated, compelling AI narrative. Really telling the story of the value of what Accenture can bring around reinvention.”
And then there are the people behind it.
“I’m really excited to work with world-class marketers and build the highest-performing AI-powered marketing organization in the world.”
It’s a bold goal, but one that speaks to the opportunity in front of her. AI isn’t simply another topic for marketing teams to communicate. It is changing how those teams work, what they can create, and how they contribute to the wider business.
For Emma, Accenture offers the chance to help shape both sides of that story: how the company communicates AI-powered reinvention to the market and how its own marketing organization puts it into practice.
When the Right Opportunity Finds You
At this stage in her career, Emma’s criteria for a move extend well beyond remit or title.
“Culture, values and clarity of vision are really important.”
She looked closely at where the company was going, its opportunity for growth, the people she would be working alongside, and how the organization was responding to technology.
And she had the luxury of being selective.
“I was in no rush. It really had to be the right one.”
That made trust an important part of the search.
Emma and Jamie had known each other for years through The Marketing Academy. When he approached her about Accenture, she trusted that he understood both the opportunity and what would make it genuinely compelling for her.
“I trusted his perspective on whether he thought I would be a good fit for the organization, both from a cultural perspective and a professional perspective, and whether my skill set would add value.”
The process was very smooth and ultimately moved quickly. What stood out to Emma, though, was the consistency.
Across each conversation, there was clarity around the mandate: what Accenture needed from its next CMO and where Emma’s experience could make an impact.
“Jamie really acted as a trusted adviser and confidant throughout the process and helped match what Accenture was looking for in this executive position with my skill set and the value that I would bring.”
Stay Curious. Stay Uncomfortable.
Emma brings nearly 30 years of technology marketing experience to Accenture, but part of what attracted her to the role was how much would be new.
She’s moving from marketing products to marketing services and stepping into a business with a different challenge, scale, and opportunity.
Her approach to that uncertainty comes from one of the best pieces of career advice she says she has received:
“Get comfortable being uncomfortable.”
“The world of work is changing so rapidly, and I think people are more reluctant to change or to take a risk. There’s no better time to push the boundaries of what’s possible.”
For Emma, feeling challenged is part of the appeal.
“If you’re feeling too comfortable in the role that you’re in right now, it’s probably time for the next thing.”
Rather than seeing the unfamiliar parts of the role as a reason to hesitate, they’re part of what energizes her.
“You have to always have that learning mindset and be more curious and courageous than you’ve probably ever been before in your career.”
It feels like an especially fitting perspective for a CMO beginning a role centered on reinvention.
For us at Monday Talent, that’s what makes this placement particularly meaningful.
The best executive searches aren’t always about finding someone who is ready to leave. Sometimes, they’re about knowing the person and the opportunity well enough to recognize when the two are worth bringing together.
Emma is stepping into Accenture with decades of experience behind her, but still with the curiosity to ask what’s next, the appetite to take on something new, and the ambition to help shape where marketing goes from here.
Today, she gets started.
Congratulations on day one, Emma. We’re incredibly proud to have played a part in bringing this next chapter together, and very excited to see where you take it.
