We hosted our first Performance & Growth Leadership Roundtable, bringing together industry leaders for an open discussion on team evolution, the tension between rapid growth and long-term strategy, and how AI is shaping marketing and growth functions.
1️⃣ Performance to Growth – The Shift Isn’t Easy
Many teams are moving from traditional performance marketing (ROAS, CAC, short-term wins) to a more holistic growth model that includes retention, product, and analytics. But with that shift comes growing pains—particularly KPI misalignment and friction between teams.
🔹 Some orgs are tackling this by aligning marketing, product, and analytics under one leadership function.
🔹 Others are still working through brand vs. performance tensions—it’s tough to get buy-in for long-term brand-building when leadership wants instant results.
🔹 As one leader put it: “Attribution is messy, but growth isn’t linear. We need to keep educating stakeholders on why long-term investment matters.”
2️⃣ The Pressure of Rapid Growth vs. Long-Term Strategy
It’s a common story—teams are pushed to hit short-term revenue goals while trying to lay the foundation for sustainable growth. Some interesting approaches emerged:
💡 Quarterly strategic pillars to balance immediate and long-term goals.
💡 Reducing paid media spend in bursts to understand organic demand (one company turned off brand search and saw the impact months later!).
💡 Educating CFOs—rather than just reporting short-term CPA gains, smart teams are framing performance metrics around LTV, payback periods, and long-term profitability.
One attendee nailed it: “CFOs love cutting performance budgets—until they see what happens when brand investment stops.”
3️⃣ AI in Growth – The Good, The Hype, The Unknown
AI was, of course, a hot topic. It’s everywhere—campaign optimisation, audience targeting, predictive analytics—but teams are still figuring out the right balance between automation and strategic control.
🤖 AI-powered bidding & targeting are useful, but some teams feel they’ve lost control of key levers.
🎨 AI content tools help with scale, but there’s a risk of bland, generic messaging if overused.
🔮 Predictive analytics is promising but comes with privacy concerns, high costs, and integration challenges.
Some companies have set up AI task forces to explore best-use cases—definitely a space to watch.
Key Takeaway? There’s No One-Size-Fits-All Playbook.
Every business is navigating these shifts differently, but common themes stood out:
✅ Alignment across teams is critical.
✅ Balancing short-term performance with long-term growth takes discipline.
✅ AI is a powerful tool—but strategy still wins.
This was just the beginning of a bigger conversation, and there’s plenty more to unpack. If you’re keen to join the next discussion, let’s connect—we’d love to keep the ideas flowing!
