Nearly one-fifth of surveyed marketing leaders had already eliminated functional roles in their organizations because of artificial intelligence as of last spring, and Gartner predicts the trend will accelerate.

The researcher forecasts that AI will allow a majority of high-performing marketing teams to eliminate traditional entry-level jobs by 2030. But Gartner cautioned that these efficiencies should not become an excuse for cutting fresh talent off from the corporate pipeline. CMOs and other decision-makers must reassess how they develop the next generation of marketers in light of the technology shift, the firm said.

"CMOs should give junior marketers exposure to higher-value work earlier, building the judgment, strategic thinking and AI orchestration skills they will need to become future marketing leaders," Kristina LaRocca-Cerrone, vice president analyst at Gartner's Marketing practice, said in a statement.

The findings come from a survey of 1,303 senior marketing leaders conducted between January and April of this year. Beyond the 18% of marketers who have already cut some positions, Gartner found that 16% have developed new roles, while nearly one-third have reworked existing functions due to AI.

A new job description for new hires

As automation absorbs more low-level work, Gartner recommends CMOs task new hires with higher-value assignments: evaluating AI outputs, generating insights and tying recommendations to concrete business outcomes.

Hiring criteria need to change as well. Candidates should be assessed on how they approach AI-powered ways of working, including their use of critical thinking and personal judgment, per Gartner. Onboarding programs should place junior employees into higher-value responsibilities earlier in their careers, with coaching and mentorship used to accelerate development.

The advice cuts against a broader current of anxiety among business leaders. Executives have spent the past few years pushing employees to learn AI quickly, but a growing number worry that overreliance on AI tools is dulling workforce skills. More than 60% of C-suite leaders believe the erosion of human skills will pose a significant threat within the next three to five years, according to separate research from BCG.

Pressure from two directions

The talent reckoning arrives amid a bleak job market for recent college graduates, driven by a combination of economic pressures and the rise of AI. Marketing organizations are often among the first to see cuts in a downturn.

Budgets offer little relief. Gartner has previously noted that CMO budgets have stayed relatively flat even as pressure mounts to adapt to AI transformation, leaving marketing chiefs to solve the talent question without significantly expanded resources.

For CMOs, the practical takeaway from Gartner's research is clear: the entry-level role as it has existed for decades may not survive the decade, and the companies that maintain a strong leadership pipeline will be those that deliberately redesign junior jobs around judgment, strategy and AI oversight rather than simply eliminating them.