Tricia Gellman on industry sentiment
From CMO Box, Tricia Gellman on the State of AI · · AI x Marketing
“In my career, which is like over 25 years, I've never worked in a company or been a part of a movement where everybody basically is saying this is so important. We have to do it and we have to do it now.”
On , Tricia Gellman, Chief Marketing Officer at BOX INC, spoke about industry sentiment during CMO Box, Tricia Gellman on the State of AI on AI x Marketing.
About Tricia Gellman
Tricia Gellman, Chief Marketing Officer at Box, appeared on the B2B CMO podcast on April 25, 2026. She discussed her approach to building C-suite buy-in and selling the brand story, noting that Box CEO Aaron Levie made two foundational decisions before she joined: not building their own large language model and not partnering with a single AI partner, and prioritizing getting users to try AI even if it meant losing money in some cases. Gellman said she moved 30% of Box's budget into awareness and pitched working with an agency to measure it, but Levie told her it was a waste of money because "we would know if we had awareness based on the vibe." Gellman also reflected on her previous roles. She described her time as CMO of Salesforce Canada as "not viewed as strategic" and "not viewed as necessary at all," stating that she left as a result. She recounted an experience at Adobe where a new C-suite was brought in to take the company to the next level but was fired within six months after the team "was falling apart."