Chief Marketing Officers (CMOs) and Chief Revenue Officers (CROs) have the shortest average tenures among tech executives, lasting just 1.8 years in their roles, according to data from 14,000 executives analyzed by Pave’s real-time compensation database. Nearly half of all executives changed jobs in the past 16 months, with 63% of CMOs turning over, SaaStr reported on October 12.
The data shows that go-to-market (GTM) roles experience significant turnover, with annual rates of 32% for both CMOs and CROs. This contrasts sharply with longer tenures for CEOs, who average 4.3 years, and CTOs, who average 3.7 years. Even VP-level GTM roles face challenges, with VP of Sales averaging two years and VP of Marketing 1.9 years. Jason Lemkin of SaaStr highlighted the difficulty of maintaining consistent buyer relationships due to this rapid turnover.
This high churn rate in GTM leadership impacts sales and marketing continuity, complicating long-term strategy execution. The rapid replacement of CMOs and CROs means companies often lose their internal champions before renewal cycles, affecting customer retention and pipeline stability. The data underscores the volatility in marketing and revenue leadership compared to more stable executive roles like CEO and CTO.
SaaStr noted that every year, about half of CMOs and VPs of Marketing are replaced when renewal discussions occur, illustrating the persistent instability in these positions. The analysis of 14,000 executives provides a comprehensive view of turnover trends in tech leadership roles as of October 2026.