# Erica Gunn

> Erica Gunn is the Seattle-based chief marketing officer of Canto, where she leads global marketing for the digital asset management company. Her route to the C-suite crossed political science, education, business operations, IT, product development, nonprofit work, retail, and enterprise software. That range now informs a practical view of AI-era marketing: content needs human judgment, durable governance, and measurements that reflect how buyers actually discover brands.

- **Role:** Chief Marketing Officer at Canto
- **Organizations:** Canto, Adobe Workfront, Workfront, Nordstrom, Planview, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
- **Education:** BA in Political Science, The George Washington University, MEd, The George Washington University
- **Known for:** Built a cross-functional executive career spanning enterprise software, retail and nonprofit organizations., Leads Canto’s global marketing across demand generation, brand awareness and customer advocacy., Was selected for the World 50 Next Women program in 2019.

## Career timeline

- **Early career** — Worked across business development, operations, IT and product development; an international business summit role produced an enduring lesson in customer empathy after a last-minute broadcast translation crisis.
- **Before 2017** — Held business operations roles at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and a vice president role at Planview.
- **2017-2019** — Led marketing operations and technology at Nordstrom, appearing at Content Marketing World and contributing to research on the fragmentation of workplace technology.
- **Before 2021** — Held product marketing and operations leadership at Workfront and became Head of Marketing for Adobe’s Workfront division.
- **2021** — Joined Canto as Chief Marketing Officer to oversee global demand generation, brand awareness and customer advocacy.
- **2022** — Published commentary on remote work, digital accessibility, customer service, marketing personalization and business resilience through Inc. and Forbes Communications Council.
- **2025** — Discussed Canto’s expansion through acquisitions, AI in marketing and the advantages of working on the product side in a MarTech Edge interview.
- **2026** — Spoke publicly about AI-driven content operations and about rebuilding marketing measurement conversations as search behavior changes.

## Achievements

- Built a cross-functional executive career spanning enterprise software, retail and nonprofit organizations.
- Leads Canto’s global marketing across demand generation, brand awareness and customer advocacy.
- Was selected for the World 50 Next Women program in 2019.
- Published a series of executive columns on marketing, customer experience, accessibility and the future of work.
- Represented Canto in public discussions about AI, digital asset management, content governance and changing B2B buyer behavior.

## Latest updates

- **2026-07** — Discussed how Canto’s paid-search cost per lead doubled over roughly two and a half years while web traffic fell nearly 40%, and why marketing leaders need to reframe measurement as AI changes software research.
- **2026-06** — Joined MarTech’s Conversations with MarTech to discuss content proliferation, localization, governance, AI tagging, natural-language search and changing B2B discovery.
- **2025-01** — Appeared on MarTech Edge’s Tuesdays with Trailblazers to discuss Canto’s acquisitions, product data, enterprise expansion and AI in marketing.

## Links

- Website: https://www.canto.com/about-us/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/erica-gunn-2998383
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vI0YzUxYvtk

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/erica-gunn
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-09-03