The following email was sent on October 22nd to all IBMers in the Marketing, Communications and CSR organization:
 

I am pleased to announce that after an extensive search, we have found the right person to join our team as Chief Marketing Officer (CMO). Please join me in welcoming Clay Cowan to IBM, who will begin this critically important role on November 18 and be based in New York.

Clay brings a unique blend of performance, analytics, digital and creative experience, making him the ideal candidate to help us transform Marketing into a world-class growth engine for IBM. He also has an impressive track record of balancing speed and risk, which is critical as we continue to evolve the function to win in the broader market.

Clay joins us from McKinsey, where he has spent the last seven years as a partner focused on growth, marketing, and sales. In this role, he has worked closely with some of our team members on various projects – so Clay is no stranger to IBM. Prior to McKinsey, Clay served as CMO at Betterment, CMO at Gilt Groupe and held senior marketing roles at Starwood Hotels and Resorts. He is a graduate of Harvard and Harvard Business School. He lives in Redding, Connecticut.

As Clay and I have spent time getting to know each other, I have been impressed by his focus on empowering teams, taking calculated risks, and challenging the status quo. His positive and forward-thinking mindset was immediately apparent, as he pushed me to think differently as we focus on the potential for our team and company. 

Some people have asked if I was sure we needed to make this hire, and if I could not continue the CMO role myself. While I love the CMO role and have learned so much since taking the lead more than two years ago, I firmly believe this is the right decision for the company. We need someone with Clay's expertise to help drive the change we want and the impact we need. This shift brings IBM a proven leader with deep marketing expertise, and will allow me to also support Communications and CSR work in our organization, and to also work on business development and further support our clients.

While Clay's official start date is November 18, he will begin getting up to speed immediately and will contribute to the development of the Fall Plan. 

Lindsey, Wayne, Christine, Jen, Ari, Joe and Betsy will all report to Clay.  He will join Sarah, Justina, Terry and Meg as my direct reports. 

I am excited for you all to meet Clay, and please know that you will hear from him soon and will have many opportunities to ask questions in upcoming Town Halls and AMAs. In the meantime, I hope you will join me in welcoming Clay to IBM.