The Marketing AI Institute recently released its annual report State of Marketing AI Reportwhich examines the awareness, understanding, and adoption of AI in marketing. It seems like things are starting to improve for marketing teams, but the Institute’s founder and CEO, Paul Roetzer, says we still have a long way to go. Surprised? Let’s take a look at some of the findings and learn more about Roetzer’s perspective.
Adoption and understanding of AI is increasing
The survey found that more than a third (36%) of respondents have integrated AI into their daily workflow, more than a quarter (26%) are experimenting with it, and 12% seemingly can’t live without it.
It’s worth noting, though, that the survey was conducted among members of the Marketing AI Institute, meaning that people who are actively thinking about or working with AI today responded to the survey. Roetzer acknowledged during a webinar presenting the report’s key findings that these numbers are likely lower when looking at the industry as a whole, but that the findings are nonetheless important to consider.
When asked what stage of AI transformation they were in, nearly half (49%) said they were still in the understanding phase (i.e., learning how AI works and exploring use cases and technologies), 41% were in the piloting phase (i.e., running small pilots with narrow use cases), and 10% were in the scaling phase (i.e., adopting AI at scale to gain efficiencies and improve performance). Again, Roetzer said the scaling number is likely lower, depending on how you define scaling.
Another key finding is that most companies are using AI to increase efficiency, whether it’s reducing time spent on repetitive, data-driven tasks or gaining actionable insights. These are starting points for AI. Roetzer said that by 2025, leading companies will differentiate themselves by finding ways to accelerate and apply innovation.
Things are changing slowly, but they are changing because marketers understand that AI plays a big role in marketing, whether it’s content developmentpersonalization, analytics or automation. However, just because individuals recognize the need to adapt doesn’t mean the path forward is clear and their businesses aren’t in sync with them.
Businesses need to upgrade faster
When respondents were asked about barriers to AI adoption, more than two-thirds (67%) cited a lack of education and training, 56% highlighted a lack of awareness and understanding, and 47% said no when asked if their company offered education or training.
There are other challenges, too. More than half of companies don’t have AI councils tasked with developing policies and practices, and only 19% have AI roadmaps covering the next two years. Additionally, only 36% have AI ethics policies.
There’s a lot of unofficial and uneven training out there. As a result, employees are left trying to learn disparate information about how to use AI and are left overwhelmed. And when they come back to the company and try to apply what they’ve learned, they may encounter resistance because it’s different from how the company has decided to use AI (even if there’s no formal training or policy).
The lack of adequate training or AI guidance and roadmaps is likely behind some of the concerns about marketing jobs being at risk. In this study, 47% of respondents believe that AI will eliminate more jobs than it creates over the next three years. Opinions on job cuts come from senior management respondentsBut they’re not alone. Knowing that their management team views AI as a replacement for workers sends the wrong message to employees.
Roetzer said companies should talk to their employees about how AI will impact individual roles. He also thinks people underestimate the degree to which AI will automate marketing tasks today and in the next three years. If you follow Roetzer on LinkedIn or subscribe to his podcast, you can see how quickly things are changing.
My opinion
Underestimating the speed of change is not in the best interest of businesses or the people whose work is affected by AI. The report says we are at a crossroads, noting that while people seem willing and able to adapt, businesses are moving too slowly.
Smart marketers are putting effort into building their brand awareness and skills, and if their company doesn’t recognize that effort, they’ll go to companies that value them and have a plan or are trying to develop one. While I’m not entirely convinced that people who know AI will replace those who don’t, it’s in everyone’s best interest to understand how AI can impact their work and the use cases where it can benefit their work.
At the same time, it’s hard not to feel for those who want to learn and grow and need their companies to help them do so. Not everyone has the time to work on their skills outside of work hours to the point where they can fully learn how to leverage AI technology. Companies need to provide the resources and time for marketing teams to understand and test the AI use cases that work for them, and this needs to be driven from the top.
