AI use among marketers hits 96%, WFA study finds

Ninety-six percent of marketers now use agentic or generative AI for marketing, up from 45% in 2023, according to new research from the WFA.

The study, which surveyed 54 marketers across 46 brands, shows AI adoption has reached near ubiquity and that brands are starting the process of moving AI use from generating efficiencies to building effectiveness.

Content creation still leads AI use at 80%, followed by productivity and team efficiencies at 74%. Research applications account for 72%, while media buying, planning and optimisation make up 54%. AI is also growing in more strategic areas: strategy and planning is at 48% and workflow automation at 46%.

The WFA data shows usage is shifting from experimentation to broader integration. In October 2025, 23% of marketing teams had limited or ad hoc AI adoption; that number has dropped to 16%. Teams with moderate adoption have remained relatively consistent, at 60% in 2025 versus 57% in 2026, but teams with advanced adoption have jumped from 16% last year to 27% today.

Ambitions move beyond efficiency

Brands' ambitions for AI are moving beyond mere time saving. An equal split of surveyed marketers — 22% each — see their ambitions as split between improving efficiencies and improving effectiveness. A further 18% see the potential for driving business growth, and one-third are looking to improve all three equally.

Priorities for the next 12 months are dominated by scaling adoption, cited by 63% of respondents, and training and upskilling staff, at 55%. AI literacy remains a significant gap: only 26% of teams believe most employees have a good understanding of AI, while 69% believe awareness varies considerably across teams and individuals.

Qualitative responses to the survey point to time, resources and uncertainty about how to proceed as the biggest barriers to adoption.

Agency transparency gap

Agency use of AI remains opaque to many brands. Around one in five brands (16%) have "very little" insight into agency AI use, and a further 29% have only "some" level of insight. One third (36%) have a fair amount of knowledge, while just 13% have a great deal.

Contracts are becoming the key tool to close that gap. A majority of respondents, 59%, have introduced specific AI-related clauses to agency deals, with another 22% planning to do so in the near future. Overall, 64% of brands demand disclosure from their agencies when AI is used in delivering work.

KPIs still skew towards efficiency

Despite marketers saying effectiveness is rising on the agenda, the vast majority of KPIs remain heavily skewed towards efficiency metrics. Time saved, cost savings and productivity gains — each cited by 52% of respondents — are the main KPIs for most teams, and 45% track speed to market. A worrying 30% of respondents have no KPIs set up at all.

The WFA research shows marketing has made substantial progress in adopting AI across the industry, but work still needs to be done before the technology develops beyond a mere time saver.