Observed Signal · May 7, 2026 · Research Report · Source: Digiday · Impact: 3/5 · Sentiment: Positive
Marketers Increase AI Use; Technical Skills Lag
Digiday+ Research, based on a survey of 142 brand and agency professionals and interviews with marketing and tech executives, finds marketers’ adoption of AI has climbed sharply (from 44% in 2022 to 86% in 2025) but organizational tech skills, upskilling and strategic use lag behind tool adoption. The report notes many companies favor out-of-the-box AI tools (85% of respondents), while fewer build on existing LLMs (40%) or train proprietary LLMs (19%). Firms have appointed chief AI officers (brands such as General Motors, Mastercard and ZocDoc; agencies including Golin, Luckie & Co. and Horizon Media). Interviewees flagged economic concerns about GPU/TPU infrastructure costs, gaps between baseline user familiarity and advanced internal usage, and growing platform interoperability (e.g., Adobe integrating Google models and Google Vertex AI).
Significant year-on-year increases in marketer AI adoption indicate growing demand for MarTech/AdTech AI capabilities and partnerships, while the reported skills and ROI gaps highlight operational and economic risks for vendors and advertisers.
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Key Takeaways & Evidence Grounding
- Digiday survey of 142 brand and agency professionals underpins the research.
- Reported marketer investment in AI rose from 44% (2022) to 86% (2025).
- 85% of respondents said their company uses out-of-the-box AI tools; 40% build proprietary tools on existing LLMs; 19% build/train their own LLMs.
- Companies that created chief AI officer roles in 2024–2025 include General Motors, Mastercard and ZocDoc; agencies include Golin, Luckie & Co. and Horizon Media.
- The report highlights platform integration trends such as Adobe integrating Google models (Gemini, Imagen, Veo) and references Google Vertex AI as a pre-built model platform.
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