Gartner Research Reveals Gaps in Marketing Leaders' AI Adoption
Gartner findings show that while 82% of business leaders see the need for brand evolution with AI, only 15% view marketing leaders as AI savvy, risking their strategic relevance.
AI is already transforming marketing by altering discovery, buying decisions, and market competition, yet many marketing leaders are primarily evaluated on campaign execution rather than guiding enterprise transformation, according to MarTech. Gartner research indicates that 82% of business leaders believe their company’s brand and culture must evolve to keep pace with AI, but only 15% of CEOs see their marketing leader as strongly AI savvy, creating a gap that threatens marketing’s strategic relevance.
The Disconnect in Marketing's Role Amid AI Shifts
Customers increasingly rely on generative AI tools to research products, compare alternatives, and generate recommendations internally, leading to brands competing in environments they cannot fully control. Generative AI is also flooding the market with undifferentiated content, eroding trust and increasing skepticism, which undermines traditional marketing playbooks focused on channel optimization and creative efficiency. According to MarTech, Gartner research found that the average marketing leader has only an 11% chance of exceeding CEO and CFO expectations, reflecting a broader organizational view of marketing as an execution engine rather than a strategic partner.
How Market Shapers Outperform with AI
Marketing leaders described as market shapers excel at innovation, positioning, and insight generation, adapting behaviors to business needs and outperforming peers by using AI more extensively across a wider range of use cases. These leaders apply AI beyond creative production or task automation, employing it to monitor shifting customer needs, synthesize fragmented signals, and run rapid experiments that inform strategic decisions, such as where to compete and how to differentiate. Gartner research shows that teams led by market shapers demonstrate higher proficiency in strategy, critical thinking, customer understanding, and data literacy, enabling them to use AI to test hypotheses quickly, simulate scenarios, and explore unmet needs before resource commitment.
Key Behaviors and AI's Strategic Value
Market shapers are distinguished by four behaviors, including shaping customer preference to ensure brand visibility, and they use AI to accelerate insights into evolving customer questions and buying journeys. According to MarTech, companies with high-performing brand strategies are twice as likely to exceed growth goals, with market-shaping leaders treating brand as an enterprise discipline by using AI-generated insights to update value propositions and guide innovation priorities. As AI accelerates commoditization and misinformation, brand strategy becomes a key lever for maintaining a distinctive position, with these leaders influencing how customers perceive value and how organizations navigate disruption. Gartner research consistently finds that such leaders help enterprises interpret disruption and act with confidence, emphasizing AI's role in strategic choices rather than mere efficiency.
