Gartner's Survey Reveals CMOs Allocating 15.3% of Budgets to AI Amid Readiness Shortfalls
A Gartner survey shows CMOs are investing 15.3% of marketing budgets in AI, but only 30% have mature readiness, highlighting gaps in processes and infrastructure.
CMOs are allocating an average of 15.3% of their marketing budgets to AI initiatives, yet only 30% report that their organizations possess mature or fully developed AI readiness capabilities, according to Gartner's 2026 CMO Spend Survey. This discrepancy means that while 70% of CMOs identify becoming an AI leader as a critical goal for 2026, the same proportion acknowledges that their internal processes are not sufficiently mature to implement and scale AI effectively.
The Gap Between AI Ambition and Operational Readiness
Gartner's findings indicate that marketing organizations are purchasing AI tools faster than they are establishing the necessary infrastructure, with many lacking governance structures, data foundations, workflows, and talent models to operationalize AI at scale. Ewan McIntyre, VP analyst and chief of research in the Gartner Marketing practice, noted that "CMOs recognize AI’s potential as a force multiplier for growth, efficiency, and transformation, but most marketing organizations are not yet built to capture that value." Organizations with mature AI readiness, however, are allocating 21.3% of their marketing budgets to AI, compared to the overall average, and these firms typically command larger marketing budgets at 8.9% of company revenue versus the survey's broader average of 7.8%.
Trends in Overall Marketing Spend and Resource Constraints
According to the survey, overall marketing spend has increased slightly from 7.7% of company revenue in 2025 to 7.8% in 2026, but 56% of CMOs state they lack sufficient budget to execute their strategies, and 54% report inadequate resources. This situation is forcing CMOs to prioritize which programs to cut, workflows to automate, and areas where AI might enhance efficiency, even as AI initiatives demand broader organizational changes. The survey underscores that AI readiness is shifting from merely accessing models to emphasizing organizational coordination, as most large enterprises can acquire similar AI capabilities, with competitive edges arising from integrating these tools with data, operations, and teams MarTech.
Survey Methodology and Broader Context
The Gartner survey, conducted between January and March 2026, involved 401 CMOs and senior marketing leaders from North America and Europe, primarily from companies with over $1 billion in annual revenue. As widely known in the B2B SaaS sector, such surveys often reveal tensions between technological adoption and internal capabilities, particularly in areas like RevOps where AI integration can impact sales forecasting and pipeline analytics.
