#ai-adoption

Microsoft now touches nearly every stage of how a business actually buys through LinkedIn for identity, Copilot and Bing for research, its ad network for media, Dynamics for the CRM record, and Teams for where the work happens. No other company holds that much of the chain at once.

85% of enterprise marketing teams missed a campaign launch date last year due to approvals, revisions, and four people touching a single email before it ever went out.

A Knak survey of more than 300 enterprise marketing leaders found that 85% of teams missed at least one campaign launch date in the past 12 months. The delays stemmed from production bottlenecks rather than strategy or creative work, according to [Demand Gen Report](https://www.demandgenreport.com/industry-news/news-brief/knak-survey-finds-ai-hasnt-fixed-the-production-bottlenecks-behind-missed-launch-dates/53851/).

One in 10 teams missed launches more than five times per year.

Four reports released last week from Basis, Salesforce, Attentive, and Alchemer describe similar patterns in holiday shopper behavior while reaching different conclusions about AI, according to MarTech.

Attentive found that 71% of consumers plan to start holiday shopping before Black Friday, a 12 percentage-point increase from last year. Eighty-three percent begin planning before the shopping weekend, and most expect to continue after Cyber Monday.

B2B companies falling behind on AI lack infrastructure rather than advanced technologies, according to [Demand Gen Report](https://www.demandgenreport.com/demanding-views/from-pilot-projects-to-progress-making-ai-innovation-stick-across-the-organization/53831/).

Marketing teams test new channels, attribution models, and content formats ahead of other functions, and AI adoption follows the same pattern. Paid channels cost more while budgets tighten, pushing teams to deliver more without added staff. According to [MarTech](https://martech.org/the-cmos-guide-to-building-an-ai-first-marketing-team/), marketers already spend nearly twice as much time with AI tools as other roles.

McKinsey State of AI research shows adoption rising yet many firms still...

The 2026 Demand Gen Benchmark Survey is open for B2B marketing teams to document how they are adjusting budgets, measurement practices and workflows.

According to [Demand Gen Report](https://www.demandgenreport.com/blog/take-the-2026-demand-gen-benchmark-survey-help-shape-what-comes-next/53760/), the survey captures strategies on AI adoption, attribution, sales alignment and pipeline performance so participants can compare their priorities with peers.

The survey examines where teams are...

Salesforce’s State of Marketing 2026 found that 75% of marketers use some form of AI, with only 16% running anything genuinely agentic. Supermetrics’ 2026 Marketing Data Report puts full workflow adoption at 6%. Adobe’s State of Marketing in an AI-Driven World found that only 7% have achieved business results, and eight in 10 marketing teams missed an opportunity last quarter because they couldn’t respond fast enough.

B2B CMOs are entering a new phase of AI adoption after an initial wave focused on experimentation with content generation, translation, summarization, image creation and productivity gains.

Many marketing teams are already using AI, yet usage remains concentrated in content and creative applications. This concentration can create a false sense of progress when AI is applied only to make existing activities faster.

Small businesses surveyed for Constant Contact’s Small Business Now report expect to raise both marketing budgets and time spent on marketing in 2026. More than 1,500 small business owners were polled on their plans amid current economic conditions.

68% of small business owners expect their marketing budgets to increase in 2026. 74% expect the time they spend on marketing to increase this year.

Artificial intelligence now dominates conversations in B2B sales, with every conference panel, board meeting, and vendor pitch questioning how quickly it can accelerate growth, according to Demand Gen Report. However, behind this excitement, AI is not fixing most sales organizations and instead exposes weaknesses that already existed, as many leaders fail to address foundational issues.

Many AI decisions in B2B sales are reactive rather than strategic, with companies rushing to deploy tools...