96% of Marketers Use AI: WFA Study
WFA: 96% of marketers use AI, up from 45% in 2023. Priorities are scaling and training, but 30% of teams still have no KPIs for AI.
The share of marketers using generative or agentic AI in their work has reached 96% — up from 45% in 2023. These figures come from the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA), which surveyed 54 marketers from 46 brands.
For most brands, AI is no longer an "emerging technology" but part of everyday processes. At the same time, the nature of its use is changing: from experiments to integration, from simply saving resources to boosting marketing effectiveness.
What Brands Are Actually Doing with AI
Traditional use cases lead the way: content creation (80%) and improving team productivity (74%). The share of AI use in research has grown noticeably — 72% — and in media buying, planning, and optimization — 54%.
The technology is increasingly penetrating strategic areas of marketing responsibility: 48% of teams use AI in strategy and planning, and 46% in workflow automation.
From Experiments to Mature Adoption
The statistics confirm a shift toward systematic use. In October 2025, the WFA recorded that 23% of marketing teams had limited or ad hoc AI use. Now only 16% do.
The share of teams with a moderate level of adoption has barely changed: 60% in 2025 versus 57% in 2026. Meanwhile, the number of teams with an advanced level has grown from 16% to 27%.
Goals: Not Just Savings
Brands' ambitions go beyond cost optimization. 22% of respondents each see AI's primary goal as improving process efficiency and increasing marketing effectiveness, respectively. Another 18% count on driving business growth, while a third of respondents aim to develop all areas evenly.
Priorities for the next 12 months are scaling adoption (63%) and staff training (55%). AI literacy remains a pressing issue: only 26% of teams believe most employees understand the technology well. 69% note that awareness levels vary greatly between teams and individuals.
Respondents' qualitative answers show that the main barriers to adoption are a lack of time and resources, as well as uncertainty about where to start.
Agency Opacity
A separate issue is visibility into how contractors use AI. 16% of brands have "very little" information about their agencies' AI practices, and another 29% have only "some" idea. 36% of respondents have a sufficient level of knowledge, and only 13% have a deep understanding.
Contracts are becoming the solution: 59% of respondents have already included special AI clauses in their agency agreements, and another 22% plan to do so soon. Overall, 64% of brands require agencies to disclose AI use in their work.
KPIs Still About Savings
The study's paradox: despite the declared priority of effectiveness, most KPIs still measure process efficiency rather than marketing outcomes.
Teams' key metrics are time saved, cost reduction, and productivity growth (52% each), with another 45% tracking speed to market. Meanwhile, a worrying 30% of respondents do not use any KPIs for AI at all.
The WFA's overall conclusion: the industry has made serious progress in adopting AI in marketing, but for the technology to become more than a "time optimizer," there is still much work to be done.
Source: Marketing Week
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