CMO research reveals gap between AI ambition and reality

Europe’s largest study of chief marketing officers shows that while customer centricity remains the top strategic priority, many CMOs remain dissatisfied with progress, as organisations struggle to keep pace with rapid advances in AI and shift attention toward sales and performance marketing.

The research was conducted by EMC in collaboration with its member associations across Europe, alongside marketing associations in Africa and Asia. The survey gathered responses from more than 1,900 CMOs, providing insight into priorities and challenges across the three regions.

Customer centricity leads but execution lags

Customer centricity continues to rank as the leading strategic priority for 43 percent of organisations. However, execution remains uneven, with only around one third of respondents describing themselves as somewhat satisfied with their progress.

The findings point to a persistent gap between strategic ambition and operational delivery, suggesting that many organisations have yet to translate customer-focused strategies into consistent, effective practice.

Shift toward lower-funnel activity

Looking ahead to 2026, CMOs report a growing focus on sales and performance marketing, particularly in the lower funnel. This shift is closely linked to the expanding use of AI across marketing functions.

Despite this focus, only 22 percent of companies identify themselves as AI and Automation Pioneers. The majority, 53 percent, place themselves in the mainstream as Balanced Growth Marketers. Marketing budgets remain relatively resilient, with around 75 percent of respondents reporting stable or increasing spending despite economic and geopolitical uncertainty.

AI adoption and knowledge gaps

A lack of understanding of how AI will fundamentally change business operations has emerged as the leading challenge for 2026, cited by 30 percent of respondents. While many organisations have launched AI pilots, only 12 percent report that these initiatives have reached a fully integrated and productive stage.

Current expectations for AI agents are largely focused on efficiency gains, including automated content creation, A/B testing and optimisation, email delivery and customer service automation. More advanced, data-driven optimisation remains limited.

Technology outpaces organisational change

The move toward GenAI-based search environments is reshaping how content is discovered and evaluated, with increased emphasis on depth, contextual relevance and user intent in zero-click settings.

At the same time, challenges persist in areas such as retail media, where limited internal expertise, unclear value contribution and restricted access to retailer data continue to slow progress. These issues reflect a broader tension between linear organisational development and the exponential pace of technological change.

Ralf Strauss, chairman of EMC: "While technology develops exponentially, organisations remain pretty flat in their development. The bottleneck is in the majority of the companies know-how. The revolution and journey towards an data- and AI-driven customer interaction has just started, requiring true cross-functional collaboration."

www.emc.be

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