Marketing AI Automation Set to More Than Double by 2028, Gartner Survey

Marketing leaders expect AI-driven automation of marketing work to more than double, from 16% in 2026 to 36% by 2028, according to a survey of 402 CMOs conducted by Gartner between August and October 2025. The survey found CMOs anticipate AI automation will rapidly accelerate over the next two years.

Gartner said CMOs who fail to move beyond early AI use cases risk getting stuck in costly "AI competency traps," while a small but growing group of "market-shaper" CMOs are using AI to drive enterprise growth, customer confidence and competitive differentiation.

"AI experimentation has become table stakes for CMOs. What's emerging now is a widening gap between CMOs who are still testing use cases, and those who are confident enough to use AI to create real brand differentiation," said Kristina LaRocca-Cerrone, vice president analyst in the Gartner Marketing Practice. "Those who fail to make that shift risk blending into a sea of sameness, while competitors use AI to shape markets, not just execute campaigns."

Gartner analysts LaRocca-Cerrone and Jay Wilson, also a vice president analyst in the Gartner Marketing Practice, outlined a three-stage AI maturity model during the opening keynote of the Gartner Marketing Symposium/Xpo this week. The stages are AI Curious, where marketers pilot tools focused on productivity gains; AI Competent, where teams scale multiple use cases but risk conformity, diminishing returns and rising costs; and AI Confident, where CMOs integrate human judgment with AI to reshape operating models, customer engagement and enterprise decision-making.

"Most CMOs are currently stalled in at least one AI competency trap, where their early AI success limits their future progress," Wilson said. He said the inflection point where further AI investment stops delivering expected returns is particularly dangerous in marketing's AI journey because leadership's expectations are so high.

Gartner analysts presented three AI accelerators CMOs can use to move from competency to confidence. The first involves boosting customer confidence by using AI to help customers make better decisions rather than pushing excessive AI-mediated interactions that don't align with customer preferences, according to Gartner.

The second focuses on marketing teams' own confidence. Eighty percent of CMOs say staff fear and anxiety is a barrier to AI experimentation, Gartner found, and the firm said CMOs need to clarify where AI supports judgment versus where humans remain accountable, establishing a clear "skills floor" for every role. Gartner said market-leading CMOs pair that clarity with investment in human capabilities such as strategic thinking and business acumen.

The third accelerator centers on boosting C-suite confidence in the CMO role itself, with Gartner saying CMOs who advance fastest use AI to strengthen their market-shaping capabilities, lead with sharper judgment and scenario planning, and elevate their influence across the enterprise.

"The CMOs who win won't just manage AI," LaRocca-Cerrone said. "They will integrate it into how marketing leads the enterprise. That's how marketing becomes a value engine — not just a delivery function — in the age of AI."