Most ad agencies are talking about AI — but few are doing it at scale, according to a AIDigital’s “The State of AI Maturity.”
The report shows agencies are deep into the exploratory phase when it comes to adopting AI, with a wide gap between intent and execution. A third of organizations say they’re still drafting a roadmap, while another third are in ad-hoc experimentation mode. That leaves just 16% who say AI is embedded across all teams — proof that full integration is still the exception, not the rule.
For agencies, the tooling gap is especially clear. More than half say they don’t yet have licensed marketing or advertising-specific AI platforms in place. That likely means many are leaning on general-purpose tools or free versions — and suggests there’s still a sizable opening for vendors that can offer more specialized, enterprise-ready options.
In short: the AI era in marketing is underway, but most companies are still figuring out how to take the first real steps.
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About the author
Constantine von Hoffman is managing editor of MarTech. A veteran journalist, Con has covered business, finance, marketing and tech for CBSNews.com, Brandweek, CMO, and Inc. He has been city editor of the Boston Herald, news producer at NPR, and has written for Harvard Business Review, Boston Magazine, Sierra, and many other publications. He has also been a professional stand-up comedian, given talks at anime and gaming conventions on everything from My Neighbor Totoro to the history of dice and boardgames, and is author of the magical realist novel John Henry the Revelator. He lives in Boston with his wife, Jennifer, and either too many or too few dogs.
