AI in Marketing 2026: Executive Survey
What 29 Business Leaders Told Us About AI Adoption, Productivity, ROI & the Future of Marketing
AI in marketing has moved beyond experimentation. But what are businesses actually doing with it?
To find out, Simply Sansu surveyed 29 business leaders across 11 countries and territories spanning four continents. The results reveal where AI is delivering value, where organizations are investing, and where the challenges remain.
Explore the full survey
A few findings stood out
- 86.2% cited employee productivity and efficiency as a key reason for investing in AI.
- 86.2% said Content Strategy & Creation is where AI has delivered the greatest marketing value.
- 82.8% reported moderate or significant improvement in marketing productivity.
- 75.9% identified accuracy and reliability of AI outputs as a major challenge.
- And despite those concerns, 96.6% expect AI investment to increase over the next 12 months.
So, what does this tell us?
AI is clearly becoming part of everyday marketing workflows. But the story isn’t simply about using more AI.
It’s about using it effectively.
Teams are using AI to research, create, analyze, automate, and move faster. At the same time, human review, judgment, originality, and accuracy remain critical.
The shift may be less about AI replacing marketing work and more about AI changing which marketing work humans spend their time on.
The goal shouldn’t be to use more AI. It should be to use AI better.
Read the complete AI in Marketing 2026 Executive Survey Report for the findings on adoption, productivity, ROI, marketing use cases, challenges, investment priorities, and more.
Published by Simply Sansu
Helping businesses build visibility and authority.
Meet the Survey Contributors
The AI in Marketing 2026 Executive Survey brought together business leaders, founders, marketers, and AI professionals from across 11 countries and territories. We thank each contributor for sharing their experience and perspective.
- Alex Zweydoff | CEO & Co-Founder, ClearLead Digital | https://www.clearleaddigital.com/
- Andrew Antokhin | SEO Strategist & Founder, Inverox Digital | https://inveroxdigital.com/
- Andrew Murray | Owner, Wealth Ambition Marketing Inc. | https://www.andrewmurrayhq.com/
- Andy Cheung | Experienced Project Manager | https://www.andy-cheung.com/
- Chaitra Saxena | Marketing Manager, Gyaata | https://gyaata.com/
- Darya Kablash | Founder & CEO, GetMarketing | https://getmarketing.team/
- Deepak Shukla | Founder & CEO, Pearl Lemon | https://pearllemon.com/
- Ed Tsue | Global Chief Strategy Officer, Google / WPP Media | https://edtsue.com/
- eMac Media | Marketing Services | https://emacmedia.co/about/
- Etienne Arsenault | Etienne Arsenault Services Immobiliers Inc.
- Eugene Tartakovsky | Founder, BeRelevant.ai | https://berelevant.ai/
- Karla Singson | Founder, Proximity Outsourcing | https://realestateassistant.com/
- Karen Walker | S72 | https://s72.co.uk/
- Mia Morin | AI Quality Analyst & Editor, Intimeros | https://www.intimeros.com/
- Monica Tomasso | Founder, Monic AI Systems | https://www.monicaisystems.com/
- Natalka Antoniuk | Digital Marketing Lead, Appius
- Neetu Sathe | Founder, ProductMarketing101 | https://www.productmarketing101.com/
- Owen Rechkemmer | Founder, Rechkemmer Marketing | https://www.rechkemmermarketing.com/
- Peter Murphy Lewis | Founder / CEO, Strategic Pete | https://www.fractionalcmousa.com/
- RHILLANE Ayoub | CEO, RHILLANE Marketing | https://rhillane.com/en/
- Rick E. | Founder, Simply Noted | https://simplynoted.com/
- Robb Fahrion | Co-Founder & CEO, Flying V Group | https://www.flyingvgroup.com/
- Silvia Lupone | Owner, Stingray Villa | https://stingrayvilla.com/
- Sofia Stefou | Founder & CEO, VidaCher | https://vidacher.com/
- Talal Anwar | Founder, TechFocus360 | https://techfocus360.com/
Note: Only respondents who opted to have their names and professional details attributed have been identified below. Respondents who did not opt for attribution have not been named.
