Key Points

According to the survey, 71 per cent of CMOs intend to allocate over USD 10 million annually to GenAI in the next three years, a rise from 57 per cent in the previous year.

It also revealed that that CMOs are becoming more optimistic about GenAI, with positive sentiment increasing from 74 per cent in 2023 to 83 per cent in 2025, while their concerns about the technology are diminishing.

"GenAI is rapidly becoming embedded in the marketing function," said Mark Abraham, a BCG managing director and global leader of the firm's personalisation business. "Even in the current turbulent macroeconomic environment, we're seeing CMOs invest in shifting from isolated pilots to scaled GenAI use cases, enhancing personalisation and marketing operations."

As compared to last year, the study says that more than a third of CMOs have already seen improvements in how they interact with customers, the quality of their content, and the amount of content they produce, thanks to GenAI. While, fewer CMOs are reporting gains in efficiency, such as better productivity and reduced manual work.

The report highlights that CMOs are focusing their investments on areas like creating content, using AI to personalize customer interactions, and implementing AI-powered agents.

Generating video content is becoming a greater priority, with 30 per cent of CMOs considering it important for content creation.

While, predictive analytics continues to be key for personalization, with CMOs increasingly using it for product recommendations, deciding when to reach out to customers, and determining the best content to share.

Additionally, AI agents are emerging as a major change in marketing workflows, particularly for B2B companies, with a large proportion of both B2B and B2C CMOs planning significant investment in this area.

The survey also shows that CMOs are placing less emphasis on using GenAI to measure marketing ROI, while they continue to invest in developing talent within their teams. Faced with a shortage of GenAI expertise, many companies are prioritizing upskilling their current employees through initiatives like hackathons and AI training programs.

- ANI