Our annual review of marketing trends and spending benchmarks reveals a stunning subplot; the confluence of technologies including AI has already reshaped the field of modern marketing. Technology now comprises 20% of marketing spend and is projected to grow to 31% within five years. Tech-enabled marketing departments are accelerating performance.

This year’s CMO Survey of senior marketing executives offers unique insight into the state of play for AI. Only 10% of respondents report actively using Large Language Models such as ChatGPT, and 39% are not using any at all. Most companies (51%) are only beta testing and experimenting.

Yet companies using AI report impressive results, including 5% improvements in sales productivity, 6% improved customer satisfaction, and reduced overhead marketing spend by 7%. But perhaps most importantly, companies leveraging these tools dramatically outperform their markets.