Nearly Half of CMOs Now Lead AI Investment Decisions, BCG Finds
A new BCG survey shows marketing leaders are increasingly driving AI investments inside their organizations, but a large share admit they are still using generative AI in limited ways despite claiming broad transformation.
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Chief marketing officers are emerging as some of the strongest champions of artificial intelligence within large companies, taking ownership of AI spending and driving transformation efforts within their own departments.
However, a new survey from Boston Consulting Group (BCG) shows that despite high confidence levels, many marketing organizations remain at a much earlier stage of AI adoption than executives often claim.
The survey of 300 CMOs globally found that nearly half now lead AI investment decisions within their marketing functions, compared with 14% where decisions are led by CEOs or boards and 15% by strategy teams. The findings suggest marketing is becoming one of the few business functions driving its own AI agenda.
The growing responsibility comes with increasing pressure.
Ninety-four percent of respondents said expectations from CEOs have increased significantly over the past two years, with marketing leaders increasingly being asked to deliver both revenue growth and productivity gains through AI.
However, the survey highlights a gap between ambition and execution.
While 96% of CMOs said their organizations have undergone significant end-to-end AI transformation, 42% acknowledged that generative AI is still primarily being used as an assistant for isolated tasks in only a handful of workflows.
BCG categorized respondents into three groups based on AI maturity. About 32% were classified as leaders, having integrated AI agents across functions such as strategy, insights, content creation, and campaign optimization.
Another 26% were identified as followers, while 42% fell into an at-risk category, having struggled to scale AI initiatives beyond pilots despite reporting productivity gains.
Investment levels continue to rise. Forty-three percent of CMOs said their organizations spent more than $15 million on marketing AI this year, up from 28% a year earlier.
Spending is increasingly focused on systems that connect multiple AI tools and workflows rather than standalone applications. The survey also found that 90% of CMOs believe generative AI is reshaping how consumers discover and evaluate brands.
Among business-to-consumer marketers, 91% said AI-powered discovery tools are already changing customer journeys. At the same time, organizations are investing heavily in workforce development. Around 80% of respondents said they are expanding AI training programs, while many reported difficulties finding workers with the skills needed to support AI adoption.
BCG said the next phase of marketing’s AI transformation will depend less on experimentation and more on rebuilding operating models, technology infrastructure, and workforce capabilities to support AI at scale.
