Marketing leaders increase AI investment to drive business growth

Marketing leadership is facing increasing pressure to deliver growth through complex technology integration and AI investment. According to a Gartner survey, marketing budgets are rising to approximately 7.8% of company revenue, with over 15% of those funds earmarked for artificial intelligence. Despite this investment, PricewaterhouseCoopers reports that only 12% of CEOs have realized both revenue gains and cost savings from AI to date.

Effective growth monitoring requires aligning different organizational perspectives. While CEOs often prioritize business outcomes like revenue and margins, CMOs frequently focus on metrics such as brand awareness. To ensure predictable and profitable growth, companies must track signals across the entire decision-to-sale process.

As marketing operations shift from administrative tasks to core growth engines, leaders are increasingly seeking external consultants to manage sprawling technology stacks and fragmented digital supply chains. Effective partnerships in this space focus on operational effectiveness—optimizing internal processes and measurement frameworks—rather than just traditional brand strategy.