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# 93% of marketers say they're confident with AI, few can prove it works
- URL: https://www.promptthemarket.com/ai-confidence-among-marketers-hits-93-but-measurement-lags/
- Published: 2026-09-17T09:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-21T13:21:10.000Z
- Description: The Advertising Research Foundation surveyed two national samples and found a confidence gap the size of the industry. The number that should worry a CMO is not the 93.
- Author: Editor News
- Tags: Research, AI, Marketing, #author-james-dore

![James Dore](https://storage.ghost.io/c/e4/01/e4017178-c1da-4131-80aa-35f02cb5b999/content/images/2026/09/james-dore.jpg)

By **James Dore** · 2026-09-17

TLDR

The Advertising Research Foundation surveyed more than 200 U.S. advertisers and agencies across two waves and found confidence in AI outputs jumped from 82% to 93% in six months. Three independent 2026 surveys, from the ARF, Gartner and Australia's ACAM, now point to the same structural problem: AI spend is outrunning the ability to prove the investment works.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

01Confidence in AI outputs among U.S. marketers rose 11 points to 93% between November 2025 and May 2026.

02Formal AI training programs reached 70% of surveyed organisations, up from 50% six months earlier.

03Only 30% of CMOs globally have the readiness to scale AI, despite directing 15.3% of budgets to it.

0483% of Australian marketing organisations remain in early-to-mid AI maturity, with none at the highest level.

05Measurement, governance and validation standards are the named gap across all three independent surveys.

## What sits behind it is the problem.

The Advertising Research Foundation published its *How Marketers Are Using Artificial Intelligence* report on 16 September 2026, drawing on two nationwide survey waves across more than 200 U.S. advertisers and agencies.\[2\] The headline finding is hard to miss: average confidence in AI-generated outputs climbed from 82% in November 2025 to 93% by May 2026, an 11-point jump in six months.\[1\] Formal training programs followed a similar arc, growing from 50% to 70% of surveyed organisations across the same period.

Run the experiment forward and a question appears. If nearly every marketer in the room now trusts AI outputs, who is checking whether those outputs actually perform? The ARF flagged this directly: the industry has not matched its enthusiasm for adoption with equivalent work on validation, governance and measurement standards.

Scott McDonald, Ph.D., President and CEO of the Advertising Research Foundation, put it plainly: "AI is becoming embedded in how marketers work, from creative development to analytics and measurement. As adoption accelerates, the industry needs to put the same energy into validation, governance and standards, so marketers can understand when and how these tools can be trusted."\[1\]

## Spend is there. The infrastructure is not.

Four months before the ARF report landed, Gartner published its annual CMO Spend Survey, conducted between January and March 2026 across 401 marketing leaders in North America, the United Kingdom and Europe.\[3\] CMOs are directing an average of 15.3% of marketing budgets to AI initiatives, yet only 30% report the readiness to scale those investments. Seven in ten CMOs are spending heavily without the organisational setup to capture what they are paying for.

Ewan McIntyre, VP Analyst and Chief of Research in Gartner's marketing practice, said: "CMOs recognize AI's potential as a force multiplier for growth, efficiency and transformation, but most marketing organizations are not yet built to capture that value."\[3\]

The ARF report covers a wide range of applications: creative development, media buying, customer engagement, analytics, campaign measurement, synthetic data and AI-generated personas all appear on the list of current uses.\[1\] Extensive testing of AI tools reached 64% of surveyed organisations. The ability to measure whether any of those applications work at scale has not kept pace with the breadth of adoption.

__AI adoption and readiness: three surveys, 2026 \[ARF\] \[Gartner\] \[ACAM\]__
| Survey                              | Sample                         | Key finding                                           |
| ----------------------------------- | ------------------------------ | ----------------------------------------------------- |
| ARF (U.S.)                          | 200+ advertisers and agencies  | Confidence in AI outputs: 93%; training programs: 70% |
| Gartner (North America, UK, Europe) | 401 CMOs and marketing leaders | 15.3% of budgets to AI; only 30% ready to scale       |
| ACAM (Australia)                    | 126 CMOs and senior marketers  | 83% in early maturity; none at highest maturity level |

## The Australian picture is consistent, and sobering.

Two weeks before the ARF report landed, the Australian Centre for AI in Marketing published its own benchmark, based on 126 local CMOs and senior marketing leaders surveyed in September 2026.\[4\] Eighty-three percent of Australian marketing organisations remain in the early-to-mid stages of AI maturity, and none have reached the highest maturity level. The biggest barrier ACAM identified was roadmap, planning and investment strategy, not budget or technology access.

High confidence and low governance maturity can coexist easily: you trust the tool before you have built the processes to audit it. Across all three surveys, the question left open is what happens when marketers who are confident, spending freely and running thin on measurement infrastructure eventually need to account for returns.

The ARF is an industry body funded by advertisers and agencies, and its members have a commercial interest in AI adoption continuing. That does not make its data wrong, but it is worth holding in mind when reading its readiness assessments. Its next research wave will cover whether measurement and governance standards have started to close the gap the September 2026 report identified.

SOURCES & CITATIONS

1. [ARF: New ARF Research Reveals How AI Is Reshaping Marketing](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/new-arf-research-reveals-how-ai-is-reshaping-marketing-302877365.html?ref=promptthemarket.com)
2. [ARF Original Research](https://thearf.org/category/tag/arf-original-research/?ref=promptthemarket.com)
3. [Gartner 2026 CMO Spend Survey](https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2026-05-11-gartner-2026-cmo-spend-survey-finds-cmos-allocate-15-point-3-percent-of-marketing-budgets-to-ai-but-only-30-percent-are-ready-to-scale-ai-capabilities?ref=promptthemarket.com)
4. [ACAM 2026 Australian AI in Marketing Benchmark Report](https://www.acam.ai/2026-ai-benchmark-report-kt?ref=promptthemarket.com)

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

What did the ARF's AI survey find?

The Advertising Research Foundation's two-wave study of more than 200 U.S. advertisers and agencies found confidence in AI outputs rose from 82% to 93% between November 2025 and May 2026\. Formal training programs grew from 50% to 70% across the same period, while extensive testing reached 64% of organisations. The ARF flagged validation, governance and measurement standards as the unresolved gaps behind the headline confidence numbers.

How does the Gartner CMO Spend Survey relate to the ARF findings?

Gartner's 2026 survey of 401 CMOs across North America, the UK and Europe found that marketing leaders are directing an average of 15.3% of budgets to AI, but only 30% have the organisational readiness to scale those investments. That spend-versus-capability gap mirrors the adoption-versus-governance gap the ARF identified from the practitioner side.

Where do Australian marketers sit compared with global peers?

Australia's own benchmark, from the Australian Centre for AI in Marketing based on 126 senior marketing leaders, shows 83% of local organisations remain in early-to-mid AI maturity stages, with none at the highest level. The biggest barrier identified was roadmap, planning and investment strategy, not technology access or budget.

![James Dore](https://storage.ghost.io/c/e4/01/e4017178-c1da-4131-80aa-35f02cb5b999/content/images/2026/09/james-dore.jpg)

[James Dore](https://www.promptthemarket.com/james-dore/)

James Dore is Strategy Director at Bushnote, a leader in SEO and AEO in Australia. He writes on search, AI and the technology decisions shaping government and industry.