TLDR
A Bench Media survey found 38% of senior Australian marketers accept AI-generated strategic recommendations without human review, rising to 45% for budget and creative decisions. AI ranks as the single biggest influence on marketing decisions at 23%, with agencies last at 8%. Bench Media sells media planning, and the 71-person sample is directional.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
More than a third of senior Australian marketers accept AI-generated strategy recommendations without anyone checking them, a survey by media agency Bench Media has found.[1]
The Confidence Equation report polled 71 senior client-side marketing leaders, mostly chief marketing officers and marketing directors. It found 38% take AI strategy recommendations without human review, rising to 45% for budget recommendations and creative concepts.[2]
Bench describes its segment-level findings as directional, and it sells media planning services, so the numbers are a vendor's.[3]
AI now outranks experience
Asked to weigh what shapes their confidence, the leaders put AI first at 23%, just ahead of data at 21% and their own experience at 20%. Agencies came second last at 8%, above only peers at 6%.[2]
Bigger budgets lean on it harder. Among leaders managing more than $20 million, 51% said AI is the input they rely on most when deciding whether to take a calculated risk, against 24% of those with smaller budgets.[2]
Most still keep the final say. When an AI recommendation conflicts with their own view, 59% said they back their own judgement.[2]
"Ultimately, confidence comes from knowing when to trust the technology, and when to trust yourself," said Michelle Wee, general manager of marketing at Hisense.[1]
"There still needs to be a human in the loop," said Emma Fogarty, head of marketing and category at nudie Foods.[2]
Confidence has climbed fast
Ninety per cent of the leaders said decision-making had become easier over the past year, and 48% said AI had made them more confident.[3]
Eleven months ago the mood was shakier. MiQ's AI Confidence Curve study of 3,169 marketers in 16 countries found 75% of Australian marketers planned to use AI more over the following year, but only half were fully confident in their AI knowledge.[4]
"There is still a long way to go to close that gap," MiQ ANZ managing director Fiona Roberts said at the time.[4]
SOURCES & CITATIONS
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
What did the Bench Media Confidence Equation report find about AI oversight?
How does AI rank against other influences on marketing decisions in Australia?
Does budget size affect how much Australian marketers rely on AI?
What did MiQ's global AI study find?
Xaviery Malinao writes for Prompt the Market on how brands and agencies are adapting to answer engines, drawing on Bushnote's work with clients across search, AI search and content.
