Gartner released its 2026 CMO Spend Survey on 11 May 2026 at its Marketing Symposium in London. It polls 401 senior marketing leaders. The headline: marketing budgets are effectively flat at 7.8 per cent of company revenue, up from 7.7 per cent in 2025, while the share of those budgets earmarked for AI has reached 15.3 per cent.
The numbers that matter
AI spend is running ahead of readiness. CMOs allocate 15.3 per cent of budgets to AI initiatives, but only 30 per cent report mature or fully developed AI readiness; 70 per cent say their internal processes are not mature enough to scale it. Organisations that do report mature readiness allocate 21.3 per cent.
The money is short. 56 per cent of CMOs say they lack the budget to deliver their 2026 strategy and 54 per cent report insufficient resources.
People are taking a bigger share. Labour rose from 21.9 per cent of the marketing budget in 2025 to 24.5 per cent in 2026. Lack of internal AI expertise is the top barrier to AI-driven efficiency, cited by 38 per cent.
Our read
Flat budgets and a rising AI line mean something else is being cut, and Gartner's own follow-up survey says it is agency and martech spend. For agencies, the pitch that wins is the one that closes the readiness gap: data foundations, governance and skills, not another tool. For CMOs, 15 per cent on AI with 30 per cent readiness is a number a CFO will ask about.
