Published on: November 10, 2026
SYDNEY – TUESDAY 10 NOVEMBER: Less than half of U.S. marketers (48%) say they are fully prepared to lead AI-driven transformation, while the figure drops to 27% among Australian marketers. Despite growing AI adoption, only 7% of U.S. respondents and 6% of Australian respondents have a clearly defined roadmap for AI implementation.
The Global Centre for AI in Marketing (GCAM), in its inaugural U.S. AI in Marketing Benchmark Report, titled ‘Confidence Outpaces Accountability’, identifies significant gaps in AI leadership readiness and strategic planning among marketers in both markets.
Louise Cummins, co-founder and CEO of ACAM and GCAM, said: “Confidence needs to be matched by a plan people can act on. Leaders need to be clear about what AI should achieve and who is accountable for results.”
The U.S. benchmark was developed in partnership with The CMO Syndicate, using the framework established for the Australian benchmark. The Australian Centre for AI in Marketing (ACAM) developed that benchmark with research partner Kantar and support from IBM. ACAM established GCAM to extend its research and learning internationally.
Leaders need skills and clearer plans
Six in ten (68%) of Australian and 46% of U.S. marketers feel only partly ready to lead AI-driven change and say they need to improve their own skills. A further 37% in Australia and 50% in the U.S. report a partly documented AI roadmap. Roadmap, planning and investment is the weakest of the seven AI maturity drivers in both countries.
Half of Australian respondents (50%) and 52% of U.S. respondents sit at level three, Early Emerging, on the six-level AI marketing maturity scale. In the U.S., 29% reach level four or above, compared with 17% in Australia.
Skills and brand quality remain shared concerns
Integrating AI tools into daily workflows is a skills gap for 64% of Australian marketers and 56% in the U.S. Evaluating and selecting the right AI tools is a gap for 53% in Australia and 35% in America.
On average, Australian marketers estimate that 45% of their team is highly skilled and confident using AI, compared with 52% in the U.S.
AI slop is the most frequently selected concern in both countries, chosen among the top three concerns by 61% of Australian respondents and 78% of U.S. respondents. This reflects concern about low-quality AI content and its impact on brands.
At the benchmark’s launch at Georgetown University in Washington D.C., panellist JJ Kaye, CMO of Capital Bank, said: “This is data that helps me have conversations in the C-suite about things that we should be doing differently inside the organisation.”
Cummins added: “The question is moving beyond whether marketers have access to AI. The harder question is whether organisations know what they are trying to achieve with it, which capabilities they need, and how their people, workflows and investment decisions need to change. That is where the roadmap becomes critical. Without it, more tools can actually create more complexity rather than more maturity. The benchmark gives leaders evidence to take into conversations with their executive teams about where to invest and what needs to change. We are all on this journey. The next step is to share the lessons behind the numbers so more marketers can put them into practice.”
The U.S. benchmark drew responses from 126 marketing professionals, predominantly CMOs and senior marketing leaders. The Australian comparison uses ACAM’s 2026 benchmark, developed with Kantar, which surveyed 126 marketing leaders across 12 industries.
Download the free executive snapshot: www.gcam.ai/insights
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