The news: Marketers are adopting AI en masse, but notable confidence and training gaps could hinder execution and ROI.

• 72% of agency and brand marketers worldwide plan to use AI next year, per MiQ’s The AI Confidence Curve report.
• However, less than half (45%) are confident in their ability to use it to drive operational efficiencies, and 38% still haven’t received proper training.

Why it matters: The 27-point gap between AI onboarding and confidence marks an early adoption imbalance for marketers, where hype is outpacing the practical skills needed to use AI efficiently.

High intent paired with low confidence suggests that many organizations are racing to adopt AI before they’ve built the internal foundations to support it. The result is a widening execution risk, where teams may adopt AI tools but struggle to produce measurable performance and ROI gains.

Trendspotting: As adoption takes off, the landscape of use cases is changing. Social media management and marketing automation are emerging as top applications for about 40% of agency and brand marketers, followed by customer engagement (38%), visual design (37%), and ad campaign management (35%).

Use cases: Content creation stats vary widely, with B2B and brand marketers using AI in different ways. B2B teams lean on it for hands-on content production while brand marketers spread their usage across a broader mix of operational tasks.

• MiQ found that, while 66% of agency and brand marketers are currently using AI, just 32% are using it for content creation and ad-creative design and optimization.
• CMI reported last month that 89% of B2B marketers who use AI applications are using them for content creation, and 53% are using them for creative assets.

Agency marketers’ focus on internal AI applications rather than user- or client-facing tasks like content creation could indicate a desire to show value and human-centered abilities. This is especially relevant as AI ad-creation suites pop up and marketing leaders look to automate content creation to trim agency spending.

What’s next for marketers: CMOs need to treat upskilling as a core investment so employees can help support pilots and work independently on AI-driven projects.

Instead of all-hands lectures or one-and-done webinars, leaders should offer:

• Role-specific training paths to tailor education and boost employees’ confidence in their understanding of AI.
• Established AI leads to answer project questions, keep an eye on KPIs, and provide oversight of tool usage.
• Shared prompt libraries where teams can safely practice engaging with AI and exchange what they learn.