• by Ray Schultz , June 26, 2023

Most marketers are planning to adopt artificial intelligence (AI), but it remains to be seen whether they are ready for it.

As it stands, 72% of marketing leaders feel their tech stacks do not function as seamlessly as they could, according to Confessions of a CMO: Uncovering Hidden Costs Impacting ROI, a study from Optimizely, conducted by Wakefield Research.

Moreover, 76% of marketers are skeptical that their marketing tools will generate the ROI they want. Yet 70% say their firms approve investments in new technology without a defined ROI plan much of the time. And 23% feel that unintegrated technology leads to unnecessary redundancy. 

Still, 44% of marketers say their company will adopt generative AI quickly, and 48% will embrace it on when the bugs are worked out.

The most beneficial generative AI (GAI) capabilities are:

• Code generation— 48%
• Image generation — 48%
• Audio generation — 46%
• Automated conversations — 44%
• Text generation — 41%

However, 53% report that their firms use older technology tools instead of investing in new ones because of the cost and time needed to re-train staff.

Among other challenges, 43% of leaders are attached to legacy solutions, while 42% are afraid to let go of specific functions.

Should IT people be making marketing decisions? They are left to do so at 85% of companies.

"No one likes to waste money, and marketing leaders have shown they are far too often spending on tools they know don't fully address their pain points," says Shafqat Islam, Optimizely's Chief Marketing Officer.

Wakefield Research surveyed 300 U.S. senior marketing executives in firms with 100 or more employees between May 17 and May 24, 2023.