WPP consultancy Gain Theory has released a report positing that while artificial intelligence is making marketing measurement faster, many companies struggle to turn more quickly developed insights into business decisions.  

Just 3% of senior marketers say their companies are fully optimized to deploy many AI-driven insights.  

The report is based on a survey of 103 senior marketing leaders at blue-chip brands including The Coca-Cola Company, Expedia Group, Novartis, P&G, and Walmart. Respondents collectively spend over $100 billion annually on marketing.   

About 62% of respondents said AI has improved how quickly they can use marketing mix modeling (MMM), a technique for estimating how different marketing and non-marketing activities affect sales.  

But faster analysis isn't leading to faster decisions, per the report. Fifty-eight percent said there's a gap between the insights they generate and the actions their companies actually take.   

And many finance chiefs remain skeptical: 73% said their CFO does not fully trust or use marketing measurement results when making decisions.   

Data quality is still a major problem. More than half said their analysts spend at least 30% of their time fixing incomplete or inaccurate data instead of analyzing it.  

According to the report, part of the solution may lie in the appointment of an executive that Gain Theory refers to as a "multidisciplinary orchestrator”--a seasoned marketer who thoroughly understands AI outputs, can translate complex insights for senior stakeholders, and ensure recommendations are turned into commercial action.  

As AI increasingly absorbs executional tasks, the report argues that the premium shifts from producing analysis faster to applying human judgment, building trust and mobilizing organizations around the results.  

The full report can be accessed here.