A recently released survey of 184 marketing and advertising professionals by advertising software company Basis found 61.4% now use generative or agentic AI every day, up from 33.6% a year ago. Only 6.5% of their organizations measure the return on those AI investments against defined benchmarks.
Key Takeaways
- 61.4% of surveyed marketing and advertising professionals use generative or agentic AI daily, up from 33.6% a year earlier.
- Only 6.5% of organizations measure AI ROI against defined benchmarks, and 65.1% either don’t measure it or don’t know whether anyone does.
- 88.6% of organizations pay for premium AI tools, up from 65.7% last year and 44.0% in 2024.
- 51.1% of organizations now deploy AI agents, with agent use up 155.5% year over year.
- 47.8% of organizations replaced human tasks with AI in the past 12 months, up from 10.4% in 2023.
- Among U.S. firms using AI, 52% apply it in sales and marketing, the most common business function in Census Bureau data.
Daily AI Use Among Marketers Nearly Doubles In A Year
The fourth annual Basis “AI and the Future of Marketing” report surveyed 184 professionals across agencies, brands and publishers in August 2026. The sample is small and comes from a company that sells advertising software, so the findings describe one industry snapshot rather than the full market. Still, the year-over-year shifts point in a clear direction.
Nearly every respondent, 98.4%, uses generative or agentic AI in their work. The bigger change is frequency. Daily use climbed to 61.4% from 33.6% a year earlier, meaning AI has moved from an occasional tool to part of the routine workday for most marketers surveyed.
That use remains concentrated early in the campaign process. According to Basis, 85.9% of respondents use AI for research and 83.2% for ideation, the stages before a campaign is built and launched.
Spending On AI Tools Is Outpacing Proof Of Return
The survey’s sharpest finding is the gap between spending and measurement. Basis found 88.6% of organizations now pay for premium AI tools, up from 65.7% last year and 44.0% in 2024. And 43.5% use a custom or semi-custom AI model, up from 28.5% a year ago.
Measurement has not kept pace. Only 6.5% of marketing organizations measure AI ROI against defined benchmarks. Another 65.1% either do not measure it at all or are unsure whether anyone in their organization is doing so.
For a small business, that gap translates into a real budget question. Subscription costs are fixed and easy to see. The benefits, such as faster drafts, more campaign variations or quicker reporting, are harder to pin down without a baseline. Katie McAdams, chief marketing and commercial officer at Basis, acknowledged the issue directly, saying “more work is needed to justify the investment.”
AI Agents Move Deeper Into Campaign Work
AI agents, software that pulls data, makes decisions and takes action with limited human oversight, saw the fastest growth in the survey. Use of agents rose 155.5% year over year, and 51.1% of organizations now deploy them.
Marketers are handing agents tasks that once required analysts and coordinators. Among organizations using agents, 72.3% use them for reporting and analytics, 56.4% for campaign brief creation and 45.7% for content creation.
The effect on staffing is growing. Basis found 47.8% of organizations replaced human tasks with AI solutions in the past 12 months, up from 27.9% a year earlier and 10.4% in 2023. Expectations about the longer term have eased slightly, though. Half of marketers, 50.6%, believe AI will lead to substantial job losses in digital marketing within three to five years, down from 58.6% last year.
Marketers Still Rate Human Work Higher
Heavy use has not translated into full confidence in the output. According to the survey, 76.6% of marketers say AI-generated content still falls short of their organization’s human-generated work. Every respondent, 100%, agreed AI poses a brand safety and misinformation risk.
Concern about AI’s environmental impact has also risen, reaching 81.1% from 53.2% in 2024. Together, those findings suggest marketers are using AI widely while keeping humans responsible for final quality, which makes measuring the tools’ actual contribution even more important.
Marketing Leads AI Use Across The Broader Economy
The pattern extends beyond advertising agencies and brand teams. The U.S. Census Bureau’s AI supplement to its Business Trends and Outlook Survey found 18% of U.S. firms used AI in a business function between November 2025 and January 2026. Among those firms, sales and marketing was the most common use at 52%, ahead of strategy and business development at 45% and IT at 41%.
The Census data also shows most adopters keep AI use narrow, with 57% of AI-using firms applying it in three or fewer business functions. And the measurement problem is not limited to marketing. A separate survey found only 12% of managed service providers reporting measurable gains from AI, despite 32% adoption.
What Small Marketing Teams Can Measure Before Adding Tools
The survey’s gap between spending and measurement points to a practical step for small teams: set a baseline before adding another AI tool. Recording how long a recurring task takes today, such as a monthly report or a set of social posts, gives a direct comparison once a tool is in place.
Output quality matters as much as speed. Given that most surveyed marketers rate human work higher, teams can track how much AI-generated work needs editing before it ships. A tool that saves drafting time but adds review time may not save much at all.
Finally, the full cost of each tool belongs in the comparison, including subscription fees, setup time and training. Measured against time saved and results produced, those numbers give a small business owner a clearer answer than the subscription count alone.
FAQs
How Many Marketers Use AI Every Day?
A Basis survey of 184 marketing and advertising professionals found 61.4% use generative or agentic AI daily. That is up from 33.6% a year earlier.
How Many Companies Measure The ROI Of AI In Marketing?
Only 6.5% of marketing organizations in the Basis survey measure AI ROI against defined benchmarks. Another 65.1% don’t measure it or are unsure whether anyone does.
What Do Marketers Use AI For Most?
Research and ideation lead, at 85.9% and 83.2% of respondents. Among organizations using AI agents, reporting and analytics is the top task at 72.3%.
How Many Businesses Use AI In The United States?
The Census Bureau’s AI supplement found 18% of U.S. firms used AI in a business function between November 2025 and January 2026. Sales and marketing was the most common use among those firms.
How Can Small Businesses Measure The Return On AI Tools?
Teams can record baseline time for recurring tasks before adopting a tool, then compare after rollout. Tracking editing time and full tool costs gives a more complete picture of the return.
