Bain: AI is everywhere in marketing, but big gains are rare

AI has moved quickly from novelty to standard equipment in marketing teams, but Bain’s survey suggests that deployment is not the same as transformation. Of 1,397 senior marketing and finance executives surveyed, 95% said their organizations use AI tools, yet just 6% reported a significant effect on performance. The gap matters because adopting tools alone does not guarantee that AI will change performance. Bain found that organizations reporting stronger results were more likely to coordinate AI centrally, connect teams and data, and redesign workflows rather than scatter experiments across the business.