First, it was all about generative AI. And now that most folks are familiar with generative tools — especially marketers — many have moved on and begun to explore agentic AI and how it can transform their roles and organizations.
A vast majority (96%) of chief marketing officers (CMOs) reported that AI is transforming their function from end-to-end, according to new data from the Boston Consulting Group (BCG). Yet there’s a critical gap to note. BCG’s data also reveals that while leaders are talking about agentic transformation, relatively few organizations have made the operational and governance changes required to realize its full value.
Brafton uncovered similar findings in our State of AI Adoption in Marketing Teams: Year 2 white paper, which found widespread AI adoption but shortcomings in training, governance and strategic implementation.
The quick arrival of agentic AI tools and platforms challenges all of that.
Marketing Is Moving Beyond One-Off AI Assistance
For the past two years or so, most marketers have used AI primarily as a generative productivity tool. 81% of marketers we surveyed confirmed using AI in their processes in 2025. The biggest benefits centered on speed and productivity rather than quality improvements, and most respondents reported using AI for research, planning, ideation, outlining and content creation.
But BCG argues that the next step up from generative AI — agentic AI — represents a larger, more complex shift.
Rather than helping marketers complete individual tasks faster, agentic systems coordinate entire workflows, automate decision-making processes, support real-time optimization and create new operating models for organizations.
Early agentic AI adopters (The Leaders, in BCG’s study) are ahead of the rest not just in terms of tool investment, but also training, upskilling and restructuring to support agentic AI use. And an even smaller percentage of CMOs (8%) have begun connecting multiple agents to run campaigns autonomously.
It’s almost like we’re moving from AI as a tool to AI as an autonomous colleague — maybe faster than some would hope or expect. But it’s happening nonetheless. And that’s a fundamentally different challenge compared to several years ago, when we were simply exploring ChatGPT’s capabilities and working out how to leverage it for quick assistance.
Back then, we might’ve been asking questions like “How do we use AI to write content faster?” But now, the question we need to start asking is more aligned with something like: “How do we redesign marketing processes around AI-driven execution while maintaining human oversight and strategic control?”
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The Readiness Gap Is Growing
While CMOs are increasingly investing in agentic AI and expect it to play a significant role in future marketing operations, according to BCG, relatively few organizations have fully implemented the operating model changes, governance frameworks and talent strategies needed to support large-scale adoption. But many are beginning to get these things underway.
Brafton’s own research found a similar pattern.
While AI usage has become commonplace, 61% of marketers reported receiving no formal AI training and instead are learning to use it effectively through self-guided experimentation. 21% said they are currently underground or anticipate completing formal AI training.
Governance shows a similar maturity gap. Although adoption is widespread, 58% of marketers still report having no formal AI policy in place. While organizations may have been able to get by without a steadfast governance structure up until now, agentic AI introduces some urgency.
Governance shortcomings are manageable when AI is simply helping draft blog posts or summarize meeting notes. But for agentic AI to orchestrate campaigns, personalize experiences, allocate resources or make autonomous recommendations, limited oversight creates much larger business risk.
Human Oversight Remains Critical
One of the strongest points of alignment between the BCG and Brafton findings is the continued importance of human judgment. Despite the rapid growth of AI adoption, marketers are not rushing to remove humans from the process.
Brafton’s survey found that marketers remain highly concerned about generic content, inaccurate information and maintaining brand voice. As a result, most teams continue to fact-check, edit and refine AI-generated outputs before publication. Very few respondents reported commonly publishing AI-generated content with little or no human intervention.
The forecast for agentic marketing doesn’t eliminate marketers (I’m unsure if it will ever, seriously be able to) but rather elevates their role.
As AI handles more executional work, marketers become responsible for setting objectives, defining guardrails, ensuring brand consistency and making strategic decisions that machines cannot.
The organizations that succeed with agentic AI are unlikely to be those that simply set out to automate the most. That’s too big a risk, and many marketers just aren’t that close to that yet. Instead, they’ll be the ones that can most effectively combine AI-agent-driven efficiency with human expertise, creativity and judgment.
What Marketers Should Do Next
Before taking any action, remember that procuring more AI tools does not automatically lead to better outcomes. The organizations gaining the most value from AI aren’t only investing in tools, but also in the systems, skills and structures needed to support those tools — especially the people using them.
Here are four priorities marketers can focus on now:
1. Shift From Tool Adoption to Workflow Design
Most organizations have already experimented with AI tools, and the next challenge is to redesign workflows around them. Instead of asking where AI can save a few minutes, evaluate entire marketing processes and identify where AI can eliminate bottlenecks, accelerate decision-making or improve scalability.
2. Invest in Training Before Scaling
AI adoption is still outpacing education, but marketers will be harder pressed to make that trend work as agentic AI continues to encroach.
As AI capabilities expand, organizations need employees who understand how agentic systems work, are familiar with governance structures, have clean data to use and proper risk management pieces in place, among other things. Training needs to become a foundational component of AI strategy.
About 80% of CMOs who participated in BCG’s survey confirmed they plan to invest more in training, mostly through:
- AI-specific upskilling programs.
- Responsible AI and ethics training.
3. Establish Governance Now
Agentic systems require clearer boundaries than one-off generative tools due to the heightened general risk. Organizations should define:
- Approved tools and platforms.
- Data usage policies.
- Human review requirements.
- Accountability frameworks.
- Compliance standards.
Of the relatively few existing AI policies already out there, they seem to be on a good track. They’re heavily focused on data inputs, approved activities and output review processes, according to Brafton’s data, and those guardrails will only become more important as agentic capabilities mature.
4. Focus on Outcomes
For many, agentic AI is only just beginning to enter organizational workflows at any sort of scale. Strictly generative AI has already achieved that, and now agentic tools are positioned to follow a similar trajectory.
That’s exciting, but try to resist the urge to chase the shiny new thing before you’ve considered which measurable business outcomes could reasonably benefit, such as:
- Faster campaign execution.
- Improved customer experiences.
- Better personalization.
- Increased productivity.
- Greater operational efficiency.
Always tie AI initiatives to clear business objectives. That way, it’s easier to stay on track, troubleshoot and restrategize when and where necessary.
Be Intentional About AI Adoption
Most marketers have been convinced about AI one way or another and are using it daily. But if there is one emerging theme here, it’s that it’s time to get serious about that widespread AI usage and transform it into an agentic-focused, safe, effective and sustainable competitive advantage.
Many organizations still have some preparation work to do between training, governance and process consistency. Building those skills and systems now will help not just CMOs but their departments as a whole to use tools with maximum effectiveness. Agentic marketing is here.
Note: This article was originally published on contentmarketing.ai.
