Most ad agencies are planning for AI, but few are putting it to work

Most ad agencies are talking about AI — but few are doing it at scale, according to a AIDigital’s “The State of AI Maturity.”

The report shows agencies are deep into the exploratory phase when it comes to adopting AI, with a wide gap between intent and execution. A third of organizations say they’re still drafting a roadmap, while another third are in ad-hoc experimentation mode. That leaves just 16% who say AI is embedded across all teams — proof that full integration is still the exception, not the rule.

For agencies, the tooling gap is especially clear. More than half say they don’t yet have licensed marketing or advertising-specific AI platforms in place. That likely means many are leaning on general-purpose tools or free versions — and suggests there’s still a sizable opening for vendors that can offer more specialized, enterprise-ready options.

In short: the AI era in marketing is underway, but most companies are still figuring out how to take the first real steps.

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