B2B marketers trust AI for execution but not strategy
When it comes to AI in B2B marketing, strategy is still a gray area. That’s one of the biggest takeaways from MFS’s “2026 State of AI and B2B Marketing” report on how marketing leaders are using AI—and where they still hesitate to go.
Most B2B marketers are leaning into AI for the things it does best right now: execution and efficiency. About 78% see it primarily as a productivity or task engine, with 56% pointing to tactical execution as the highest-value use case. But when it comes to strategic work—like brand positioning or big-picture decision-making—trust breaks down. Only 6% of respondents said they trust AI to weigh in on positioning, and just 44% expressed confidence in its ability to support strategic decisions.
What tools do B2B marketers reach for most often? No surprise—it’s the familiar ones: ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot and Google Gemini, many of which were already in personal use before being brought into workstreams. The one B2B-native AI platform standing out is Salesforce Einstein, with 14% of marketing leaders naming it the most important AI tool in their stack.
Despite the hesitation around strategy, investment in AI for marketing isn’t slowing down. Seventy-one percent of companies plan to increase their AI spend over the next 12 months. That tells us the question isn’t whether AI belongs in B2B marketing—it’s how to apply it with clarity, guardrails and real strategic upside.
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About the author
Constantine von Hoffman is managing editor of MarTech. A veteran journalist, Con has covered business, finance, marketing and tech for CBSNews.com, Brandweek, CMO, and Inc. He has been city editor of the Boston Herald, news producer at NPR, and has written for Harvard Business Review, Boston Magazine, Sierra, and many other publications. He has also been a professional stand-up comedian, given talks at anime and gaming conventions on everything from My Neighbor Totoro to the history of dice and boardgames, and is author of the magical realist novel John Henry the Revelator. He lives in Boston with his wife, Jennifer, and either too many or too few dogs.
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