AI workflows keep marketers too busy for the day job

Marketers today are being judged less by how many campaigns they ship and more by how well they can connect outputs to outcomes, with the vast majority spending less time on traditional activities like advertising and marketing in order to prioritise managing AI workflows (79%) and data analysis (51%).

That is according to The Marketer of 2026, a new report from Cision-owned Brandwatch, based on a survey of 1,028 marketing professionals and an analysis of 750,000 online industry conversations.

It reveals that, despite unprecedented access to data, only a quarter of marketers say they understand their audiences “very well”, exposing the growing challenge of translating fragmented signals into meaningful insight.

As customer journeys fragment across social platforms, search engines, and AI-driven discovery tools, marketers face mounting pressure to move beyond collecting data and instead turn signals into clear insight and action.

Despite the volume of data available across channels, predicting behaviour, interpreting cultural shifts, and uncovering the “why” behind audience decisions remain the hardest problems to solve.

Among the top challenges marketers cite predicting future needs or behaviours (60%); understanding changing behaviours (48%); turning data into actionable insights (46%); understanding the “why” behind audience decisions (40%); integrating data from multiple sources (40%).

The result is a widening insight gap; brands know more about what people do than ever before, but still struggle to explain why they do it – and how to act on that knowledge at speed.

Platforms that unify consumer conversations and audience signals are increasingly critical for marketing teams looking to close this insight gap and move from reactive reporting to proactive strategy.

AI and automation are now central to the marketer’s toolkit. The report found that 84% of marketers said AI and automation are the most important skills to master; 81% said AI tools are the most essential technology in the marketing stack; while 79% said they are spending more time on managing AI and automation workflows.

While AI is helping teams move faster and automate repetitive tasks, marketers are acutely aware of the need to balance efficiency with human judgment, creativity, and cultural awareness. And, as AI-generated content becomes more common, marketers increasingly recognise that technology alone won’t differentiate brands.

The report also highlights just how splintered the customer journey has become. Audiences now move fluidly across touchpoints and have become increasingly fluent in marketing tactics.

This fragmentation puts added pressure on marketers to connect data across channels and eliminate reporting silos.

Integrated consumer intelligence platforms are emerging as a key lever for helping teams unify audience data, identify patterns across touchpoints (including search, social, and traditional media), and transform fragmented signals into strategic insight.

Cision chief marketing officer Amy Jones said: “The real competitive edge won’t come from collecting more data, it will come from how marketers translate fragmented signals into insight and action.

“AI won’t replace marketers, it will expose the ones who don’t lead with strategy. The winners will use AI to accelerate execution and then double down on what humans do best: judgement, creativity, and direction.”