Foreword · p.3
Foreword
In 30 seconds
- 82% of B2B marketers use AI today; another 11% plan to.
- Adoption is no longer the edge. The edge comes from knowing where AI improves the workflow, which data it uses, where humans judge, and how results are measured.
- Marketers at top-performing businesses are more than twice as likely to be significant AI users (56% vs 26%).
Since the launch of ChatGPT in November 2022, AI has moved rapidly from a novel technology to part of everyday life. By early 2026, ChatGPT had more than 900 million users, while Alphabet revealed that those using Gemini had passed 750 million. Businesses have taken note, as global corporate AI investment has skyrocketed to keep up.
AI is no longer a question of “readiness” or “adoption.” It is a part of how a growing volume of work gets done, particularly within marketing. ON24’s 2026 research finds that 82% of B2B marketers are using AI in their marketing today, while an additional 11% are planning to do so. The market has swiftly moved from curiosity to capability.
But adoption is no longer enough. As AI becomes more ubiquitous, its advantage will not come from access. It will come from knowing where AI can improve the workflow, which data it should use, where human judgment is required, and how results should be measured.
That distinction is already visible. Marketers at top-performing businesses are more likely to be significant AI users, with 56% reporting significant use compared with 26% of all others. They are also more likely to report major productivity gains, see broader potential for AI across marketing activities and plan further implementation in the year ahead. AI does not replace a strong marketing strategy. It amplifies it.
The next phase for AI will be defined by how well teams connect AI to the moments that matter: content creation, audience segmentation, personalization, webinar and event follow-up, sales handoff, analytics, and buyer engagement. This is where AI can move past faster execution and begin to support better decisions.
That shift also raises the stakes. Automated agents, personalization at scale, and AI-assisted engagement workflows all depend on clear rules and reliable data. Poor inputs will not produce better buyer experiences simply because AI is involved. The teams that succeed will be those that connect AI to first-party engagement signals, define the right review points and focus on measurable business outcomes.
B2B marketing leaders should stop asking whether AI belongs in the marketing function and start asking where it can create the greatest advantage. Scattered use cases need to shift to intentional workflows, from generic personalization to evidence-based engagement, and from tactical actions to performance impact.
This report offers a timely view of where B2B marketers stand today and where opportunities are emerging. More importantly, it shows that the future of AI in marketing will not be won by fast adopters, but by the teams that apply AI with discipline, connect it to buyer behavior and use it to make every interaction more relevant, useful and measurable.
The AI era in B2B marketing has begun. The opportunity now is to turn adoption into advantage.
What's inside
Key findings from ON24 research · p.4
The State of AI in B2B Marketing in 2026
*Results are based on an online survey of 261 B2B marketers in the United States, fielded in April 2026 using a Centiment panel. Top-performing businesses exceeded their top business goal by a significant margin.
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Chapter one of six · pp.5–7
AI Has Moved Into Mainstream Marketing
The vast majority of B2B marketers are using or planning to use AI, and the pressure they're under is rising.
In 30 seconds
- 82% use AI in marketing today; 36% use it significantly. With the 11% planning, that's 93%.
- Among businesses with more than $25 million in revenue, 96% use AI in some form.
- Top challenges: workload (42%), lack of budget and resources (37%), and inefficient, manual processes (27%), all cited more often than in 2024.
ON24’s State of AI in B2B Marketing report was first published in 2024. Since then, professionals have reinvented their use of AI in the workplace several times over. In February 2026, OpenAI announced its LLM, ChatGPT, grew to more than 900 million weekly users; Stanford’s Artificial Intelligence Index Report 2025 reports AI usage jumped 55% from 2024 to 2025; and within marketing, Duke University’s April 2026 CMO Survey reports AI usage “has nearly doubled in two years, rising from 13.1% of marketing activities in 2024 to 24.2% in 2026.”
ON24’s State of AI in B2B Marketing echoes these changes, showing adoption in B2B is mainstream. According to our research, 82% say they are using AI in marketing today, with more than one-third (36%) of all respondents using AI significantly.
Meanwhile, a further 11% state they are planning to use AI. Taken together, this means that 93% of B2B marketers are using or are planning to use AI.
This acceleration in AI adoption becomes more pronounced when comparing usage with businesses making more than $25 million in revenue. Here, 96% of B2B marketers use AI in some form, suggesting AI is a standard part of established B2B marketing teams.
Where do you sit?
Survey dataQ: “Are you using AI in your marketing today?”
Today’s challenges align to the promise of AI
Marketer pressure points are rising
Survey dataQ: “What are your biggest challenges today? Select up to three options.”
Which three are yours? (pick up to three)
Numerous studies and reports illustrate the potential of AI to improve output. In 2025, the OECD estimated that AI could increase annual labor productivity growth by up to 1.3 percentage points in major economies, while earlier research from Microsoft and LinkedIn reported that AI users said it helped save them time (90%) and even enjoy their work more (83%).
The promised benefits of AI — from improved worker efficiency to the offloading of time-consuming manual tasks — seem to offer a solution to the rising pressure points that marketers face.
When B2B marketers were asked to list their top challenges, the most frequent response was workload (42%), followed by a lack of budget and resources (37%). More than one-quarter also cited inefficient and manual processes (27%) as a challenge. Compared to 2024, the frequency at which these issues were cited has risen markedly. The implication is that more than ever, squeezed marketers need a solution that will enable them to drive greater returns with fewer resources.
However, these challenges also present a potential upside. For B2B marketing leaders, they can help to focus AI efforts on areas and processes that offer the greatest and fastest improvements. Proven results from quick wins can then support further buy-in to expand the use of AI along with other B2B marketing initiatives.
In addition, focused efforts can help marketing leaders to avoid — a common pitfall where new technology is adopted with no plan to derive value from it.
Chapter two of six · pp.8–12
Increased AI Use Correlates to Stronger Performance and Productivity
Marketers at top-performing businesses are more than twice as likely to be significantly using AI.
In 30 seconds
- 56% of marketers at top-performing businesses use AI significantly, against 26% of everyone else.
- 75% of significant AI users say AI made them much more productive; only 23% of partial users say the same.
- The productivity gap is wider than the performance gap, so output only counts if it drives results.
In the past few years, AI has seen unprecedented levels of investment. But in this context, business leaders, investors and policymakers are asking whether this surge in technology spending will translate into equally significant gains.
Such concerns are not new. Even before the internet era, economists and executives questioned whether the rapid growth in corporate technology budgets was generating meaningful returns — a debate that, in the early 1990s, became known as the Yet as Erik Brynjolfsson and Lorin Hitt of MIT Sloan showed in 1994, the real picture becomes visible not at the level of entire industries or economies, but only at an organizational level. This research takes the same approach.
To do so, this ON24 survey asked respondents about organization-level performance. Among those at organizations that had exceeded their top business goal by a significant margin — labeled as top performers in the charts — 56% report significant AI use.
For all others, the figure was less than half that value, with only 26% reporting significant AI use. Partial use tells the opposite story: 57% of others use AI somewhat or in a limited way, compared with 27% of respondents at top-performing businesses.
Other research notes similar findings. For example, a 2025 IDC study found that AI “Frontier firms” were around 4X as likely to report top-line growth from their investments in AI. For B2B marketing leaders, the question is no longer a case of whether to adopt AI or not, but the degree to which they can successfully deploy AI across marketing activities.
Significant AI users report wider lifts in productivity
Aside from business performance, an even larger split is present in productivity. Nearly all significant AI users — 96% — say AI has made them at least somewhat more productive, and 75% say it has made them significantly more productive. By contrast, even though 83% of partial AI users say they have seen some productivity improvement, only 23% report significant gains.
A similar pattern can be seen when results are split by business performance. Among current AI users, respondents at top-performing businesses are far more likely to say AI has made them significantly more productive, at 74% versus 31%.
But despite these positive results, the lifts in productivity from significant AI use are wider than the difference in business outcomes. While this could be explained by other factors such as market conditions, B2B marketers cannot forget that increasing output is only valuable if that drives greater results. As AI offers the potential to both save time and scale activities, leaders should stay focused on clearly defined and measurable workflows that can deliver tangible results.
The performance split
Survey dataDeep diveWhy the productivity gap is wider than the performance gap
The report offers market conditions as one explanation. A second is more practical: time saved is only converted into results if it is reinvested somewhere measurable. A team that writes ten emails in the time it used to write two has raised output, not pipeline. That's why chapter five recommends tracking engagement quality, offer conversion, sales acceptance, buyer progression and pipeline contribution, not just hours saved or assets produced.
One campaign, two ways: ad hoc vs repeatable
Illustrative · 12 s loopChecklist · pp.11–12
A six-step checklist to turn any webinar into a campaign-in-a-box with AI
Webinars are more than events — they’re engines for omnichannel growth. But stretched teams still treat them as one-and-done. The Campaign-in-a-Box approach turns one 50-minute session into a full campaign, including video clips, blog posts, content pages and more. Follow this checklist to maximize your success — and for more detail, download The Campaign-in-a-Box Blueprint.
Build the box: tick the steps, watch one webinar fan out
Checklist · assets illustrativeChapter three of six · pp.13–16
Practice Lags Potential Across B2B Marketing Activities
B2B marketers are not yet making full use of AI, and first-party data practices may hold personalization back.
In 30 seconds
- In every activity measured, more marketers see AI's potential than use it. Even creative/design trails by 29 points.
- The widest ratios are events: 71% see potential for webinars and virtual events, 18% use AI there.
- No single type of first-party data is used for personalization by more than half of marketers.
The data from both this survey and other research shows that AI has firmly entered both personal and professional activities. However, casual use does not guarantee commercial impact.
For both B2B marketers and business as a whole, recent research suggests that many are still using AI for simple tasks. LinkedIn and Ipsos’ 2025 B2B Marketing Benchmark warns that many B2B marketers remain concentrated in shallower AI uses such as copywriting, SEO and task automation. At a wider level, McKinsey’s 2025 State of AI report found that the largest impact on the bottom line came from the more complex task of wider workflow redesign.
Responses for this ON24 study show a sizable gap between belief and practice. Across every marketing activity measured, marketers are more likely to see AI’s potential than to be using it today. The gap is smallest in areas closest to content production: creative/design shows 88% perceived impact versus 59% current use, while promotional content shows 84% versus 55%. Even there, practice trails potential by 29 percentage points.
More complex or technical workflows see some of the largest differences. Analytics and measurement has 87% perceived impact but 48% current use. Audience segmentation and personalization stands at 78% versus 34%, a 44-point gap.
Surprisingly, 81% recognize the potential of AI for language translation, but only 27% have put it to use. In many cases, this should not be a complex undertaking, given that AI-powered translation builds on a foundation of established translation software. Furthermore, solutions for technical translation and localization are well-established, enabling effective use even in niche or highly-specialized fields.
The results also suggest that B2B marketers may not be thinking how AI can be used to expand singular formats or assets into wider campaigns. Taking events as one example, the need for named people to deliver presentations or host discussions may make AI use cases seem less obvious, particularly if AI avatars are ruled out because of concerns. But with AI enabling live transcription, video repurposing and clip creation, and even personalized promotion before or after any event, events offer a rich and unique source of material that can power entire campaigns.
However, both online and in-person events see the largest gaps when perceived impact is divided by use. Almost 4X more respondents believe AI has potential for impact for webinars and virtual events than the share using AI in this area (71% versus 18%), while more than 3X the number of B2B marketers see AI’s potential for physical events than those putting it into practice (55% versus 18%). To bridge the difference, B2B marketers should look to expand their standard playbook beyond the main date to take advantage of the AI opportunity.
Given that gaps exist across every surveyed marketing activity, the conclusion is clear: marketers broadly understand where AI could help, but many have not yet embedded it into the operational workflows where that potential becomes reality. To deliver results, B2B marketing leaders need to pivot from enthusiasm to execution.
B2B marketers are not yet making full use of AI
Survey dataTap an activity's name to mark where your team already uses AI.
Personalization at scale may be hindered by first-party data practices
Your personalization data audit
Survey dataWhich data do you use to personalize digital experiences and content? Select all that apply.
Q: “Which of the following types of data do you use to personalize your digital experiences and content? Select all that apply.”
For B2B marketers, a key benefit that AI could offer is the ability to scale personalization. Previously, personalized marketing that extended beyond the use of a prospect’s name or company required not only tailored messaging and offers, but also specifying the data and fields that defined a target segment. AI solutions now provide the means to automate and optimize these time-consuming actions.
However, just as AI provides the potential to create more meaningful and targeted marketing, it also enables the creation of large volumes of low-quality . This amplifies the importance of personalization. As noted in Salesforce’s Tenth Edition of The State of Marketing Report, 83% of marketers recognized a shift toward the value of personalized, two-way messaging. But the same report highlighted another gap, in that only one in four marketers was satisfied with their ability to use data to power those moments.
This ON24 survey demonstrates a similar gap. Respondents recognize that AI-powered personalization can have numerous benefits. These outcomes include improved engagement (62%), providing the ability to scale (49%) and faster conversion (47%).
Despite these benefits, only 39% state they are currently using AI for their personalization efforts, while a further 32% are doing so in a limited way. The remainder are either planning to use AI for personalization (18%), or have no plans at all (11%).
But of greater concern is that B2B marketers are not taking advantage of the that makes personalization possible. The survey found that not a single type of data was used by more than half of respondents. Even the highest option — using data related to specific named accounts — was only used by 45% of respondents. Form-fill data (31%), contact-level engagement history (30%), and buyer journey stage (29%) lag even further behind.
If this data is not already being used and validated, there is a risk that marketers will be unaware of potential issues when they attempt to put AI to use. B2B marketers should make it a priority to strengthen the foundations of their first-party data.
Chapter four of six · pp.17–19
AI Leaders Are Widening Their Lead
Significant AI users are more likely to keep expanding AI, and they're moving faster toward automated agents.
In 30 seconds
- 96% of significant AI users plan to implement more AI by year end, against 73% of partial users.
- 89% of significant users are using or planning AI agents, against 63% of partial users and 29% of non-users.
- Start agents where the workflow is observable and measurable, and keep a human in the loop.
While AI is now a mainstream marketing activity, this study shows that the impact is not evenly distributed. Marketers at top-performing businesses are more than twice as likely to be using AI significantly, and significant users report wider productivity gains.
Simply adopting AI no longer provides competitive advantage. Increasingly, that will be determined on how effectively teams connect AI to key processes and workflows, using data and metrics to shape measurable improvements. That creates a compounding effect that AI can eventually enhance over time.
For those not yet using AI significantly, the risk is that early adopters will create a gap that becomes ever more difficult to close. Teams that have already moved beyond ad-hoc AI use can test, learn and standardize faster — from campaign planning and content reuse to webinar follow-up, personalization, sales handoff and measurement. By contrast, teams still treating AI as occasional assistance risk spending another year proving basic use cases while their peers turn the same activities into repeatable operating models.
ON24’s 2026 research suggests those already ahead are preparing to move further. Among current AI users, 96% of significant AI users plan to implement more AI in their marketing by the end of the year. For partial AI users, the figure falls to 73%. This suggests that teams with more mature use are more likely to have a clearer sense of how AI can create further value, allowing them to prioritize and focus their efforts.
That focus matters, as AI adoption does not guarantee better performance. BCG’s 2025 AI Radar found that only one-quarter of executives say their companies have created significant value from AI. The companies generating stronger returns were more selective, prioritizing an average of 3.5 AI use cases compared with 6.1 others. As a result, such firms are anticipating more than 2X greater ROI.
As such, B2B marketing leaders looking to expand AI should target specific areas. Choose a small number of workflows where AI can improve speed, relevance or pipeline. Then define the data source and success metric before work begins. Once tests show positive results, B2B marketers can then scale efficiently and effectively.
Figure · p.17
Significant AI users are more likely to keep expanding AI
Q: “Do you plan to have implemented more AI in your marketing by the end of the year?”
Agentic marketing is on the horizon
As AI solutions have deepened their capabilities and as have emerged, both individuals and organizations have looked for ways in which AI can complete tasks autonomously. Such autonomous AI solutions interpret context, plan next steps, and use tools and memory to pursue goals and complete tasks for users. These are known as and can be deployed outside of traditional chat-based environments.
In fields such as software development, agents are frequently used for key tasks such as code reviews and automated testing. For B2B marketers, agents could further widen the gap between early adopters and others, as they move AI from ad-hoc task completion to orchestrating actions at scale with far less manual input. The fact that agents can co-ordinate a sequence of actions independently — and can even create their own agents to complete tasks in parallel — means that marketing teams can multiply output by orders of magnitude.
B2B marketers that are already ahead of others show greater enthusiasm for using agents. ON24’s survey finds that significant AI users are far more likely to be using or planning automated AI agents: 89%, compared with 63% of partial AI users and 29% of non-users. If significant AI users already have clearer use cases, stronger review habits and more experience connecting AI to marketing execution, agents may help them extend that advantage.
The wider market is moving in the same direction. Gartner predicts that 40% of enterprise applications will include task-specific AI agents by the end of 2026, up from less than 5% in 2025. But the opportunity comes with a warning: the analyst firm also predicts that more than 40% of agentic AI projects will be canceled by the end of 2027 because of escalating costs, unclear business value or inadequate risk controls.
The practical lesson is that marketers should not rush ahead without having a goal in mind. Start where the workflow is observable and measurable, with marketing activities that generate clear signals of buyer intent or other commercial metrics. Agents can then use this data to complete clearly defined tasks, while they review signals and metrics to optimize their efforts. Keeping a for review and key decisions can also help to identify problems early, while reducing the risk associated with putting agents to work.
Agent, or human-in-the-loop?
SorterSignificant AI users are moving faster toward automated AI agents
Now sort six marketing jobs. For each, should an agent take it first, or should a human stay accountable? The answers come from the report's own guidance in chapters four and six.
Chapter five of six · pp.20–22
The Future of B2B Marketing in an AI Era
B2B marketers expect AI to reshape the next phase of marketing, and future success requires an AI operating model.
In 30 seconds
- 77% agree that AI in marketing will be essential to success in the years ahead; 79% say it will make acting on buyer insights faster and easier.
- Efficiency is the top reason to invest for everyone (69% / 70%), but significant users connect AI to results, data, ROI and scale.
- Before scaling, each workflow needs an approved data source, a human review point, a system of record and a success metric.
The next phase of B2B marketing will be shaped by AI on both sides of the buyer journey. Marketers are adding AI to campaign planning, content production and personalization, while buyers are using it to research problems, compare vendors and narrow options before they visit a website or talk to sales.
Forrester’s Buyers’ Journey Survey found that 94% of business buyers now use AI in the buying process, and that generative AI or conversational search has become a more meaningful source of information than any other source for many buyers. Forrester’s guidance for B2B marketers is to shift attention from traffic alone to visibility, authority and authenticity within AI-mediated journeys.
Responses to this study suggest B2B marketers already recognize how significant this change could be. Across the market, 77% agree that using AI in marketing will be essential to success in the years ahead.
Even more agree that AI will make it faster and easier to act on buyer insights (79%), while 78% say it will make marketing automation more efficient and effective. A further 76% believe AI will allow marketers to scale and improve personalization.
For B2B marketers, this means that their activity has a wider remit. Content needs to be useful for people, structured clearly enough for AI-powered discovery tools to interpret, and connected to the first-party engagement signals that show what buyers care about. Digital experiences that offer rich interactivity, such as content hubs and webinars, stand to provide further value in coming years, because they capture what buyers watch, ask, download, request and revisit. These insights provide fuel for AI that can drive personalization and propel buyer journeys forward.
Do you agree? Compare with your peers
Survey dataQ: “To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following?” Chart shows those agreeing.
Future success requires an AI operating model
Figure · p.21
Experienced AI users connect investment to business outcomes
Q: “What do you believe will be the reasons to invest in AI?” Select all that apply. Chart compares significant AI users with partial AI users.
Confidence in AI is now widespread. Advantage will depend on whether teams can turn that confidence into a repeatable operating model: which workflows AI should support, which data it can use, which outputs require review and which outcomes prove the work improved.
Adobe’s 2026 AI and Digital Trends research points in the same direction. It found that delivering more personalized customer experiences is the top AI investment goal for B2B organizations over the next 18 months, cited by 59%. The next priorities are automating repetitive tasks and workflows at 47%, improving customer satisfaction, loyalty and engagement at 45%, and improving data quality, unification and governance at 32%.
ON24’s survey shows how investment priorities change as teams gain experience. Efficiency remains the leading reason to invest among both significant and partial AI users, at 69% and 70% respectively. But significant AI users are more likely to connect AI investment to better business results, better data and insight, improved ROI, better decision-making and the ability to scale marketing programs. That matters because it moves measurement beyond hours saved or assets produced. A team using AI inside a performance workflow should also track engagement quality, offer conversion, sales acceptance, buyer progression and pipeline contribution.
For B2B marketing leaders, the recommendation is to focus AI expansion around a small number of high-value workflows. Campaign planning, content reuse, webinar follow-up, personalization, sales handoff and measurement are practical starting points. Each workflow should have an approved data source, a human review point, a and a success metric before it is scaled.
Write your first workflow card
WorksheetChapter six of six · pp.23–25
From AI Adoption to AI Advantage
Recommended Actions for B2B Marketing Leaders: a nine-step checklist to move AI from experimentation to repeatable marketing results.
In 30 seconds
- Nine steps, from “start with the business outcome” to “measure what improved, then scale or stop.”
- The rule of thumb: do not automate a broken process. Fix it, then scale it.
- Tick what your team already does to get an advantage-readiness score and find your softest step.
Access to AI is no longer the dividing line. Advantage is more likely to come from the discipline with which teams decide what AI should improve, which data it should use, where human judgment is required and how the change will be measured.
Use this checklist to move AI from experimentation to repeatable marketing results.
Nine steps from adoption to advantage: your self-check
Self-check · a reading aidTick the actions your team already does. Each step's score is the share of its actions in place.
Checkpoint
What will you take back to your team?
Five questions on the numbers that matter most. Instant feedback, with the page to revisit if you miss one.
p.26
Methodology
ON24 surveyed 261 B2B marketers in the United States, 86% of whom are at the manager level or higher. The survey was conducted in April 2026, using a panel of B2B marketers from different industries and functions, provided by Centiment.
DefinitionsWho counts as a “top performer” or a “significant AI user”?
Top performers are respondents at organizations that exceeded their top business goal by a significant margin last year (“Thinking about last year, how did your organization perform against its top business goal?”). Everyone else is grouped as others.
Significant AI users answered “Yes, significantly” to “Are you using AI in your marketing today?”; partial AI users answered “Yes, somewhat / limited”.
Research cited in the report
Sources
The printed report links these sources inline. In this edition, the numbered markers in the text open each one in place.
About ON24
ON24, a Cvent company, is on a mission to help businesses bring their go-to-market strategy into the AI era and drive cost-effective revenue growth. Through its leading intelligent engagement platform, ON24 enables customers to combine first-party experiences with personalization and content, and to capture and act on engagement insights that accelerate the buyer journey and propel pipeline forward.
As part of the Cvent portfolio, ON24 pairs enterprise-grade webinars and intelligent engagement with Cvent’s broader event technology ecosystem to help organizations better understand and grow customer relationships through live, experiential moments.
ON24 provides industry-leading companies, including 3 of the 6 largest global software companies, 4 of the 5 top global asset management firms, 3 of the 6 largest global pharmaceutical companies and 3 of the 5 largest global industrial companies, with a valuable source of first-party data to drive sales and marketing innovation, improve efficiency and increase business results.
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Adoption → advantage
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