96% of major brands using AI in marketing

Author Moonshot.news

Published on: 08/10/2026

Global ad spend will grow 11.9% this year to $1.34trn despite consumer caution. Social media is expected to record the strongest growth up 21.3% to $394.6bn, VOD 15.1%, retail media 14.3%, search 14.2% and digital OOH 13.7%, according to a forecast by marketing consultancy WARC based on data from 100 markets worldwide. The World Federation of Advertisers says AI has moved from hype and experimentation to an integral part of the mechanics of marketing in 2026 with 96% of major brands using generative or agentic AI, up from 45% in 2023.

Advertising organisation IAB Europe reports that the advertising industry is moving from adoption towards more established implementation.

“AI use for marketing is widespread at 86% and 72% report higher general AI investment than in 2025.

WARC’s forecast says that technology and electronics (20.7%), travel and transport (19.3%) and automotive (17.8%) will be the fastest growing product categories in 2026..

It forecasts ad spend growth 2027 of 8.4% to $1.46trn and in 2028, ad spend will increase by a further 7.9% to $1.57trn – putting the market on course to be 2.3 times larger than it was a decade ago in 2019, WARC forecasts.

“AI is driving advertising growth from multiple angles. New tech businesses are investing to acquire customers and build brands, while established companies spend heavily to compete in an increasingly crowded market. Simultaneously, AI tools are enhancing targeting, asset creation, and campaign optimisation – boosting ROI and fuelling further investment.”

The IAB Europe report says that expectations around agentic advertising are also building, with more than half expecting agentic ad buying to reach operational use or scale within the next year.

Key Findings from the IAB Europe report:

86% say their organisation uses AI for marketing, while 58% expect agentic ad buying to reach operational use or scale within the next year.

72% report higher general AI investment in 2026 than in 2025, across business functions, while 59% are increasing investment in AI marketing technologies.

Operational efficiency is the most commonly selected measure of AI effectiveness, cited by 69% of respondents, although respondents rating AI’s current performance in advertising operations gave it an average score of 2.76 out of 5.

78% identify a formal owner for AI governance. However, only 48% of respondents have AI guidelines specifically for advertising and marketing, while a lack of expertise or training remains the most commonly cited barrier to adoption.

Security ranks as the number one AI-related concern, with privacy ranking second, although responses vary widely across the sample.

62% say they would benefit from AI marketing guidelines developed by an industry association, while 38% are still assessing the impact of the EU AI Act.

“Whatever reservations brands may have about AI, they are focused on taking advantage of the technology right across their marketing organisation. The breadth of uses represents an industry that is getting to grips with the opportunity, but the next stage will be to deploy proven use cases at scale around the world,” says Stephan Loerke, CEO at World Federation of Advertisers.

WFA says that the big challenge facing many WFA members is not finding AI platforms to advertise on but scaling adoption.

“This is now a top three priority for 63% of brands, but technology integration and interoperability (45%), governance/legal requirements (43%), data quality and access (37%) and skills (35%) remain the biggest barriers.”

“Boosting staff skills is a major task and while training and upskilling has become a top three organisational priority for more than half (55%), 69% still describe AI literacy as moderate.”