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ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
Over 70% of CMOs plan to spend big on GenAI over next three years
By our African Marketing Confederation News Team | 2025
Boston Consulting Group study finds optimism over GenAI has risen markedly among marketing bosses, while concerns have dropped.
More than 70% of CMOs plan to invest more than US$10-million annually in GenAI over the next three years, up from 57% last year.
According to a new survey from Boston Consulting Group, optimism among chief marketing officers about GenAI has climbed each year – from 74% in 2023 to 83% in 2025 – and concerns have declined rapidly.
Photo: Boston Consulting Group
While over a third of top marketers report improvements in customer experience, content quality and volume because of GenAI, fewer than last year cite efficiency gains from increased productivity and the elimination of manual work.
Nevertheless, 60% of CMOs expect GenAI to drive revenue gains of 5% or more in their focus areas.
These are among the findings of BCG’s report, titled ‘How CMOs Are Scaling GenAI in Turbulent Times.’ The report is based on a survey of 200 chief marketing officers across Asia, Europe and North America and was conducted in April and May 2025.
“GenAI is rapidly becoming embedded in the marketing function,” states Mark Abraham, a BCG executive and global leader of the firm’s personalisation business.
“Even in the current turbulent macroeconomic environment, we’re seeing CMOs invest in shifting from isolated pilots to scaled GenAI use cases, enhancing personalisation and marketing operations.”
Investments in pilot areas such as content creation
Boston believes that, as CMOs explore new applications, they will prioritise investments in pilot areas such as content creation (particularly immersive media and video), AI-powered personalisation, and agentic AI.
Video generation emerges as the next frontier in content creation, with 30% of CMOs in the study identifying it as their next focus area.
Predictive analytics remains critical for personalisation, notes Boston, with CMOs citing product recommendations, outreach timing, and next-best content as areas they have fully scaled.
More advanced use cases – such as personalised offers, churn prediction and audience optimisation – are the next pilot wave. By scaling personalised offers, leading marketers are generating three-times-higher returns than those of mass offers.
“In conversations with CMOs, it’s clear that GenAI has become a core part of how modern marketing teams operate,” notes Lauren Wiener, another BCG senior executive and global lead for the firm’s marketing practice.
“What separates the winners is a commitment not just to scaling the technology, but to empowering the people who use it. Those CMOs investing in tools and talent are the ones rewriting the playbook.”
You can read more about the report here.
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