Mumbai: Artificial intelligence continues to reshape the advertising landscape, driving efficiencies across media planning, creative optimization, and audience engagement. However, while adoption is accelerating, confidence is yet to catch up.
A new global report by programmatic media partner MiQ, titled The AI Confidence Curve, reveals a 27-point gap between marketers’ AI usage and their confidence in applying it effectively. The study shows that while 72% of marketers plan to expand their use of AI in the next 12 months, only 45% feel confident in their ability to use it successfully.
In India, 79% of marketers plan to use AI more over the next year, and 72% already leverage AI tools in some or all projects. However, just 46% feel confident in their teams’ ability to optimize performance against KPIs — underlining the readiness gap seen globally.
The report, based on responses from 3,169 marketers across 16 countries, highlights an industry eager to embrace innovation but still in the early stages of integrating AI into scalable, measurable practice.
“We discovered that most marketers are bunched together at the early stages of a confidence curve,” said Jordan Bitterman, Chief Marketing Officer at MiQ. “We’re at the start of a journey that will ultimately see us all move up the curve as we apply AI to more of our mission-critical work. Usage currently outpaces readiness by 27 percentage points, and we see that as pure opportunity. To close the gap, industry leaders must tap into tools and training.”
In India, AI adoption is rapidly expanding across creative, strategy, and performance marketing functions.
“India marketers are actively adopting AI across functions today, from creative strategy to campaign optimization,” shared Varun Mohan, Chief Commercial Officer India, MiQ. “AI tools will have a tremendous role to play in the future of marketing as a force multiplier, and teams that prioritise early adoption and upskilling for AI will find themselves significantly ahead of the curve. This is a competitive edge that will define the next phase of data-led marketing transformation in India.”
AI in Action: Current Use Cases
Globally, marketers are most confident using AI for content creation (40%), marketing optimization (38%), and social media management (38%) — areas where generative AI tools such as ChatGPT are prevalent.
In India, these trends are amplified, with marketers relying heavily on AI for social media management, visual design, and content creation. The most widely used tools are Google’s Performance Max (69%) and Canva (66%).
However, 40% of marketers who lack confidence say their organizations do not fully understand AI or large language models, pointing to a need for more structured training and education. Thirty-eight percent cite a lack of training, while 42% point to data-sharing limitations and 44% to measurement challenges.
In India, 69% of marketers highlight the lack of expertise and training as their biggest hurdle, and 54% believe AI’s role in marketing is still not well understood.
Measurement Gaps and Emerging Trends
Globally and in India, many marketers still depend on outdated performance indicators — 62% of Indian marketers continue to use older metrics like CTRs and engagement rates, and 57% track website visits as a measure of success.
Interestingly, Indian marketers lead globally in consumer mindset and activity-based targeting, with 45% planning campaigns based on browsing and shopping behavior — the highest among surveyed markets. They also show strong preference for YouTube (80%), social media (61%), and digital video (58%).
Bridging the Confidence Gap
Despite current challenges, optimism remains high. The report outlines four key pathways for marketers to move “up the confidence curve”:
- Adopt partner-agnostic solutions to ensure data integration and eliminate silos.
- Integrate AI into performance measurement to tie outputs directly to KPIs.
- Invest in AI literacy to build confidence through competence.
- Preserve human expertise, ensuring human judgment complements AI-driven automation.
“Every marketer is trying to find the balance between learning and leading with AI,” Bitterman added. “The ones who advance fastest will treat confidence as a capability, something built every day through connection, curiosity, and collaboration.”
