San Jose: The CMO Council, in partnership with WongDoody, has released its latest global research report, “Marketing’s Power Partners: AI and the Human Essence — How to Enable Success in the Age of AI,” highlighting that organisations integrating artificial intelligence with human expertise significantly outperform those relying on AI alone.
Based on insights from a global survey of 371 senior marketing leaders, the study reveals a widening performance gap between companies that effectively combine machine intelligence with human creativity, judgment, and emotional intelligence, and those that do not. The report identifies a cohort of high-performing organisations termed “Power Partners,” who prioritise workflow transformation over mere AI adoption.
The findings underscore a clear performance divide. According to the report, 73% of Power Partners exceed ROI expectations or achieve measurable returns, compared to just 22% of their peers. Additionally, nearly 70% of these organisations consistently build strong emotional customer connections, versus 40% among others. In terms of campaign effectiveness, 86% of Power Partners report moderate-to-major ROI impact, significantly higher than 43% of their counterparts.
“Together, AI and human marketers can forge deeper customer relationships, achieve stronger brand differentiation, and realize measurable performance gains,” notes Tom Kaneshige, Chief Content Officer at the CMO Council. “Those who move decisively will build lasting advantage, while those who hesitate risk falling further behind as the gap continues to widen.”
A key insight from the report is that successful AI integration depends on redesigning workflows rather than simply layering technology onto existing systems. Around 70% of Power Partners are prepared to re-engineer workflows for AI-human collaboration, compared to only 7% of other organisations. Furthermore, 94% have established defined collaborative content processes, versus 42% of their peers.
Despite growing investments in AI, the report highlights several barriers preventing widespread success. These include skill gaps, lack of trust in AI outputs, concerns over brand authenticity, poor data readiness, and challenges in defining roles between humans and AI systems. Many organisations continue to treat AI as a productivity tool rather than a transformational capability, resulting in limited ROI and stalled initiatives.
Regionally, the report finds that while the United States leads in AI adoption and ROI, it struggles with maintaining emotional resonance at scale. Europe faces structural challenges such as fragmented data ecosystems, while APAC markets encounter cultural resistance despite increasing investments in AI.
From a business model perspective, B2C and hybrid organisations are ahead in leveraging AI-human collaboration, whereas B2B companies lag, often viewing AI primarily as an efficiency layer rather than a strategic enabler.
The report concludes that the future of marketing lies in “collaborative intelligence,” where AI enhances human capabilities rather than replacing them. As buyer behaviour evolves and machine-driven decision-making increases, the role of human insight becomes even more critical.
“This research shows that AI delivers its greatest value when paired with human intuition. The leaders in this space aren’t just adopting AI—they’re intentionally designing collaboration into their marketing,” said Skyler Mattson, CEO of WongDoody. “The real competitive edge isn’t the volume of data AI can process; it’s the human insight that turns that data into a compelling brand story.”
