Fresh findings from the International Data Corporation (IDC) reveal a promising trajectory for generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) within enterprise marketing, forecasting a notable productivity surge exceeding 40% by 2029. According to Gerry Murray, Research Director at IDC’s Enterprise Marketing Technology practice, GenAI is poised to assume more than 40% of the responsibilities of specific marketing roles within the next half-decade. This forecast underscores the imperative for marketing leaders to ready their teams for substantial shifts in roles, skills, and organizational dynamics, spurred by the rapid evolution of GenAI capabilities.
IDC’s methodology involved modeling the tasks of 24 pivotal marketing roles across five core categories, encompassing Management and Planning, Branding and Creative Services, Campaign and Engagement, Analytics and Reporting, and Other. By estimating the potential delegation of tasks to GenAI over the next five years, IDC calculated the anticipated productivity gains across large marketing teams, factoring in staffing levels and associated costs.
Projections indicate that GenAI stands to manage upwards of 40% of collective marketing tasks and potentially assume full control over specific functions. While the precise benefits will vary contingent upon factors like organizational size and salary structures, the projected productivity gains offer invaluable insights for marketing teams across the board.
To best position themselves to leverage GenAI, IDC recommends that tech buyers:
- Assess vendors based on their current and future support for distinct use cases, recognizing their direct impact on business outcomes and investment rationale.
- Evaluate the efficacy of a vendor’s architecture, tools, and service resources in facilitating the realization of targeted use cases.
- Determine the necessary infrastructure to support each category of work effectively.
- Prioritize the implementation of AI capabilities from the foundational data layer upwards, ensuring standardized services for data, governance, and security.
- Prepare for fundamental shifts in job roles within the organization, necessitating upskilling, restructuring, and the potential creation of novel career trajectories.
- Cultivate high-quality, real-time, and well-governed datasets to fully harness the potential of GenAI in marketing endeavors.
The IDC report, “GenAI Will Increase Marketing Productivity by More than 40% in the Next Five Years; Then Sam Altman Says It Could Be Closer to 95%” (Doc #US51883524), offers a comprehensive exploration of the transformative potential of GenAI in augmenting marketing productivity. It underscores the significance of a comprehensive use case roadmap, robust AI infrastructure, and organizational adaptability in embracing the era of GenAI in marketing.
