SAN JOSE, Calif. [July 22, 2026] — The CMO Council today released initial findings from its 2026 Marketing Transformation Performance Audit and Scorecard, exposing widespread operational deficiencies that continue to prevent many marketing organizations from translating martech, AI and data investments into measurable business performance.

Developed by the CMO Council, the ongoing online self-assessment initiative continuously tracks martech maturity, operational migration and structural transformation as organizations adapt to the accelerating demands of AI-driven business environments.

More than 200 marketing leaders have participated in the assessment to date, with more than half representing companies generating over $500 million in annual revenue. Despite years of digital transformation spending, the findings reveal many organizations continue to struggle with fragmented data, disconnected workflows, underperforming technology stacks and limited cross-functional alignment.

“As AI accelerates marketing velocity, technology-operational alignment is emerging as a defining competitive advantage. The problem is some organizations are trying to scale AI on top of shaky foundations, and AI exposes every structural weakness,” notes Donovan Neale-May, executive director of the CMO Council.

For a deeper look at the findings, download the Innovation Insight Brief, “Move from Cost Center to Growth Command Center.” https://www.cmocouncil.org/thought-leadership/reports/cmo-council-marketing-transformation-mandate

Moving from Cost Center to Growth Command Center

The findings show many marketing organizations struggling to evolve beyond a tactical execution role. While only a third of organizations increasingly recognize marketing as a strong growth driver of business performance, many still view the function primarily as a support organization tied to campaign execution and sales enablement. Persistent organizational silos also continue to undermine collaboration and coordinated execution across critical business functions.

• 37% believe marketing is still viewed internally as a tactical support function rather than a strategic growth driver


• 31% say organizational silos across marketing, IT, sales, product and finance continue to hinder cross-functional collaboration and alignment

Mastery of the Martech Stack

Organizations continue investing aggressively in martech, but operational maturity remains uneven. Many marketing teams have accumulated platforms faster than they have developed the integration strategies, operational discipline and internal expertise required to generate measurable value.

As AI accelerates the speed and scale of execution, fragmented systems and disconnected workflows are creating even greater operational friction. Only 1 in 4 chief marketers report being highly advanced, adaptable and agile in embracing emerging martech solutions and innovations. Nearly half believe their marketing stacks are functioning but could be better.

• 34% admit they are struggling with fragmented “Frankenstack” environments and integration challenges


• 37% say they are challenged and lagging in identifying, specifying, integrating and deploying solutions

Doing More with Data, But Still Major Deficiencies

The findings expose major weaknesses in data readiness, integration and activation capabilities that continue to undermine AI performance, personalization and predictive engagement. Many organizations still struggle to unify data across customer touchpoints, limiting their ability to create trusted customer views and support real-time decision-making. The demand chain remains a big challenge for marketers.

Only a quarter of marketing leaders say they are highly advanced in using marketing tools to generate real-time insights and enable data-driven decision-making. A third say they face limitations in current platforms, databases and legacy systems. Less than a quarter believe they have excellent data quality and a real-time data foundation.

• 71% rate their organization’s ability to effectively use first-party customer data as ineffective or underdeveloped


• 80% are not yet highly effective at sourcing and integrating third-party customer data

On the upside, there appears to be much optimism in the area of data preparedness and AI skills to elevate performance and outcomes. Nearly 1 in 4 marketing leaders say they have deep and capable teams, while 43% believe they are good but still have gaps.

Actionable Insight and the Power of Personalization

Organizations increasingly recognize personalization as essential to customer engagement and competitive differentiation. However, many still lack the operational readiness and data activation capabilities needed to support personalization consistently and at scale. Fragmented customer intelligence and disconnected engagement systems continue to limit precision, responsiveness and relevance.

• 43% report only periodic or limited personalization capabilities 

Customer-Centricity Needs Operational Alignment

Many organizations continue positioning customer-centricity as a strategic priority without fully aligning operations, workflows, culture and decision-making around customer needs and behaviors. The findings suggest customer-centricity often exists more as an aspiration than a business discipline supported by integrated customer intelligence and shared accountability. Only a third of chief marketers believe their CEO, function and department leaders are in lockstep.

• 44% say customer-centricity exists as a corporate mandate but is not fully operationalized across the organization


• 26% say customer-centricity remains a work in progress or lacks broad organizational commitment

GTM Has Much Room for Improvement

As AI accelerates customer engagement and market velocity, organizational responsiveness is becoming a defining competitive advantage. Yet many marketing organizations continue operating with reactive workflows, delayed decision-making and fragmented execution models that limit adaptability and competitive performance.

The findings also suggest many organizations remain overly focused on tactical campaign activity instead of long-term enterprise value creation.

• 75% do not yet view their teams as highly agile, adaptive and opportunistic


• 52% say there is still significant room for improvement in go-to-market execution


• 30% say their teams are lagging in critical operational areas, underperforming and falling behind competitors


• 36% heavily prioritize short-term performance marketing over long-term brand building

The 2026 Marketing Transformation Performance Audit and Scorecard remains open for participation and will continue tracking martech maturity, operational migration and structural transformation trends throughout the year.

Marketing leaders can participate in the ongoing self-assessment and access the findings here: https://www.cmocouncil.org/thought-leadership/reports/cmo-council-marketing-transformation-mandate

Marketing organizations can also determine where they sit within the Apex Martech Matrix through a benchmarking engagement that evaluates stack maturity, capability alignment and operational performance against industry outperformers. The assessment identifies whether companies are overbuilt, underbuilt or misaligned, while providing a data-driven roadmap to improve speed-to-value, reduce complexity and turn martech into a measurable growth platform.

About the CMO Council

Marking its 25th Anniversary in 2026, the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Council is dedicated to high-level knowledge exchange, thought leadership and personal relationship building among senior corporate marketing leaders and brand decision-makers across a wide-range of global industries. The CMO Council’s 16,000+ members control more than $1 trillion in aggregated annual marketing expenditures and run complex, distributed marketing and sales operations worldwide. In total, the CMO Council and its strategic interest communities include over 65,000 global marketing and sales executives in over 110 countries covering multiple industries, segments and markets. Regional chapters and advisory boards are active in the Americas, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa. The Council’s strategic interest groups include the Customer Experience Board, Digital Marketing Performance Center, Brand Inspiration Center, Marketing Supply Chain Institute, GeoBranding Center, and the Coalition to Leverage and Optimize Sales Effectiveness (CLOSE). To learn more, visit https://www.cmocouncil.org.