Alter Agents and Smartly Release New Research Showing 99% of Marketers Use AI, With Human Creativity and Oversight Key to Its Future

Study of 500 U.S. and U.K. marketers explores how AI is transforming their work, expanding creative possibilities and shaping the skills needed to succeed in the agentic AI era

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 27, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Alter Agents, a market research consultancy, and Smartly, an AI-powered advertising technology company, today announced findings from Smartly's The Agentic Era: A Marketer's Guide, a new study examining how marketers are using artificial intelligence (AI), the opportunities it creates, and the skills they need to succeed as AI becomes more integrated into their work.

The study of 500 marketing professionals in the United States and United Kingdom found that 99% use AI professionally or personally, signaling that adoption is no longer the primary question. Instead, marketers are increasingly focused on how AI can enhance their capabilities and help them accomplish more. Eighty-one percent agree that AI enables them to bring bigger projects and ideas to life than they could on their own, while 95% identify training in strategic or uniquely human capabilities as valuable for addressing their AI skills gaps.

"The question is no longer whether marketers use AI, but how they are using it to achieve more without losing what makes their brands distinctive," said Julia Berk, Senior Director of Research and Insights at Smartly. "As AI takes on more of the work behind advertising, human creativity, strategic judgment and oversight become even more important. These findings reinforce that the future of marketing lies in combining human creativity and AI to drive better business outcomes."

Additional findings include:

• AI expands creative possibilities, while human creativity remains essential. Eighty-five percent appreciate when brands use AI to bring concepts to life, although nearly two-thirds worry it could make creative work feel less distinctive.
• Human oversight remains a priority. Seventy-seven percent are comfortable with AI in advertising when a human has final approval, while 81% say they would trust a brand more if it disclosed AI-generated advertising.
• Less-experienced marketers are embracing AI more extensively. Marketers with fewer than 10 years of experience are twice as likely as their more-experienced counterparts to report using AI for at least 75% of their daily tasks. However, 46% of more-experienced marketers associate AI with stress, compared with 26% of those with less experience.
• Marketers recognize the need to develop new skills. Ninety-five percent identify training in strategic or uniquely human capabilities as valuable for addressing their AI skills gaps, including creative brainstorming, strategic planning and ethical AI use.

The findings also helped inform the five principles for the next era of advertising Smartly recently introduced, emphasizing the importance of combining AI-powered capabilities with human creativity, strategic thinking and oversight as the advertising industry enters the agentic era.

Alter Agents conducted the online survey July 21-31, 2026, among 250 U.S. and 250 U.K. marketing professionals with at least five years of experience.

The research will be presented during a free webinar, "Inside B2B Marketing's AI Adoption Gap", on Wednesday, October 28 at 11 a.m. Pacific time. Register here: https://alteragents.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_TKczSLA8RCu59zLWT-QjPw#/registration.

To download the full report, visit https://www.smartly.io/agentic-ai-era-marketers-guide.

About Smartly
Smartly is the AI-powered advertising technology company ranked as the leader in The Forrester Wave™: Creative Advertising Technologies. Our platform unifies creative and media to produce intelligent creative, dynamic, data-driven image and video assets optimized for seamless activation across channels. Brands manage, optimize, and scale high-performance campaigns in one place, achieving PwC-validated results, including a 5.5x return on ad spend (ROAS) and 42 minutes saved every hour.

We support 800+ brands and manage over $7 billion in ad spend globally. With strategic partnerships across major media platforms, including Amazon, Google, Meta, Pinterest, Reddit, Snap, Spotify, and TikTok, we help Fortune 500 companies deliver relevant advertising at speed and scale. Backed by deep media expertise and best-in-class customer support, we empower brands to maximize performance and drive real business outcomes. Visit Smartly.io to learn more.

About Alter Agents
Alter Agents partners with forward-thinking marketing and insights leaders, bringing senior expertise and right-sized market research solutions to deliver answers brands can act on with confidence. Our experienced researchers select and apply the methodologies and technologies that best fit each client's business question, timeline and budget, bringing methodological rigor, category knowledge and business perspective throughout the work. Our approach has helped brands including Snapchat, YouTube, Audacy, Viking Cruises and Pinterest answer important business questions and make informed decisions, while earning Alter Agents recognition as Quirk's Marketing Research Supplier of the Year and one of Inc.'s Best Workplaces. More at www.alteragents.com.

Alter Agents Media Contact:
Marie Melsheimer
[email protected] 
+1-541-815-3951

Smartly Media Contact:
Joseph J. Nuñez
Senior Director, Global Communications
[email protected] 

SOURCE Alter Agents