Coupler.io Research: The Use of AI Analytics Among Agencies Grew Sevenfold in 2026

An original report on AI analytics for agencies and SMBs shows the pace of adoption and practical changes in analytics over the past year.

PASADENA, Calif., Nov. 5, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Coupler.io, a reporting automation platform for business teams, has recently published State of AI Analytics 2026. This study focuses on agencies and small- to mid-sized businesses and how they implement AI analytics workflows. One standout takeaway is that the number of businesses actively using AI in their data work grew 7x from September 2025 to September 2026.

Key findings:

• Smaller teams adopt faster. 32% of self-employed professionals and small agencies use AI with their data, compared with about 20% of organizations with 500+ employees.
• Decision-makers lead adoption. 40% of C-level users and 36% of business owners send data to AI most often, followed by marketing managers (32%). Data analysts trail at 14%.
• Claude is the top AI destination. 78% of teams that connect data to AI use Claude.
• AI analysis is multi-source. 50% of AI-using teams connect two or more data sources, and 42% combine different data types, such as PPC and CRM.
• Missing context for AI is the top trust barrier for 37% of professionals.

"A year ago, most teams used AI for individual, simpler tasks. Now they implement it to a strategic level, into analytics flows and decision assistance," said Ivan Burban, Head of Marketing at Coupler.io and author of the report. "And the most surprising part is that founders and marketers lead this shift in agencies and SMBs. They need answers without waiting for a data analyst, and AI finally delivers that."

This report illustrates and confirms the recent trend that AI is democratizing access to analytics, especially for small teams. Agencies and SMBs no longer need a dedicated data team to analyze business performance or produce client reports.

However, the setup requires diligence and concrete steps; otherwise, the output would be questionable. Small teams should carefully choose data connectors, document business and data context, and address security concerns to integrate AI into analytics and use it at full capacity.

Research methodology: The study analyzed anonymized, account-level usage from agency and SMB accounts on Coupler.io between September 2025 and September 2026. All figures are shares of accounts. Usage data was supplemented by own surveys and audience polls at industry events. The full report is available at https://blog.coupler.io/state-of-ai-analytics/.

About Coupler.io:
Coupler.io is a reporting automation platform for business teams that connects data from 400+ apps and keeps reports in spreadsheets, data warehouses, BI and AI tools updated.

Media contact:
Coupler.io
Dmytro Zaichenko
+19295603908
[email protected]
https://www.coupler.io/ 
United States

SOURCE Coupler.io