Why Marketing's AI Progress Is Stalling at Scale - New Research from Screendragon

Study of 500 US and UK marketing, creative and operations leaders finds fragmented workflows, limited visibility and disconnected systems are constraining AI value

CORK, Ireland and NEW YORK, July 21, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- New research from Screendragon has identified the operational barriers preventing large enterprises and agencies from turning widespread AI adoption into sustained marketing value.

The State of AI in Content and Creative Operations 2026 draws on responses from 500 marketing, creative, content and operations leaders across the United States and United Kingdom. Updating Screendragon's 2023 benchmark, the report provides an in-depth, real-time snapshot of how AI is changing marketing operations and where progress is beginning to stall.

The research shows that AI is now widely used many aspects of Marketing and the almost universally by marketing teams. However, only 24% of organizations have fully integrated AI into everyday workflows.

The findings indicate that the primary constraint is no longer access to AI technology. It is the ability to embed AI into where the work happens. When AI sits outside the workflow as a standalone tool, it can introduce another handoff, another system and ultimately another bottleneck rather than removing one.

Despite significant advances in technology and widespread AI adoption, much of marketing work is still managed through fragmented, manual and disconnected processes. The research indicates that closing this operational gap is now the key to unlocking greater AI value. Work and AI can't scale while:

• Only 18% of work enters organisations through structured workflow systems.
• Fewer than 20% have real-time visibility into people, time and budget allocation.
• 82% do not have fully connected digital asset management and workflow environments.
• Only 21% feel very confident in their ability to meet future content demand.
• 38% still rely on manual or time-consuming reporting.

Together, the findings suggest that the next wave of AI value will come not from adding more standalone tools, but from embedding AI into where work actually happens and connecting the processes, data, governance and decisions around it.

"The research shows that marketing does not have an AI adoption problem. It has an operational connection problem," said Anne Cogan, Chief Marketing Officer at Screendragon. "AI is being used across the business, but almost always sitting alongside the workflow rather than inside it. The opportunity now is to connect AI to where work is requested, created, governed, approved and measured so organisations can move beyond isolated productivity gains and towards end to end intelligent system design."

The report concludes that this orchestration is the missing layer between AI capability and business impact.

About the research

The State of AI in Content and Creative Operations 2026 is based on responses from 500 marketing, creative, content and operations leaders in the US and UK.

Respondents included leaders from brands, in-house agencies and independent agencies across sectors including financial services, consumer packaged goods, retail, technology, healthcare and professional services.

The full report is available at The State of AI in Content & Creative Operations 2026 | Screendragon

About Screendragon

For more than 20 years, Screendragon has helped global marketing teams manage the operational complexity behind high-volume creative and marketing work.

Screendragon provides an adaptable Creative Operations platform for teams whose work is too complex for generic project management or standalone DAM tools. The platform enables enterprise Creative Operations, in-house agency and independent agency teams to orchestrate workflows, AI and people within one governed work system.

With a partnership-led approach, flexible enterprise-scale configuration and a model-neutral AI strategy, Screendragon supports leading brands and agencies in improving control, adaptability and operational performance.

Media Contact
Anne Cogan
Chief Marketing Officer
[email protected] 

SOURCE Screendragon