Artificial intelligence has become mainstream across advertising and marketing, but marketers remain cautious about allowing the technology to make decisions independently, according to new global research from advertising technology company StackAdapt.
StackAdapt’s The AI Delegation Gap report found that 91% of marketers now use AI in marketing or advertising, while 88% said the technology has improved marketing performance. Adoption was broadly consistent across regions, reaching 91% in North America, 90% in EMEA and 92% in APAC.
The findings are based on a survey of 500 marketing and advertising professionals across North America, EMEA and APAC, supplemented by insights from 187 StackAdapt customers. The study examines how much decision-making authority marketers are prepared to delegate to AI as the technology becomes more embedded across campaign workflows.
While adoption is high, the research found a clear difference between using AI for assistance and allowing it to operate autonomously. Around 90% of respondents said they were comfortable with AI recommending actions, while 89% supported AI preparing actions for human approval. That figure declined to 78% when AI operated within rules established by humans and dropped to 50% when AI was allowed to act autonomously, even after demonstrating performance.
The findings also point to a gap between expectations and organisational readiness. Nearly eight in ten marketers, or 79%, said they feel pressure to increase their use of AI, while 59% believe leadership expectations are running ahead of their organisation’s ability to deploy the technology. Only 19% said their AI tools are fully integrated into marketing and advertising workflows.
Trust remains another factor determining how much control marketers are willing to hand over. Brand risk was cited by 63% of respondents as a barrier to greater AI delegation, followed by data quality concerns at 56% and lack of transparency at 36%. Marketers were more receptive to AI recommendations when they included explanations, were connected to campaign objectives and could be tested or reversed.
AI is already becoming part of everyday decision workflows. Reporting and summaries were the most common applications, used by 77% of respondents, followed by performance analysis at 74%. Marketers are also looking beyond automated reporting towards systems that can identify risks, explain performance changes and recommend subsequent actions.
However, human involvement remains stronger in areas with longer-term business implications, including budget allocation, targeting strategy, creative messaging and brand direction. StackAdapt identified context, transparency, control, testability, accountability and connected infrastructure as six elements required for responsible AI delegation.
The findings indicate that the next stage of AI adoption in advertising may be shaped less by whether marketers use the technology and more by how much authority they are prepared to give it.
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