The Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Council has introduced a new digital tool designed to help marketing leaders evaluate their preparedness for artificial intelligence integration within their strategies, processes, and teams. The launch comes as AI continues to reshape global marketing practices, with brands under increasing pressure to modernize operations and demonstrate measurable outcomes.
The online self-assessment, announced this week, provides senior marketers with a structured framework to measure their current AI adoption levels and benchmark themselves against industry peers. The tool offers guidance on how to advance from initial experimentation to more sophisticated AI-powered marketing ecosystems.
According to the CMO Council, the readiness assessment was developed in response to a growing need among marketers for clarity in navigating AI adoption. With many organizations experimenting in isolated areas such as personalization, automation, and campaign analytics, the Council noted that a significant number of CMOs still lack a comprehensive view of how prepared their organizations are to scale AI across the entire customer journey.
The assessment takes leaders through a series of questions evaluating the maturity of their data infrastructure, technology platforms, team skill sets, and organizational processes. Based on the responses, the tool generates recommendations highlighting strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities for improvement.
Donovan Neale-May, Executive Director of the CMO Council, explained that the initiative aims to address gaps between ambition and execution. “Marketing leaders understand AI is critical for competitiveness. What has been missing is a way to measure readiness across the many dimensions of technology, people, and processes that are required for successful adoption. This tool provides that clarity and a roadmap forward.”
AI adoption has accelerated in marketing functions over the past three years, driven by the need for greater personalization, real-time engagement, and efficiency. However, the Council’s recent surveys indicate that while over 70 percent of CMOs see AI as a top priority, fewer than 40 percent rate their organizations as well-prepared to fully leverage the technology. The new tool seeks to bridge this readiness gap by offering a systematic evaluation and tailored improvement path.
Industry experts note that the initiative arrives at a time when regulatory scrutiny, data privacy requirements, and shifting consumer expectations are reshaping how AI can be deployed in marketing. Rather than focusing solely on efficiency gains, the Council emphasizes a balanced approach that includes ethical guidelines, cultural change, and investment in talent development.
The assessment framework also highlights the importance of leadership alignment in AI adoption. Successful organizations, it notes, are those that ensure collaboration between marketing, IT, and compliance functions. The Council believes this kind of cross-functional coordination is necessary to unlock AI’s full potential for driving both customer experience and business performance.
Beyond providing individual feedback, the tool will also aggregate anonymized data to generate broader insights into industry readiness. These benchmarks will allow CMOs to understand where they stand relative to peers in their region, sector, or company size.
The Council stated that the tool is designed not as a one-time check but as a resource that can be used repeatedly as organizations progress through different phases of AI adoption. This iterative approach reflects the fast pace of technological advancement and ensures that marketers can recalibrate strategies as capabilities evolve.
Marketing leaders across industries are expected to adopt the tool to help make more informed investment decisions and prioritize areas that can drive meaningful outcomes. Analysts suggest that with martech budgets under scrutiny, the ability to demonstrate structured AI readiness will become increasingly important in securing internal support for new initiatives.
The introduction of the tool underscores the CMO Council’s broader mission to support marketing leaders in navigating disruption. By offering structured resources, it aims to help organizations not only deploy AI more effectively but also align innovation with measurable growth and customer engagement outcomes.
As AI continues to evolve, the readiness to integrate it into core marketing operations could determine competitive advantage in the coming years. The CMO Council’s assessment tool positions itself as a practical step toward equipping leaders with the insights they need to succeed in an AI-driven marketing landscape.