McKinsey (2026) — AI-first marketing capabilities

Summary:

This article discussing how AI could change marketing, was published by McKinsey, a consulting firm that sells strategy and transformation work to large companies. Its goal is to show CMOs what an AI-first marketing model could look like and where the biggest business gains might come from.

It is a thought-leadership article that mixes several things: McKinsey survey results from different surveys, prior McKinsey research, and a few unnamed client case examples.

The article cites sample sizes for some parts, including a 2025 AI Discovery Survey of 1,927 people, a March 2026 survey of 521 marketers, and a May 2026 survey of 26 marketing executives.

The main takeaways:

1. Nearly half of consumers already use AI-based search during purchase decisions, and shoppers now use about twice as many channels as they did a decade ago.
2. McKinsey says 86% of marketers are excited about AI, 90% of CMOs are experimenting with it, but fewer than 10% have scaled it or captured value across marketing workflows.
3. Only 28% of surveyed organizations are said to be fundamentally rewiring teams and workflows rather than just adding AI tools on top.
4. AI could drive 4% to 7% revenue growth, two- to threefold productivity gains, and 60% to 70% savings on execution-heavy tasks.
5. AI-driven personalization can raise customer satisfaction by 15% to 20%, increase revenue by 5% to 8%, and cut cost to serve by up to 30%.