ACAM Reports Marketers Struggle With Agentic AI
The Australian Centre for AI in Marketing (ACAM) says a global 2026 Adobe survey of 3,000 CX executives and practitioners found 63% expect agentic AI to free up time for strategic work, yet a majority report no active use and fewer than a quarter are running pilots, according to a press release covered by Mumbrella and B&T. ACAM, an Australian marketing-industry group founded in March 2025, will publish full findings in its 2026 AI Marketing Benchmark in July. A separate Adobe consumer study cited by ACAM found 20% of Australians have used agentic AI and 42% expect to use it this year, with AI-assistant use also growing in online shopping (30%), travel (29%), and banking (23%). The figures originate from ACAM's own promotional release for an unreleased report and an Adobe-sponsored survey, not independent research.
For practitioners evaluating whether agentic AI hype matches deployment reality, this Australian marketing-industry survey is a useful data point, but it's worth reading as vendor-adjacent research: the underlying numbers come from an Adobe-sponsored survey distributed via a marketing group's own press release, not independent reporting, and ACAM's own benchmark report has not yet been published.
What happened
The Australian Centre for AI in Marketing (ACAM), a marketing-industry group founded in March 2025 by former ADMA CEO Jodie Sangster, former World Vision Australia CMO Louise Cummins, and other industry leaders, issued a press release stating marketers are struggling to translate agentic AI awareness into practical use, ahead of its 2026 AI Marketing Benchmark due in July. The release cites a global 2026 survey from ACAM partner Adobe of 3,000 CX executives and practitioners: 63% expect agentic AI to free time for strategic and creative work, and 42% plan to design distinctive AI agent personalities, but a majority report no active use of agentic AI and fewer than a quarter are running limited pilots. A separate Adobe consumer study cited by ACAM found 20% of Australians have used agentic AI, 42% expect to use it in daily life this year, and AI-assistant use is growing for online shopping (30%), travel (29%), and banking (23%). Mumbrella published the release as a "Source: Press release" item; B&T's coverage adds quotes from ACAM's Tim Lillyman and Jodie Sangster promoting an August 11 briefing session in Sydney.
For practitioners
The intent-versus-execution gap described here, survey respondents highly optimistic about agentic AI in the abstract but few running even limited pilots, is a common early-adoption pattern and worth taking at face value on that point. What's less independently verified is everything downstream of it: ACAM's benchmark methodology and full sample haven't been published, the Adobe survey's methodology isn't detailed in the coverage, and ACAM's own commercial interest, a benchmark product, paid briefings, consulting, means the framing should be read as advocacy for its own services alongside the data. Treat the specific percentages as directional rather than rigorously benchmarked until the full July report and its methodology are available.
What to watch
ACAM's full 2026 AI Marketing Benchmark, due in July, for methodology and sample details; whether follow-up, independently reported surveys corroborate the same intent-to-pilot gap; and ACAM's August 11 Sydney briefing on agentic AI for any additional data disclosed there.
Key Points
- 1An Adobe survey of 3,000 CX practitioners, cited in an ACAM release, found high optimism about agentic AI but low active pilot rates.
- 2The findings come from an unreleased ACAM benchmark and an Adobe-sponsored survey via press release, not independent research, so treat percentages as directional.
- 3Separate Adobe consumer data shows growing real-world agentic AI use in shopping, travel, and banking, suggesting consumer adoption is outpacing marketer readiness.
Scoring Rationale
Pulled down from 6.8: the underlying content is an Australian marketing-industry group's own press release (Mumbrella labels it 'Source: Press release') promoting an unpublished benchmark report and a paid briefing session, built on a single Adobe-sponsored survey with no disclosed methodology. Kept above the visibility floor since the core data point, adoption intent outpacing active agentic AI use, is plausibly real and relevant to practitioners evaluating deployments, but this is announcement content, not independent research or a technical development.
Sources
Primary source and supporting public references used for this report.
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