AI: Reality Over Hype
Adoption and investment are rising at unprecedented scale — but dig deeper and the day-to-day reality is more measured. Will 2026 be the year AI finally delivers transformative ROI?
of knowledge workers now use AI at work — nearly half adopted it in just the past six months.
of company GenAI budgets go to sales and marketing — the largest share of any function.
AI initiatives hit their expected ROI in the past three years. Only 1 in 5 have scaled enterprise-wide.
What this module covers
Every section in the 31-page module, in order.
- Unprecedented speed & scale of global adoption
- MarComms leads AI investment & day-to-day use
- APAC leading in AI agent adoption in 2025
- AI is making big impact on Asian commerce
- Scratching the surface of AI’s true potential
- The topline data is incredible. Dig deeper … and the reality is more measured
- Only 1 of 4AI initiatives hit their expected ROI in the past three years. 1/5of AI in…
- Marketing AI usage remains targeted, not transformational
- Creative: Co-creation not replacement
- Tool fatigue is real: Consolidation is coming
- Meanwhile, ChatGPT is coming for everything
- Are comms jobs extinct? Not yet
- What will be the 2026 story for AI in MarComms? Transformational ROI unlocked or more…
- Most likely to engage with AI influencersYes
- Journalists: How do you feel about PR professionals using AI to generate pitches or p…
- Inviting customers to train AI voice assistant
- 64% of global customers express readiness to purchase products suggested by AI
- 95% of LLM citations are nonpaid media
- Brand publishing back in the spotlight
- Old KPIsNew KPIsMeasurement must evolve for an AI world
- AI enablement must mature to match investment
- AI supercharges misinformation in APAC
- Long-term challenge requiring joint solutions
- AI data privacy and security concerns
- AI regulations (rightly) slow progress
- Impact for businesses and MarComms remains elusive Transformative potential remains f…
- Recommendations
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Asia leads the world in AI optimism
APAC leads AI-agent adoption at 53% (Microsoft, 2025), and Asian audiences are the most open to AI content anywhere: 48% of APAC consumers are comfortable with AI-generated brand imagery — 55% in India and 48% in Indonesia, versus just 11% in the US and UK. APAC journalists are also the most favourable to AI-aided news and PR: 43% support PR professionals using AI, against only 10% in North America.
The measured reality inside organisations
Only 15% of marketers have fully implemented AI into regular processes; 70% are still running initial experiments. 60% of companies have no financial metrics for AI value creation, and a study of 2,500 professionals found AI actually increased workload for 77% of workers. The biggest barriers are not tool access — they are training, clarity and direction.
Zero-click AI search is already here
LLM share of global search traffic grew 4× year on year; 63% of global websites already report traffic from AI search. With 95% of LLM citations being non-paid media, what drives citations is earned authority: authoritative sources, clear entity language, structured storytelling and recurrence across trusted sources. Measurement must evolve — from impressions and share-of-voice to share-of-model, answer position, answer sentiment and LLM conversions.
Co-creation, not replacement
Dove is retraining beauty algorithms for inclusive narratives; AXA won a Grand Prix using AI-driven sentiment targeting; PepsiCo has declared it will be "agentic-AI first" by 2026. In China, influencer Luo Yonghao's GenAI-avatar livestream sold US$7.65M in six hours. Asian brands like Grab and Ant Group are actively inviting customers into their AI roadmaps.
The headwinds are real
AI-exacerbated misinformation is the #1 long-term global threat (WEF, 2025). Deepfake-driven social engineering rose 53% in APAC in 2024, yet only 10% of communications professionals have received deepfake training. 7 in 10 APAC consumers are concerned about how their data is collected, and at least 57 countries debated AI legislation in 2024.
Our 2026 recommendations
- For the AI-hesitant: the clock is ticking — learn the basics of AI productivity, content and search, then get on the tools and test.
- For leaders: train your people, prioritise use cases and pilots, and be consistent in process and direction.
- For brands: understand your market's POV on AI, know your audience's fears and dreams, and audit your reputation and position in AI search — then adjust your content mix accordingly.
Frequently asked
How widely is AI actually used in communications in Asia Pacific?
APAC leads the world in AI-agent adoption at 53%, and 75% of knowledge workers now use AI at work — nearly half having adopted it within the previous six months. But only 15% of marketers have fully implemented AI into regular processes.
Does AI in marketing deliver return on investment?
Only 1 in 4 AI initiatives hit their expected ROI over the past three years, and just 1 in 5 have scaled enterprise-wide. 60% of companies have no financial metrics for AI value creation at all.
What KPIs replace impressions and share of voice in AI search?
The report recommends measuring share-of-model, answer position, answer sentiment and LLM conversions, because 95% of LLM citations come from non-paid media.