How to supercharge your AI adoption

Marketing is racing to get AI integration right, with the brands that move fastest to harness its power likely to define the future of marketing and gain competitive advantage.

Despite the urgency, however, many marketers remain stuck in pilots and experimentation, held back by gaps in skills, governance and the technology integration needed to scale AI effectively.

Our new WFA AI Acceleration Playbook provides a clear, actionable checklist to help marketers adopt AI, faster while also delivering business value and accelerates innovation without compromising brand reputation or integrity. The idea is to help brands move beyond the early adoption phase – 80% of WFA members say they are currently at the pilot stage.

It’s worth noting that the AI challenge is not unique to marketing. McKinsey data shows that nearly two-thirds of organisations say they have not begun scaling AI and remain stuck in experimentation or pilots, while a 2025 MIT State of AI Adoption report found that 95% of enterprise AI pilots have failed to deliver measurable business value or cost savings.

One reason for the slow rollout is that the risks of gen AI are making companies cautious. Data and AI specialist OneTrust reveals that organisations are now spending 37% more time managing AI-related risks than 12 months earlier, with ‘manual compliance reviews (42%) and “approval bottlenecks’ (37%) among the top challenges to effective AI.

Real world experiences on AI adoption

Speaking to WFA members, we find many of these general AI barriers echoed in real on-the-ground experience across marketing organisations. Given anonymity to allow them to speak frankly the following are quotes from leading multinational brands across a number of key issues:

• Evaluation paralysis: “The AI marketplace is exploding, but evaluating tools against genuine business needs is incredibly difficult. This is creating paralysis and slowing our ability to scale confidently, not least because it’s hard to know whether the tools we invest in today will still be relevant next year.”
• Integration and compliance: “Selecting an AI tool is only half the battle. Integrations, data access and compliance checks can take months, with many hidden costs emerging along the way. This is creating real friction and slowing impact.”
• Legal certainty: “We’re seeing growing tension between marketing and legal teams. Necessary risk management processes are creating complex workflows which are slowing innovation dramatically. We need agile governance that enables, faster, safer, decision-making across teams if we want to unlock growth and sustain a meaningful competitive edge as AI reshapes our industry.”
• Adoption: “Reluctance to change and anxieties about how productivity gains may impact people’s jobs means teams aren’t experimenting. Mindset is the biggest blocker and we now need structured change management.”
• Capability building: “Selecting AI tools is one part of the journey. We can only unlock value if our teams feel prepared and empowered to use them responsibly. That means investing just as much in training, capability-building and ongoing support as we have in technology. Adoption will accelerate once we’ve fully informed people about how to use them and empowered them to feel confident about experimentation.”

WFA's Playbook is designed to help

Such experiences have helped inform WFA’s AI Acceleration Playbook. It outlines a voluntary six-part process designed to smooth the passage of AI tools from pilot to productivity and profit, covering everything from policies and guardrails to people and partners as well as measurement and monitoring.

The goal is to celebrate real client-side best practice and demonstrate to members how to turn AI ambition into responsible, scalable adoption across an organisation by taking a measured step by step approach to addressing key barriers.

For many members of the WFA’s AI community this kind of framework is vital faced with the noise that increasingly accompanies everything AI:

“WFA’s Acceleration Playbook sets a shared standard for responsible and scalable AI adoption. It brings together best practices and safeguards - helping brands move faster, avoid common risks, and unlock value through consistent collaboration across the organization and with external partners.” - Deniz Ozer Can, Global Head – Digital & AI Acceleration, Bayer Consumer Health.

“What makes this Playbook so valuable is its grounding in lived experience of global brands. It cuts through the noise with a step-by-step guide on how to overcome the real operational and organisational barriers to AI adoption that we are all facing. With the AI ecosystem moving so fast, this helps us to focus on what genuinely serves the business and will help us drive better marketing.” - Jacqui Stephenson, Responsible & Purpose Marketing Officer, Mars.

“The AI marketplace is exploding, but evaluating tools against genuine business needs remains a challenge. Scaling confidently can be tough, not least because it’s hard to know whether the tools we invest in today will still be relevant next year. This Playbook helps guide us on the journey to ensuring our AI adoption drives meaningful business value today and in the future." - Colin Kavanagh, CMO North America, Pernod Ricard.

"The WFA’s AI Acceleration Playbook provides marketers with clear, actionable guidance to navigate complexity, build organisational readiness, and unlock the full value of AI. Structured around six core pillars, it’s a great resource to fast-track teams towards responsible and sustainable AI use." - Susie O’Donoghue, Global Head of Data & AI, William Grant & Sons.

WFA members can download a copy of the Playbook here.