Nearly all marketers are using AI. Only ~12% Are Builder-Level Fluent.

Published on July 7, 2026

It didn’t take long. Virtually every senior marketer globally now uses AI in their daily work. But only about 12% have reached builder-level fluency, the point then can design the workflows and systems rather than just writing good prompts. Among the most advanced marketers (the 12%), roughly 80% are using AI to build automation and operations, even more than are using it for content.

That reframes the question. The advantage is no longer whether your team has access to AI, it is whether they can build with it. Almost no one in the research described AI as replacing people. The recurring themes were speed, scale, efficiency, and clarity, with human judgment still in the loop. So the useful question is where your team sits on that fluency ladder today, and what moving up a rung would actually take.

Source: Right Side Up, June 2026

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