The In-House Agency Council (IHAC) and -lution have released a new benchmark study revealing widespread AI adoption across APAC marketing teams and in-house agencies, but limited operational integration despite rapidly rising investment.
The research, based on responses from 76 marketing professionals across more than 40 organisations, found AI adoption is now effectively universal across in-house agencies, with 100% of teams reporting using the technology in some form. However, while 98% plan to increase AI investment this year, only 4% of organisations have integrated AI into core workflows.
The Race for AI Maturity in Marketing report also found 96% of teams remain in reactive or experimental stages of AI maturity, suggesting most organisations are still using AI tactically rather than redesigning workflows, operating models and team structures around it.
Chris Maxwell, CEO of -lution, said the findings show the industry has largely solved adoption, but not transformation. “Everyone’s using AI to write headlines or generate images. Almost nobody has figured out how to redesign the way their team actually operates around it.
“That’s the real shift that still needs to happen. The investment curve is moving much faster than the operational maturity curve.”
While AI use is now widespread, the research found adoption remains heavily concentrated in creative and content tasks, with 67% of teams using AI for ideation, 62% for image generation and 56% for copywriting. By comparison, AI integration across operations, workflow, and media functions remains significantly lower.
The report also found internal challenges are emerging as bigger barriers to scaling than budget. Just 6% of respondents identified budget as a key challenge, compared to 45% who cited IT, legal and privacy concerns.
Additional findings from the benchmark study include:
- 43% of teams still have no formal AI strategy;
- 30% of marketers report reclaiming more than five hours per week through AI tools;
- AI adoption across marketing operations ranges from just 6% to 38% depending on the task;
- Media and performance-related AI adoption remains between 9% and 28%.
Chris added the findings reflect a broader shift occurring inside in-house agencies and marketing teams as AI moves from experimentation into operational reality.
“For the last two years, the conversation has largely been about access to tools and early experimentation. The next phase will be about operational redesign.
“The organisations that get real value from AI won’t necessarily be the ones using the most tools. They’ll be the ones that rethink workflows, systems and capability around them fastest.”
The benchmark study was developed by IHAC and -lution to better understand how in-house and hybrid marketing teams are integrating AI into marketing operations, governance, workflow and organisational capability.
