Unprecedented volumes of data and advances in AI are transforming the marketing services industry, according to new research from technology advisory and investment firm GP Bullhound. The firm's new report, AI and the Services Revolution, reveals that investments in marketing-related AI have grown steadily, with $2.5 billion of investments in emerging companies in 2018--and $1 billion invested in Q2 2019 alone. In all, a total of $11 billion has been invested in the sector since 2014. While North America accounts for the majority of funding into AI marketing companies, with a yearly volume of around $1.5 billion in 2014-2018, Europe is showing the highest growth rate. The European market grew to represent 30 percent of all transactions in H1 2019, while Asian transactions have declined from 20 percent in 2018 to only 5 percent as of H1 2019.

SAN FRANCISCO – Dec. 13, 2016 – Demandbase, the leader in Account-Based Marketing (ABM), revealed today the results of its Artificial Intelligence (AI) survey, issued in conjunction with Wakefield Research. Overall, the research shows that marketers are excited about the potential AI brings to the world of sales and marketing. While they believe it has the potential to significantly impact the entire industry, there is a clear discrepancy between this enthusiasm and marketers' confidence in how to implement AI into their marketing programs. In fact, 80 percent of all marketing executives believe AI will revolutionize marketing over the next 5 years, but only 26 percent are very confident they understand how AI is used in marketing and only 10 percent of marketers are currently using AI today. Surprisingly, concern with the cost of implementing AI is lower on the list at 42 percent.

When it comes to AI-enhanced marketing, the future is already happening. How far are we from hyper-intelligent robots becoming a part of our daily lives? AI-enabled "assistants" like Siri, Cortana, and Alexa have already been adopted into many people's homes and businesses. But they are becoming very common. More relevantly, we are also seeing the use of advanced analytics and Artificial Intelligence in many business functions.

Surprisingly, concern with the cost of implementing AI is lower on the list at 42 percent. Overall, there is a lack of general understanding around AI technologies available, and how to begin using them. Further education and hands on experience will be required to ensure the use of AI technology to support marketing is successful. "As someone who has been studying AI for many years, I've recognized the promise of AI and B2B marketing for some time, which makes it really rewarding to see this vision is now shared by marketing executives," said Aman Naimat, SVP of Technology at Demandbase. "This data reveals that in order to be successful, marketing leaders need to lead the charge and present opportunities for AI instruction and experience for their teams, to ensure implementing it into their B2B technology stacks is effective."

Over 3/4 of Marketing Leaders believe the future belongs to Artificial Intelligence. In October 2015, in my post entitled "The Future Of Sales Is AI: Are Your Sales Teams Prepared?" I shared a bold prediction from LeadGenius cofounder Anand Kulkarni: "In just 10 years most salespeoples' jobs will be replaced by artificial intelligence." As I wrote then and as I believe today, sales is not going away. Salespeople are not going away.

Over 3/4 of Marketing Leaders believe the future belongs to Artificial Intelligence. In October 2015, in my post entitled "The Future Of Sales Is AI: Are Your Sales Teams Prepared?" I shared a bold prediction from LeadGenius cofounder Anand Kulkarni: "In just 10 years most salespeoples' jobs will be replaced by artificial intelligence." As I wrote then and as I believe today, sales is not going away. Salespeople are not going away.

Over 3/4 of Marketing Leaders believe the future belongs to Artificial Intelligence. In October 2015, in my post entitled "The Future Of Sales Is AI: Are Your Sales Teams Prepared?" I shared a bold prediction from LeadGenius cofounder Anand Kulkarni: "In just 10 years most salespeoples' jobs will be replaced by artificial intelligence." As I wrote then and as I believe today, sales is not going away. Salespeople are not going away.

Over 3/4 of Marketing Leaders believe the future belongs to Artificial Intelligence. In October 2015, in my post entitled "The Future Of Sales Is AI: Are Your Sales Teams Prepared?" I shared a bold prediction from LeadGenius cofounder Anand Kulkarni: "In just 10 years most salespeoples' jobs will be replaced by artificial intelligence." As I wrote then and as I believe today, sales is not going away. Salespeople are not going away.

Over 3/4 of Marketing Leaders believe the future belongs to Artificial Intelligence. In October 2015, in my post entitled "The Future Of Sales Is AI: Are Your Sales Teams Prepared?" I shared a bold prediction from LeadGenius cofounder Anand Kulkarni: "In just 10 years most salespeoples' jobs will be replaced by artificial intelligence." As I wrote then and as I believe today, sales is not going away. Salespeople are not going away.

Over 3/4 of Marketing Leaders believe the future belongs to Artificial Intelligence. In October 2015, in my post entitled "The Future Of Sales Is AI: Are Your Sales Teams Prepared?" I shared a bold prediction from LeadGenius cofounder Anand Kulkarni: "In just 10 years most salespeoples' jobs will be replaced by artificial intelligence." As I wrote then and as I believe today, sales is not going away. Salespeople are not going away.