Dentsu Creative’s 2026 CMO Report carries a blunt instruction for the marketing industry: “Make the promise of AI real.” The latest edition shows Indian marketers moving past experimentation and demanding tangible impact from technology investments — with a striking 94% of Indian CMOs expecting AI-enabled agency workflows to become the norm in every major agency.
The global figure is 83%, and China sits at 95%, but India’s standout numbers across the report suggest a market that is more willing to rewire how agencies operate.
India bets on dynamic signals over static segments
One of the clearest India-specific findings is around targeting. As audience cohorts become less stable, 92% of Indian marketers agree it is more important to target dynamic customer signals than static customer segments. That compares with roughly 85% in developed markets such as the US, Canada, Germany, the UK, Italy and Brazil, and 94% in China.
This points to a personalisation shift: instead of relying on predefined demographic or behavioural buckets, marketers are looking for real-time signals that connect data, media and production. Globally, 85% of CMOs agree real-time content personalisation drives growth, while 77% say siloed agency models hold their content back.
More confidence, but not a wholesale handover
India also stands out for being less anxious about AI’s creative limits. Only 38% of Indian CMOs feel AI-assisted creativity cannot yet capture their brand’s tone of voice, look and feel, compared with 62% globally.
The same pattern holds for agentic AI. Globally, 63% of CMOs are uncomfortable delegating high-stakes tasks to Agentic AI because of reputational concerns; in India, that drops to 46%. Privacy and security discomfort is 65% globally versus 47% in India.
That does not mean Indian marketers are handing over control. Marketers remain more comfortable delegating execution-oriented activities, such as adaptation and dynamic optimisation, than sensitive activities like communicating with senior leadership. The emerging model is AI-assisted execution with continued human judgement.
Human craft becomes the differentiator
- 79% of CMOs globally say AI alone will not be a competitive advantage.
- 91% in APAC say human craft is critically important to distinctive brand ideas, versus 83% globally.
- 94% of Indian CMOs expect AI-enabled agency workflows to become the norm.
As similar technology stacks become widely available, the report argues technology itself becomes table stakes. The advantage shifts to combining AI with human ingenuity — giving talented people “superpowers” rather than replacing them.
Real-world experiences and creators counterbalance automation
The report also spots an unexpected countertrend: renewed investment in physical experiences. India is at the front of this, with 87% of Indian CMOs planning to invest more in real-world experiences versus 82% globally, and 91% planning immersive offline or in-person experiences versus 84% globally.
Creators and communities are also moving closer to the centre. In APAC, 91% of CMOs believe engaging communities is a powerful way to scale brand impact, while globally 81% say real and relatable creators, including nano-influencers, can outperform celebrities. Dentsu calls this the “Scale of Small.”
What marketers should do next
For Indian brands, the report’s practical message is to stop measuring AI by output volume. Globally, 74% of CMOs agree more assets do not always mean more impact, and 76% worry they are producing more content for less visibility. Meanwhile, 86% believe smart agencies must move beyond efficiency toward impact and effectiveness.
That means pairing dynamic signals with human creativity, investing in real-world and creator-led touchpoints, and judging AI on relevance and business results rather than how much content it can ship.
Source: MediaNews4U
