Report Finds B2B Marketing Shifting from Tactics to AI-Enabled Strategy

A report released last week finds a strategic shift is underway in B2B marketing execution, as marketers prioritize artificial intelligence (AI)-driven campaigns and focus on personalization to boost performance and ROI in the current  economic climate.

Rethinking B2B Marketing Execution: The Age of Execution Reinvention was published by 2X, a leader in subscription-based marketing as a service (MaaS), in partnership with Avasant, a leading digital transformation consultancy.

Among the key findings is the adoption of AI: 72% of CMOs now count AI-driven campaigns among their top priorities. This comes as the report details that one in five marketing dollars now funds technology—double the share of five years ago, sourced from program budgets.

Adjusting to New Mandates

Domenic Colasante, CEO and Co-Founder of 2X, points out that marketing budgets are rising 5-10% this year, while headcount remains flat as CMOs are being tasked to spend new money more effectively that does not add to payroll. The focus is on strategic reallocation and AI-enabled productivity.

“The report offers a clear view into how marketers are innovating on their operating model where cost efficiency, smarter execution, and leaner teams are the new mandate,” said Colasante in a statement. “At 2X, we’re committed to helping B2B enterprise marketers lead with operating impact, realize the benefit of AI, and deliver more with increasingly scarce resources.”

Stretching the Budget Dollar

The survey, combines survey data and expert interviews to provide a comprehensive view of B2B marketing execution, comes as CMOs are rethinking traditional agency relationships and embrace more flexible, tech-enabled partnerships that accelerate speed, personalization, and innovation. The report focuses on how large enterprises—those with over $250 million—are taking a new look at marketing outsourcing, defined as leveraging external partners for campaign execution, analytics, and content production.

A key takeaway is tech growth is being funded by reallocating program dollars. Currently, less than 20% of the budget goes to technology, with the average budget split amongst 56% personnel and 24% non-personnel programs.

Work In-House, Outsourced

Outsourcing continues to grow, covering more marketing functions. The survey found budgets for outsourcing rose three percentage points to 42%. Core marketing functions (e.g., brand and GTM strategy, budgeting, retention) remain largely in-house, ensuring strategic control. Specialized areas like campaigns (61%) and channel marketing (61%) are increasingly outsourced to tap into expertise and boost speed.

This is happening as B2B marketers are dealing with an execution bottleneck. Campaign channels absorb 23% of spend and outsource 56% of work, making them the top target for hybrid MaaS models.

Changing Landscape

As this is happening, Swapnil Bhatnagar, Partner at Avasant, noted that net-new revenue, ROI, and CLV top the scorecard, displacing legacy funnel metrics.

“Today’s CMOs face a stark choice: cling to legacy metrics and fragmented teams, or embrace a new era where technology, data, and external expertise converge,” said Swapnil Bhatnagar, Partner at Avasant. “By aligning KPIs to revenue impact and partnering for specialized skills, marketing organizations can move at the speed of the market, delivering measurable value and agility that legacy models simply can’t match.”

To download the report, please visit https://2x.marketing/avasant-report/.