Martech in 2025: Brimming with optimism and ambition
This year’s State of Martech research reveals an industry brimming with optimism and ambition, but facing persistent operational challenges that marketers must address in order to maximise the potential of AI and other new technologies.
At last week's State of Martech 2025 launch event in London, we shared some of the insights that have emerged from this year's annual research project - conducted this year with the University of Stirling.
The full State of Martech 2025 report will be released this summer, but here's a peak at the key headlines:
- Data & integration remain critical
While 96% of marketers report high satisfaction with their martech, only a quarter have well integrated systems. Investment is shifting toward data platforms and Customer Data Platforms to fix this, as poor data and disconnected tech are the biggest barriers to AI adoption. - Migration is now business as usual
Platform migrations are accelerating: 70% have switched core platforms in the past three years, and the share planning to switch again within 12 months has nearly doubled. AI hype and vendor roadmap misalignment are key drivers. - Budgets rising as Marketers prove value
Marketers’ ability to demonstrate impact is securing CFO buy-in. Investment is growing across software, services, and organisational design — with 62% expecting budget increases, mostly to modernise data infrastructure and scale AI use. - Hyper-personalisation still aspirational
Despite strong belief in hyper-personalised campaigns, only 8% typically run them today. Main blockers are the same fundamentals: poor data, weak integration, skill gaps and inadequate tech. - Operating models evolving
Confidence in internal skills is high, but true martech adoption lags — only 19% report broad (>60%) internal usage. Outsourcing is growing (up to 57%) to close capability gaps, though finding quality partners remains challenging.
What's happening with key Martech vendors?
As you'd expect, the big Martech vendors are embedding AI throughout their platforms - but the success in taking advantage continues to hinge on data quality and readiness, and proper connectivity between platforms.
- Adobe is championing B2B 3.0 with AI-driven buying group orchestration and “Agentic AI” built directly into Adobe Experience Platform. Clean, centralised data is essential.
- Salesforce has launched Agentforce AI to automate campaigns and content, alongside the next-gen Marketing Cloud (phasing out Pardot). The new approach depends heavily on Data Cloud and good data governance.
- HubSpot is experimenting with a ChatGPT Deep Research connector for CRM insights — but output quality and governance are concerns.
There is a lot to unpack with the raft of vendor announcements so far this year and a lot for their customers to be excited about. To make the most of the AI promise, marketers must address core issues of data quality, system integration and establishing clear ROI goals to unlock its full value.
To get the full research report when it's released or discuss what these findings mean for you and your martech strategy, you can get in touch with us today.
