UK marketers ahead of the curve when it comes to AI confidence, research says

UK marketers are slightly ahead of the curve when it comes to confidence in their ability to use AI tools and technology, but there still remains a gap between adoption and having the necessary skills to make the most of them.

New research from MiQ titled The AI Confidence Curve, based on a study of more than 3,000 marketers, shows that over half of UK respondents (53%) are “fully confident” in their understanding of AI – outstripping the global average of 49%.

In particular, UK marketers are confident around using AI to extract insight and intelligence (51% versus 45% globally), to help drive efficiencies (47% versus 45% globally) and relying on bespoke tools developed internally (48% versus 43% globally).

Despite a global widespread acceptance that AI tools need to be adopted – with 68% currently using AI tools and 72% of marketers planning to adopt more over the next 12 months – less than half (45%) feel confident in their ability to apply them successfully.

It is this 27% difference that MiQ dubs the “confidence gap” where ambition for AI has outstripped the ability of those applying it.

As to what is driving this gap, the research reveals that over a third of marketers (38%) don’t feel they have had sufficient training on working with AI tools effectively. Meanwhile, four in 10 are struggling to share the data they have with existing AI tools creating an integration challenge, and another 38% believe their organisation isn’t doing enough to push the adoption of AI tools.

Despite confidence in embedding AI and analytics, many UK marketers continue to rely on engagement-based metrics to define success. Nearly half (48%) say KPIs such as clickthrough rate (CTR), email opens, and social engagement remain central to how performance is measured. Confidence in measurement also lags, with only 37% saying they track the right objectives and 43% confident their budgets are allocated effectively.

What Amazon’s 14,000 layoffs reveal about AI’s grip on marketingEven so, the UK stands out for showing early signs of a shift toward business outcomes. Customer retention (43%) now ranks as the second most used success metric, just ahead of conversions (41%), making the UK the only market in the study where retention takes precedence.

Confidence in measurement and effectiveness seems to have an impact on whether marketers will increase their use of AI in the year ahead. The data shows that globally 75% of marketers who feel confident achieving great results will ramp up their use of AI, and half of those say they have the right goals in place to track performance.

For the 41% who feel confident in their team’s ability to optimise against results, sharing data is the top concern – with training coming a close second.

Alfie Atkinson, CEO at MiQ UK, believes all of this data shows the UK has a “head start” when it comes to AI confidence, but the “real opportunity” is in turning that confidence into impact, he says.

“Our report shows that confidence drops when AI moves from theory to practice, when it’s expected to drive efficiencies or integrate into everyday workflows. Real progress won’t come from adding more tools,” he adds. “The aspiration is to continue to rethink how people work, train teams to thrive alongside AI, and embed it in our daily workflows to build a culture where intelligence and collaboration drive performance.”