# The AI Fluency Report: What Advanced Marketers Are Really Doing With AI

Published  
June 11, 2026

Updated  
June 11, 2026

Vincent Ninh  
Senior Content Marketing Manager, Right Side Up

## Key findings from our AI fluency report

- **AI usage is mainstream, but AI fluency is not:** Nearly all of respondents use AI day-to-day, but only 12% qualify as hands-on builders or fully adopted developers.
- **The biggest leap is moving beyond basic usage:** Once marketers start using AI past basic prompts and tasks, they often start dabbling in building themselves.
- **Advanced AI marketers are workflow designers:** 80.8% of our advanced cohort referenced workflow automation or operations.
- **AI use extends far beyond content:** While 76.6% use AI for content and messaging, 60%+ also referenced research, analytics, strategy, and creative production.
- **The best use cases keep humans in the loop:** Almost no respondents framed AI around replacing humans entirely; most described using AI to increase speed, scale, efficiency, and clarity—with human input still very much needed.

In 2026, the question isn’t about if marketers are using AI, but how _—_ and how effectively.

### AI fluency in marketing: The results

| The results | Level | What it suggests |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 18% use AI tools day-to-day | AI beginner | There are few true AI beginners left, at least among our collective. The vast majority have moved past basic prompts and tasks. |
| 23% use embedded AI features | AI-enabled | AI is showing up inside existing workflows for nearly a quarter of the respondents. |
| 47% build with AI directly | AI-proficient | Many are also moving beyond passive use. Most marketers we polled are builders, or at least aspiring builders. |
| 12% are hands-on builders or fully adopted developers | AI-native | True builder fluency is still a smaller, more differentiated segment that only ⅓ of our respondents identified with. |

*Data based on 580 answers from senior marketers within our talent collective*

### The AI fluency ladder

| Level | Marketer behavior | Examples |
| --- | --- | --- |
| AI beginner (User) | Uses AI regularly across daily tasks | Research, copy, analysis, ideation |
| AI-enabled (Integrator) | Connects AI to existing tools | CRM enrichment, dashboard summaries, embedded AI features |
| AI-proficient (Builder) | Creates repeatable tools or workflows | Custom GPTs, automations, campaign audit tools |
| AI-native (System designer) | Builds multi-step, human-in-the-loop systems | Agents, reporting engines, creative pipelines, competitive intel systems |

### Where AI-fluent marketers are creating the most value

| Category | % | Examples from responses |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Content and messaging | 76.6% | Content systems, brief generation, messaging frameworks, draft creation, content optimization |
| Research and insights | 67.1% | Competitive intelligence, market monitoring, customer research synthesis, interview analysis, trend tracking |
| Analytics and measurement | 65.3% | Automated dashboards, performance reporting, KPI monitoring, reporting systems, data aggregation |
| Product and strategy | 63.5% | Strategic planning, product ideation, journey mapping, research synthesis, decision support |
| Creative production | 60.5% | Image generation, video creation, creative concepts, design exploration, visual asset production |
| CRM and lifecycle | 55.1% | Lead qualification, CRM enrichment, personalization, lifecycle campaigns, customer segmentation |
| Campaign execution | 46.7% | Campaign audits, paid media optimization, budget monitoring, campaign QA, cross-channel reporting |

*Data based on 167 responses from our advanced cohort*

### What AI tools marketers are using

| AI tool | % |
| --- | --- |
| Claude (including Claude Code) | 89.2% |
| OpenAI (including ChatGPT, Custom GPTs, Codex, and OpenAI APIs) | 59.3% |
| Gemini | 14.4% |
| Midjourney | 6.6% |
| Lovable | 6.6% |
| N8N | 6.6% |
| Perplexity | 5.4% |
| Cursor | 3.0% |
| GitHub Copilot | 3.0% |
| NotebookLM | 0.6% |
| Replit | 0.6% |

*Data based on 167 responses from our advanced cohort*

### What AI-fluent marketers _don’t_ care about

1. Prompt engineering was rarely mentioned—but not for the reason you think.
2. There were no mentions of AI replacing humans.
3. They built AI ecosystems, not one-off tasks.

### Bring AI-fluent marketing talent into your team

As this report indicates, AI expertise has become an integral part of modern marketing—and occasionally dabbling in ChatGPT isn’t enough.  
Need AI expertise today? [Get in touch with us](/content/contact/index.html).