Credit: Hitesh Choudhary via Unsplash.
The Association for Data-Driven Marketing and Advertising (ADMA) has released a blueprint designed to help marketers lead in an AI-powered world, while addressing major gaps in skills, trust and capability.
The report, AI, Talent & Trust: A New Blueprint for Marketing Leadership, sets out what ADMA describes as “clear frameworks and ethical guardrails” to guide the responsible use of AI in marketing.
“The future isn’t coming, it’s already here. AI is no longer a curiosity on the side; it’s already in our workflows, campaigns and customer conversations,” said Andrea Martens, CEO of ADMA.
“But while AI can generate at scale, it cannot imagine, empathise or judge.
That is why this report goes beyond technology, it is about people, creativity and trust.”
The findings are based on ADMA’s AI in Marketing survey, which the organisation says is the most comprehensive of its kind in Australia.
More than 1,000 marketers participated.
While three-quarters of respondents use AI weekly, fewer than one in three (29%) have received formal training.
ADMA warns that without closing this skills gap, particularly in martech, data and automation, marketing teams risk falling behind.
The report also calls for marketers to embrace “X-shaped” talent: people with breadth across creativity, data and strategy, alongside deep expertise in one or more of these areas.
Other contributors include Lisa Talia Moretti, Daniel Bluzer-Fry, Tom Goodwin, David Phillips (Deloitte), Sonny Sethi (Zip Co), Steve Brennen (Archie), Peter Leonard (ADMA), Siobhan Savage (Reejig) and Dr Sage Kelly (ADMA).
Organisations that encourage safe experimentation, peer learning and internal AI champions are more likely to adapt successfully, the report finds.
Trust is another concern.
With only 36% of Australians saying they trust AI, the report positions responsible AI use as brand-critical.
It calls for FATE (Fairness, Accountability, Transparency and Ethics) principles to be embedded from the outset.
The report forms part of ADMA’s broader capability agenda, including its National Workforce Intelligence Partnership with Reejig, its Capability Compass assessment tool and ongoing work on ethical standards in marketing.
ADMA describes the report as a practical guide to “navigate an AI-powered future with confidence,” offering real-world solutions over theoretical frameworks.
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