Indian CMOs use AI daily but emphasise empathy and human insight: Dentsu report

New Delhi: Dentsu Creative has released its 2025 global CMO Report, which explores the intersection of artificial intelligence and human insight in modern marketing. Bringing on responses from more than 1,950 senior marketing leaders across 14 markets, the report, titled Agents of Reinvention: Marketing at the Intersection of AI and Human Ingenuity, identifies ten themes shaping the sector this year.

The findings point to a paradox in marketing practice: while AI is embedded in the everyday workflows of senior marketers, the importance of human creativity, empathy and cultural intelligence is rising. 

The report shows that nearly all CMOs surveyed use AI in their personal workflows, with over 30% using it daily. Yet 87% believe modern strategy will increasingly rely on creativity, empathy and humanity, while 78% maintain that generative AI will never replace human imagination, a figure that has risen by 13 percentage points since 2024.

Content production and personalisation continue to dominate marketing strategies, with 90% of respondents highlighting the need to combine agile production with intelligent data. However, 76% cited the pace of content creation as a barrier to achieving personalisation at scale. 

The role of algorithms also presents challenges, with 71% agreeing that “If I don’t win with the algorithm, I will be invisible”, while 79% worry that optimisation could result in uniformity and lack of differentiation.

Winning in culture is seen as key to visibility in an algorithm-driven environment. Some 84% of CMOs believe brands need to secure cultural relevance, not just share of voice, although 81% acknowledge a lack of proven methods to achieve this. Many are turning to entertainment, communities and creator collaborations to bridge the gap.

Social and influencer-led content continues to grow in importance, with 90% of CMOs agreeing it generates more engagement than traditional advertising. In parallel, 91% believe brand-building now relies on partnerships between creators, platforms and cultural figures, up 14 percentage points from the previous year. Despite this, 82% express concern over reduced brand control. 

Innovation is also a priority, with over 70% of respondents planning to allocate more than a fifth of their budgets towards it in future.

The report further reveals that 89% of CMOs believe agentic AI will significantly affect their business, but the same proportion agree that trust and taste will play a central role in navigating such technologies.

Abbey Klaassen, Global Brand President, Dentsu Creative, said, “The future of marketing is about augmenting human ingenuity with AI to enable a level of pace and personalisation not previously possible. It’s not about doing more with less, it’s about doing things we couldn’t do before: connecting creativity, media, data and production to meet the right customer with the right message in the right moment, leveraging the modern content supply chain to show up in more of those moments than was possible in the past.”

He also explains, “What we hear from our clients, and the report bears that out, is that they need seamless integration of data, AI enabled production and their existing martech stack to realise the potential of real time creativity to accelerate growth.”

Yasu Sasaki, Global Chief Creative Officer, dentsu, added, “What we clearly see in this report is that while clients are embracing AI at pace, they remain committed to the power of human craft and creativity. As we adopt AI at scale, it places an ever-greater premium on originality and innovation: AI is exceptionally good at prediction but creativity by its very nature is unpredictable. 

What is most exciting is when AI and human creativity come together to unlock new possibilities, spot new patterns and shape new futures. That’s why we see clients committing to invest more than ever in innovation in 2026 and beyond.”

Patricia McDonald, Global Chief Strategy Officer, Dentsu Creative, commented, “Today’s marketers face an extraordinary series of paradoxes and contradictions. Automation is vital to keep up, humanity is vital to stand out. They must win with the algorithm or be invisible, but optimise too closely and they become indistinguishable. 

If every brand chases the same signals with the same tools, we are simply running harder to stand still. The result is that the more we embrace AI, the more human we must become; unearthing the deeply personal truths, grounded in culture, that resonate, differentiate and scale.”

Amit Wadhwa, CEO, Dentsu Creative and Media Brands, South Asia, dentsu, said, “Algorithms may shape what we see, but it is imagination, empathy and culture that shape what we remember. In India’s dynamic landscape, true success will come to brands that out-human the algorithm, fusing AI with creativity, data with intimacy, and innovation with cultural trust. Those who dare to co-create authentically and build experiences rooted in trust will not only grow their brands but also shape the future of society.”