From AI Pilots to AI-Native Marketing Organisation: Marketing Leaders Invited to Share Their 2027 Plans
10 Nov 2026
The survey for the European Marketing Agenda 2027 opens on November 10, 2026. It asks around 10,000 CMOs and senior marketing, sales and service leaders across Europe and Africa to identify the choices that will shape growth in the year ahead, rather than simply name the trends on their radar.
Marketing has no shortage of predictions for 2027. Artificial intelligence, customer behavior and new channels already fill the headlines. For marketing leaders, however, the immediate question is much more concrete: what will their organization decide to change?
Will the budget move towards brand building or sales performance? Which processes need redesign? And where can AI produce a result that is visible beyond the marketing team?
That is the premise of the European Marketing Agenda 2027. Led by the European Marketing Confederation (EMC) in partnership with Kantar, the annual study opens on November 10 for CMOs and senior marketing, sales and service leaders across Europe and Africa. Responses are open until 1 December 2026.
The survey is designed to capture decisions while they are still being made. It asks leaders about their priorities for 2027, the barriers they expect to face and the measures that will guide investment. The scope includes strategy, brand investment, performance, customer experience, data, technology and organisational capabilities.
A practical test for AI
At the centre of this year's Agenda is the move from AI-enabled activities to a truly AI-native marketing, sales and service organization. The study looks beyond individual tools. It asks whether processes, data, roles, governance and decision-making are being redesigned in ways that can produce measurable business value.
"The key question is whether a company has changed the way marketing, sales and service operate," says Dr Ralf Strauss, Chairman of the European Marketing Confederation. "Start with the business outcome. Then ask whether the data, process and skills support it. Adding another tool cannot compensate for weak foundations."
The research also examines the conditions that determine progress: data quality, technology integration, skills, leadership commitment and the ability to demonstrate commercial value.
The choices behind the survey
AI is only one part of the Agenda. Leaders will be asked how they are balancing upper-funnel brand building, lower-funnel performance and capability investment. The questionnaire also considers whether KPI frameworks help leaders make better investment decisions or simply make reporting more detailed.
Customer experience is another focus area. The study looks at the practical work behind a consistent customer journey, including the quality of data, the connection between systems and the measures used to assess what customers actually experience.
Brand discovery is changing too. As more people discover and compare brands through AI-generated answers, marketing leaders need to look beyond traffic and paid reach or retail media. The study asks how brands can remain recognizable, trusted and recommended in this new AI-driven environment.
A useful comparison needs participation
Country comparisons become useful only when enough senior leaders take part. Participation helps show where priorities are shared, where local conditions are different and what distinguishes each country’s marketing community. It also allows every participant to see how peers across markets are preparing for 2027.
What happens next
The survey takes around 20 minutes to complete and closes on December 1, 2026. EMC will present the findings in a dedicated online webinar in late January 2027, with headline answers, country comparisons and practical perspectives from leading CMOs.
Survey: Take the survey