The news: AI governance within marketing organizations is gaining momentum as 76.6% of marketers say they have AI policies, up from 55.3% a year ago, per the Association of National Advertisers’ (ANA) January 2026 survey, as cited by MarTech.
However, nearly half (46.2%) of these agencies still lack formal AI planning roadmaps, and 71.6% haven’t set ROI targets for AI investments—essentially promoting oversight without outcomes.
The challenge: Building governance alongside an AI rollout is slow and onerous. But with nearly 95% of respondents worried about compliance and privacy risks, tackling it in lockstep with adoption can protect near-term ROI by keeping pilots from stalling or being shut down even if it slows down momentum.
Premature AI policies also explain the conflict inside organizations. Leaders can point to new policies and rising budgets, while frontline teams are left translating AI adoption targets into messy workflows that don’t connect back to business impact.
- When official rules feel restrictive or vague, teams may use unsanctioned tools to hit deadlines, increasing the very privacy and compliance risks that policies were meant to reduce.
- Without clear goals, measurement, and owners, AI becomes a time-saver in specific aspects of work, not a growth engine.
Recommendations for marketers: Set AI goals, timelines, and ROI targets before you lock in rules. A little more planning up front slows the rollout, but it cuts risk and makes adoption easier to measure and defend.
Putting governance ahead of ROI can make AI adoption look disciplined on paper, but it usually masks a scattered rollout that’s painful to unwind later.
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