As organizations scale their AI capabilities, young marketing leaders aren’t just accepting AI, they’re demanding better tools to use it.

• Gen Z leads among adult generations in business and personal AI use. Some 41% of Gen Zers, and 39% of millennials, use AI tools both at work and for personal use, according to a May 2025 National Cybersecurity Alliance and CybSafe survey.
• Only 11% of Gen Zers don't use any AI tools, compared with 21% of millennials.
• Gen X (25%) and baby boomers (6%) use AI tools for both work and personal use at much lower rates.

Greater familiarity with emerging technology signals a willingness for younger marketers to lead organizations in change.

Calling for better tools

The demand among Gen Zers and millennials for AI tools that learn style and brand voice indicates a sophisticated understanding of AI’s value in marketing, and organizations should listen to these younger marketers.

Nine in 10 US Gen Z and millennial leaders say they’d be more inclined to use AI at work if responses were personalized to their needs, according to a survey from The Harris Poll and Google Workspace.

“The next generation of marketers sees AI as a collaborator, not a threat,” said Neej Gore, chief data officer at Zeta, in an EMARKETER Lookbook. "They’ve grown up expecting intelligent systems to collaborate with them, not replace them, and they understand that the real value lies in asking better questions, exercising judgment, and adapting faster than the technology itself."

Breaking in new builders

As younger professionals rise to leadership roles, they bring native fluency with AI tools that experts say will accelerate organizationwide adoption. In order to recruit this promising talent, businesses need the roadmap in place to show that digital maturity is a core value.

“AI adoption often breaks down not because of access to tools, but because of unclear ownership, inconsistent training, and limited clarity on how AI use connects to performance,” said our analyst Kelsey Voss. “Many teams experiment with AI, but without clear guardrails and incentives, usage remains fragmented and uneven.”

Some 85% of young leaders are confident in their ability to personalize their AI systems, while over three-quarters (77%) of them describe themselves as "active designers" of AI workflows, according to Harris Poll and Google Workspace's data.

Having marketers on the staff who are familiar with these tools at work and for personal use can help boost usage and performance, if they’re given an opportunity to lead.

ROI payoff

AI adoption is already showing measurable results within marketing teams. Marketers worldwide report quantifiable improvements in analytics capabilities thanks to generative AI integration.

• Marketing leaders are measuring improvements in personalization (94%), data processing (91%), operational costs (90%), and accuracy in predictive analytics (89%), according to a 2025 Coleman Parkes Research survey.

“As businesses pour resources into AI, they need to evaluate which initiatives are actually making a difference,” said our analyst Yory Wurmser. “AI is really good at structuring and knitting together data, which makes it easy to see the performance of campaigns and operational initiatives.”

This was originally featured in the EMARKETER Daily newsletter. For more marketing insights, statistics, and trends, subscribe here.