Jim Marous: Over half of financial institutions use generative AI for marketing in 2026

Jim Marous: Over half of financial institutions use generative AI for marketing in 2026
Generative AI in finance outpaces data

Jim Marous, publisher at The Financial Brand, reports that generative AI is operational or better in marketing for 52% of financial institutions, according to new research. Additionally, 44% of these institutions are increasing their spending on generative AI in 2026.

However, none of the surveyed institutions describe their customer data as real-time or AI-ready, highlighting a gap between AI adoption and data infrastructure.

Marous has previously reported that just 28% of banks see analytics for small business insights as a top priority, suggesting limited technology investment in some segments (source). He has also highlighted how agile project methods can accelerate stalled bank innovation efforts (source). These findings frame the current AI adoption alongside ongoing challenges in bank technology readiness.

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