Sitecore’s survey, which posed questions to more than 400 brand marketers, suggests that 72% of UK marketers will prioritise spending on AI over the next 12 months.

Further, two-thirds of respondents (67%) will allocate up to 30% of their marketing budgets towards the technology.

However, respondents indicated that not all of the opportunities presented by generative AI will or can be initially taken advantage of.

This is due to a feeling of unpreparedness driven by now-outdated technology and a perceived lack of technological skills.

For instance, nearly half (45%) say that the marketing technologies they’re currently utilising aren’t equipped with the capabilities to leverage generative AI. In light of this, 70% plan to move towards more composable software solutions.

Additionally, 42% of marketers feel that their marketing team still lacks technical skills — though, 92% believe that AI will bridge skill gaps.

While some UK marketers are already experimenting with generative AI, they’re lagging behind their US counterparts.

In the UK, 63% have experimented with generative AI and are brainstorming ways to integrate the technology into their long-term strategy; across the Atlantic, this figure is 80%.

With many industries and departments becoming more interested in investing in and using generative AI, UK marketers are seemingly no different. Only 32% of respondents felt it was too soon to invest in generative AI, with 68% saying the opposite.

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On the survey’s findings and how marketers are gearing up to invest in and utilise AI, Dave O’Flanagan, chief product officer of Sitecore, said: “Rather than becoming overwhelmed and exhausted by these advancements, we’ve found marketers to be bold and experimental in embracing technologies like ChatGPT.

“Unlike other tools that have been tough to implement, generative AI shows promise in not only being relatively easy to incorporate into composable martech stacks but also quick to have a measurable impact on marketing campaigns.”

Speaking of the UK and generative AI, DIGIT reported on the news last week that the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has launched a review into the AI market.

The review is being done to help guide AI’s use and development going forward, to examine how the competitive markets for AI could evolve, and what opportunities and risks these scenarios could bring for both competition and consumer protection.