A majority of Indian chief marketing officers (CMOs) are feeling the heat to deliver profitability and revenue growth, even as they grapple with talent gaps, data underutilisation, and the rapid rise of AI. According to the IBM CMO Study 2025, 63% of Indian CMOs are now directly accountable for profitability, while over half are responsible for revenue growth - a clear signal of the evolving and expanding role of marketing leaders in the age of AI-led transformation. However, only 26% believe they have the talent needed to achieve their goals for the next two years

Indian CMOs are prioritising customer experience, tech modernisation, and business model innovation to future-proof their organisations, alongside scaling service delivery and marketing, and sales effectiveness. Yet, they face critical gaps in responsible AI, talent readiness, and data utilisation. The findings highlight a growing disconnect between ambition and execution in the age of generative AI.

Key India findings:

•    Business Transformation Priorities: CMOs are focusing on customer experience (41%), scalability of delivery of services (37%), technology modernisation (37%), marketing & sales effectiveness (34%), and business model innovation (32%) to drive future readiness.
•    Responsible AI Gap: Only 26% of Indian CMOs have established responsible AI guidelines to ensure fairness, transparency, and accountability in automated decision-making.
•    Skills Paradox: While 44% of CMOs believe their function is ready to integrate Agentic AI, only 26% believe they have the necessary talent to achieve their goals over the next two years. In India, just 23% of CMOs have prepared their teams for the cultural and operational shifts AI agents will bring.
•    Untapped data: 63% agree that generative AI’s value lies in proprietary data, yet only 1% of enterprise data is being tapped.
•    Cross-functional silos: Only one-third of organisations have cross-functional view of the customer journey. CMOs estimate that fully aligning marketing, sales, and operations could unlock up to a 20% increase in revenue.
•    Ecosystem focus: 62% of Indian CMOs prioritise partnerships, well above the global average of 47%.

Tuhina Pandey, director – APAC communications & marketing, India and South Asia, IBM, said, “As AI radically transforms how businesses engage, operate, and grow, Indian CMOs are uniquely positioned to lead this shift by harnessing AI responsibly. While the potential of AI is clear, what’s needed now is a bold new playbook, one powered by trusted data, skilled talent, cultural reset, and AI augmentation.”

The IBM Institute for Business Value, in cooperation with Oxford Economics, surveyed 1,800 chief marketing officers (CMOs) and chief sales officers (CSOs) across 33 geographies and 24 industries between March and May 2025 for the study.