India leads globally in AI-driven marketing growth as CMOs double down on agentic commerce: BCG report

India is emerging as one of the most marketing-led AI transformation markets globally, with chief marketing officers (CMOs) projecting stronger AI-driven revenue growth than their peers in any other region, according to a new survey by Boston Consulting Group (BCG).

The findings, published in BCG’s report “How CMOs are Moving Agentic Marketing from Illusion to Reality”, show that 53% of Indian CMOs expect artificial intelligence initiatives to generate 5-9% incremental revenue growth, compared with a global average of 43%. The survey covered 300 CMOs worldwide.

The report also highlights a growing strategic role for marketing leaders in India. Nearly 57% of Indian CMOs said AI investments are funded directly by the marketing function, higher than the global average of 47%, indicating that marketing teams are taking greater ownership of AI-led transformation.

The heightened focus on AI comes amid rising expectations from corporate leadership. According to the survey, 43% of Indian CMOs said CEO expectations of marketing have increased significantly over the past two years. Further, 27% reported that accelerating AI and digital transformation is their CEO’s top priority, compared with 20% in North America and 15% across Europe, the Middle East, South America and Africa (EMESA).

“Ninety percent of the CMOs in our survey agreed that GenAI is already reshaping how consumers discover and evaluate brands. But most marketing organisations are not yet built to compete in that environment,” said Mark Abraham, global leader of BCG’s Marketing, Sales and Pricing Practice and co-author of the report.

Abraham said organisations must move beyond deploying isolated AI tools and instead build connected “agentic” systems supported by strong data foundations, brand intelligence layers and multi-agent orchestration capabilities.

Agentic commerce emerges as a key priority

The survey found India leading globally in agentic commerce adoption. Around 73% of Indian CMOs ranked agentic commerce among their top three strategic priorities, significantly higher than the global average of 63% and the EMESA average of 54%.

BCG attributed this to India’s rapidly expanding digital economy, widespread adoption of quick commerce platforms and a large base of digital-native consumers.

Personalisation is another area where Indian marketers expect AI to deliver substantial value. More than half (52%) of Indian CMOs anticipate a significant positive impact from generative AI on personalisation efforts, ahead of the global average of 47%. Additionally, 88% believe GenAI will help marketing teams identify consumer signals and respond in near real time.

“There is a genuine shift underway in how marketing functions in India are leading AI transformation. Indian CMOs are projecting the highest AI-driven growth of any market we surveyed, directly owning the AI investment agenda, and placing focused bets on agentic commerce and personalisation,” said Parul Bajaj, India leader of BCG’s Marketing, Sales and Pricing Practice and co-author of the report.

Talent confidence higher than global peers

Unlike many global markets where AI skills shortages remain a concern, Indian CMOs appear more confident about talent readiness. Only 13% identified GenAI skills as a severe risk, compared with 22% globally.

That confidence is backed by investment in workforce development. About 42% of Indian CMOs said they have fully deployed AI upskilling programmes for junior and mid-level employees, compared with 34% globally. Meanwhile, 43% are actively hiring AI-native talent and have embedded AI capabilities into job descriptions, both higher than global averages.

The report notes that while nearly all CMOs believe AI is transforming marketing, relatively few organisations have scaled agentic AI deployments. Globally, fewer than one-third have used AI agents to transform marketing functions at scale, and only 8% are running campaigns where multiple AI agents operate autonomously.