SMEs Lead the AI Charge: 77.6% of Small B2B Firms Ramp Up Their AI Focus

According to Marketing Week’s 2025 survey of 450 B2B marketers, 75.9% say that the focus on artificial intelligence has ramped up in their business in the past 12 months. Among companies of 250 employees or fewer (SMEs) the figure is even higher at 77.6%, and among larger corporates it stands at 74%.  

That nearly three-quarters of respondents already see AI as a growing priority signals a clear shift: AI is no longer niche or experimental in the B2B world, but increasingly part of the day-to-day marketing agenda. Whether you’re a small business or a large enterprise, the pressure is on to adopt, adapt or risk falling behind. 

Why the uptick? Efficiency, productivity, creativity
The research points to compelling benefits that are motivating this surge. For example, in a related piece, Marketing Week notes that 65.7% of respondents say that AI has helped drive general efficiencies, and 65.1% say it has boosted productivity. Some 46.3% say it has freed their marketing team to focus on more complex or creative projects.  

In short: marketers are increasingly using AI to automate the routine, accelerate workflows, and liberate human talent to concentrate on higher-value work. In an environment where budgets are squeezed and expectations high, those gains are compelling. 

But the skills gap looms large
However, the rise of AI is not without its challenges. Half of respondents (51.5%) say there is an AI skills gap in their marketing department – more than those citing lack of data analytics expertise (38.9%) or martech understanding (32.8%). Interestingly, the skills gap is more acute in large organisations (58.6%) vs SMEs (45.7%) when it comes to AI.  

This suggests that while appetite and investment for AI are strong, many teams feel under-prepared to make full use of it. Technology may be advancing rapidly, but people, skills and organisational readiness are still catching up. 

Implications: Strategic choices + change management
The data carry several implications for B2B marketers: 

• Strategic focus: With AI top of mind for so many businesses, marketing leaders need to define where AI sits in their strategy — whether for content creation, personalisation, automation, analytics or entirely new business models. 

• Investment trade-offs: Some firms are reallocating spend accordingly. For example, 17% of marketers in large B2B firms reported reducing agency spend because of increased AI use. That shows the disruptive potential of AI not just on workflows, but on partner ecosystems and cost structures. 

• Organisational readiness: The skills gap highlights the need for change management, training, governance and thoughtful deployment. If AI tools are adopted without clarity of purpose or sufficient human capability, they risk being under-exploited or even undermining trust. 

• People and process over hype: The shift is not just technical; it’s cultural. As AI becomes part of the marketing toolkit, teams will need to rethink roles, workflows, data practices and value measurement to capture real ROI. 

Conclusion: The moment is now
What the Marketing Week findings show is that AI has crossed a threshold in B2B marketing: the question is no longer “should we?” but “how do we?”. With roughly three-quarters of organisations reporting a ramping-up of focus, the window for late adoption is narrowing. 

Yet success will hinge less on the novelty of the tools and more on the readiness of teams to use them. The most advanced B2B marketers will be those that align AI deployment with clear strategy, bolster the skills to implement it, and adapt their structure and processes to exploit the full potential of the tech. 

As the marketing world enters this next era, one thing seems clear: AI isn’t just a tactic, it’s becoming a strategic imperative for B2B growth. 

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