‘Never a finished product’: B2B marketers on closing the AI skills gap – Marketing Week

While no one has it all figured out when it comes to understanding AI, B2B marketers are urged to jump in or risk being left behind.

From generative AI to the rise of agentic, the scope and disruptive potential of artificial intelligence is changing almost daily. In this context, it’s natural marketers might feel like they can’t keep up.
Indeed, over half (51.7%) of the 450 respondents to Marketing Week’s 2025 State of B2B Marketing survey recognise an AI skills gap within the marketing team.
From generative AI to the rise of agentic, the scope and disruptive potential of artificial intelligence is changing almost daily. In this context, it’s natural marketers might feel like they can’t keep up.
Indeed, over half (51.7%) of the 450 respondents to Marketing Week’s 2025 State of B2B Marketing survey recognise an AI skills gap within the marketing team.
More than a tenth (11.8%) admit in general they don’t feel like they have the right skills for the demands their role, while a further 8.2% are unsure if their skillset is up to scratch.
In the free text, respondents talk about not feeling confident in their AI skillset or their ability to use the tools effectively. One marketer claims they need “more impact on AI”, while another respondent fears they are “being left behind” as AI adoption increases in their team.
Former global head of marketing for asset management at Goldman Sachs, Anouschka Elliott, wonders if there’s a perception among marketers that everyone else has AI figured out when in fact they don’t.
“I feel like in our profession, we need to feel like we know everything and be experts before we’re willing to put our head above the parapet,” she notes. “A little confidence, and some test and learn goes a really long way, because we’re all learning [AI] together. We’re all figuring this out.”
For Brian Macreadie, head of marketing at law firm Addleshaw Goddard, while he sees artificial intelligence transforming businesses, he doesn’t believe AI is going to help companies grow market share on its own. For this reason, he urges leaders not to get sucked into focusing all their time on AI, although he suggests the situation is slightly different for junior talent.
It’s important for the leader to demonstrate what they’re learning, how they’re upskilling themselves, what their limitations are, how they’re addressing those gaps.
“If I was a young marketer, I’d want to be all over AI, because I’d be really worried about not having it on my CV. But for me right now, I’m more worried about how I’m going to take share off of this business over here and AI is not the answer to that for me,” he explains.
“It’s a productivity and effectiveness tool like no other, but it’s not going to be the gamechanger that totally shifts who becomes the number one in the market.”
If they can get out of the “doom loop” of how to use AI to create a higher volume of assets cheaper and quicker, Macreadie sees an opportunity for marketers to use artificial intelligence to create value for customers and start “adding to the product again”.
“Let’s stop talking as a profession about what AI can do for us to get better marketing communications out there and think: ‘How’s it going to help me disrupt the value I bring to my client?’ Then we’re talking,” he states.
Curiosity about how AI can create value is crucial if marketers are to get the most out of the technology, agrees CMO of Cassava Technologies, Ifeoma Jibunoh.
She recognises a sense of fear in the industry about where AI is headed given there is so much hype involved and noise about the kind of roles that could be replaced. Jibunoh acknowledges it’s easy to get lost in the noise and feel apprehensive about diving in.
“I always say to my teams that curiosity is one skillset every marketer should have. We have to experiment and we have to learn,” she states. “We might not be experts and anyone that’s saying they’re an expert of any emerging technology, it’s not true. It’s changing rapidly, every day. They lie.”
The rapid evolution of AI is probably the fastest change to the industry chief growth officer at payments firm Sokin, James Hannaford, has witnessed in his career to date.
His team are currently experimenting with OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Claude by Anthropic. Hannaford notes the possibility to upskill on AI without formal training by playing with prompts, building tools and widgets. From his perspective, marketers need to “jump in headfirst” and experiment with artificial intelligence, or risk being left behind.
“The only barrier to upskilling is the individual in my eyes. You can jump in and self-teach,” he states.
Within his team Hannaford looks for self-investment, which he then fuels with spend and support. Whether it is AI, or anything else on the skills agenda, Hannaford wants his marketers to demonstrate enthusiasm and show the benefits of upskilling.
[AI is] a productivity and effectiveness tool like no other, but it’s not going to be the gamechanger that totally shifts who becomes the number one in the market.
“[Training] shouldn’t be weaponised as a driver. You can’t use training as a driving force to give people enthusiasm to learn more,” he argues. “They have to already have that enthusiasm to learn more and the way you show that is to self-start.”
Elliott agrees it is incumbent on all marketers to take control, arguing no one is going to plan your career for you. For that reason, it’s crucial to plot out the skills needed to achieve your aspirations.
“You have to constantly think about what transferable skills you’re bringing and you’re developing in yourself,” says Elliott.
“I know that sounds really transactional, but ultimately, what is it you want to have learned that you take to the next role? Because none of us are going to be staying in the same role forever, that’s not the world we live in.”
When it comes to career planning, she suggests marketers could experiment with AI to help them plot out a path. The need to create a personal development plan doesn’t stop the more senior you get.
“I still have a personal development plan. I still have areas that I need to be upskilling in. You are never a finished product. You are constantly evolving. You’re constantly changing,” says Elliott.
“The world is constantly changing around you. You just have to invest. Whether that’s reading books or doing courses, or having conversations with people and attending seminars and conferences. It’s just so important.”
For Jibunoh, knowledge is a number one priority. She believes marketers always have to exceed expectations and the only way to do so is to keep evolving. A learning culture comes from the top.
“It’s important for the leader to demonstrate what they’re learning, how they’re upskilling themselves, what their limitations are, how they’re addressing those gaps,” says Jibunoh.
Surprised to see some State of B2B Marketing respondents reporting a lack of opportunity to upskill, she wonders if that’s a symptom of market volatility and the accelerated pace of change.
That said, Jibunoh stresses marketers can access training far more easily now given the amount of free courses available online. She notes a shift within companies from structured classroom sessions to “learning on the go”, which requires the individual to take the initiative and carve out the necessary time.
I still have a personal development plan. I still have areas that I need to be upskilling in. You are never a finished product.
“When I was on The Marketing Academy Fellowship programme, which has three dedicated residentials, I was still working. My boss knew that I was off work, but I technically wasn’t off work,” Jibunoh states.
“The concept of being off work for learning and development is evolving. That’s probably what people are struggling with finding that time within the day and the discipline to dedicate the right amount of time to self-develop.”
Macreadie is keen to help the marketers in his team upskill, but he expects them to meet him in the middle with commitment and energy.
“It’s a truism that every one of us is busy. Marketers are, for the most part, doers, fixers. They like to get involved. We make life busy for ourselves, but if we want to further ourselves, we can’t expect others to do that for us. We have to do that for ourselves,” he says.
“We have to find a way to carve out time or you have to do some extracurricular stuff if you want to plug that gap. There are simple ways of doing that.”
Marketers could, for example, ask to spend an hour with whoever runs pricing to find out about their role. Off the back of that, they could then offer to ask some customers what they think about the firm’s pricing relative to the competition and report back. Suddenly, as a marketer you’re part of the pricing conversation simply by spending time with colleagues.
Similarly, the next time there’s a product developer meeting ask to sit in the room and observe. Macreadie also advises marketers to read books on anything from AI to pricing innovation and entrepreneurialism for extra context.
“People need to take some responsibility for plugging this gap themselves,” he adds. “You can’t expect others to plug these gaps for you.”
Click here to read the State of B2B Marketing series so far.
From self-consciousness over being a generalist to worries about not owning the 4Ps, some B2B marketers fear their skillset is not up to scratch.
A focus on pipeline is putting pressure on marketers, with over a third expected to deliver leads regardless of quality.
Amid wider strategic shifts, some B2B firms are experimenting with new senior roles in an effort to “redefine” marketing. 
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