A new report from Hightouch found that even though marketers most often cite tools as their top pain point, 75% of the time the reason is actually disconnected data.
The report, Has Martech Failed Marketers?, analyzed 384 conversations with marketing leaders and uncovered a striking disconnect between ambition and execution as B2B professionals are reaching a breaking point with technology overload.
After years of investing in platforms, channels, and automation tools to build the right MarTech stack, most say their marketing suites are not delivering, and are, in fact, the most challenging part of the job.
AI Disconnect in MarTech
This disconnect comes despite artificial intelligence (AI) dominating industry discussions, most teams cannot fully activate their tech stack or personalize experiences the way they want to, according to Tejas Manohar, Co-CEO and Co-Founder of Hightouch.
“Marketers are realizing that AI cannot be effective when bad data is its context,” said Manohar in a statement. “The next wave of marketing innovation is not about adding more software. It is about activating the data foundation that makes AI actually work.”
Ineffective Audience Targeting
The study spans marketers across B2B and B2C sectors in industries including retail, fintech, entertainment, healthcare, and service as a software (SaaS). A through line for these marketers is the issues theyr have with their tools and the data they need that continues to hold back performance and AI adoption—be it disconnected, inaccessible, or inactionable.
These issues led to 95% of marketers who responded to the survey to state they struggle to find or target their audiences effectively.
Other key findings from the report include:
- 75% of MarTech pain points trace back to data issues rather than the tools themselves;
- Only 10% of marketers feel they’re using AI effectively today, but 75 percent want to use AI more often and for more use cases; and
- Fewer than 2% believe they’re using AI for personalization successfully, and less than 1% feel they’ve achieved one-to-one personalization.AI Agents
The findings show that while MarTech has long promised efficiency, automation, and speed, disconnected data and technical bottlenecks keep teams from achieving the outcomes AI was built to enable, said Manohar. Nearly every marketer surveyed expressed excitement about generative and agentic AI, but most said their organizations are not equipped to use it confidently.
It’s About the Data
The core issue is data readiness. AI is only as strong as the data it learns from, and most marketing teams are still dealing with fragmented systems and reliance on engineering support that make advanced personalization, as well as the ability to understand and act on company data, difficult to scale.
As the MarTech landscape surpasses 15,000 tools, the research underscores a simple truth: marketers do not need more platforms; they need smarter, connected data behind them.
“Speed and scale mean nothing if you cannot reach the right people,” added Manohar. “This is a wake-up call for every marketing leader chasing AI. Data is not just part of the strategy. It is the strategy.”
To read the full report, Has Martech Failed Marketers?, click here.
