New research from SmarterX surfaced not just where B2B marketers are in their AI journey but how they feel about it.
As part of the 2026 State of AI for Business Report, SmarterX asked four open-ended questions to more than 2,100 professionals, 86% of whom identified as B2B marketers:
- What's your biggest struggle with AI?
- What concerns you most?
- What excites you?
- What trends are you watching?
The result is the largest qualitative dataset on professional AI sentiment SmarterX has collected to date. More importantly, it tells a story about frustration, excitement and anticipation.
Workers are feeling more overwhelmed than confused
When professionals describe their AI struggles in their own words, a clear pattern emerges: It’s not a lack of understanding most lament but a lack of time to learn more. Keeping up with the pace of change (21%) and finding time to learn (13%) are among the top struggles cited, and they're describing the same underlying experience from different angles.
Among the most AI-forward marketers, lack of time has become the top barrier to adoption, and that holds across every function of the workplace. The further along an organization gets, the more pressing the time problem becomes.
"I feel like I'm falling behind every day, even though most would consider me an advanced user," one respondent wrote.
Another said: "As a leader, making time to lead, learn, and experiment is hard."
AI agents are here and most organizations aren't ready
When SmarterX asked respondents which emerging AI trend they're following most closely, 40% cited AI agents in their open-ended responses. That was the most popular trend by far.
Half of business professionals also said they want training specifically on how to use AI agents in their work.
AI-forward marketers are even more likely to be closely watching agents than those earlier in the adoption curve. "Vibe coding,” a term that barely existed a year ago, came in as a top trend response, a real-time signal of just how fast the capability landscape is shifting.
The challenge in learning and using these AI agents safely is that only 13% of respondents said their organizations have all four basic AI governance foundations in place: a roadmap, an AI council, generative AI policies, and an ethics policy. A full third have none of them.
There’s both excitement and anxiety about AI
Despite the struggles and concerns, people are genuinely excited about AI. They welcome the efficiency and productivity AI offers (28%), yes, but they also want to achieve things they couldn’t before AI became their work partner.
"I'm not a coder, but now I can build cool things,” one respondent said.
"The potential to reimagine everything we do and how we do it” excites another professional.
At the same time, real anxiety exists. Advancing in AI adoption doesn't make it go away. AI-forward marketers are just as concerned about the impact of AI on jobs, society, and the next generation as those earlier in the adoption curve.
"I believe society is fundamentally underestimating the impact of AI, is not building the mechanisms to deal with the change, and is fundamentally unprepared," one respondent said.
What B2B marketers can do now
- AI-forward teams should start experimenting with agents and no-code building. They should pair that experimentation with a push for the basic policies that make autonomous tools safe to deploy.
- Set aside time. If you manage a team, the instinct might be to find better tools. The data suggests what teams actually need is time and space to apply what they're already learning.
- Be open and empathetic. Even the most advanced AI users can still have genuine concerns about what AI means for colleagues, for the industry, and for society. Creating space for honest conversation is part of the work now.
At the AI for B2B Marketers Summit, SmarterX Director of Research Taylor Radey will draw directly from thousands of open-ended responses from professionals to provide a sense of where the workforce stands. She will also offer practical guidance on what to do next.
To find out more and register, visit https://www.marketingaiinstitute.com/events/ai-for-b2b-marketers-summit
Cathy McPhillips
Cathy McPhillips is the Chief Marketing Officer at SmarterX and Marketing AI Institute