We have launched the first edition of State of AI in Marketing, a new research programme created by brett to examine how marketing teams are adopting AI and how the way they operate is changing.
Developed jointly with Modern Lender, the first edition will focus on marketing professionals working across UK mortgage lending. It will establish a new benchmark for how teams in a highly regulated sector are using AI today and how marketing work is being planned, created, reviewed, approved and measured.
The survey is available until 20 November 2026. The findings will be published in the first State of AI in Marketing report, launching at the Mortgage Industry Marketing Awards on 25 November 2026.
Looking beyond the adoption headline
The marketing industry has plenty of claims about AI adoption and far less evidence about what adoption changes inside a team. Knowing that someone uses an AI tool does not tell us where it sits in the workflow, what work it influences or whether the surrounding processes have kept pace.
That distinction matters because a team may use AI to produce a first draft while leaving planning, review and approval untouched, while another may be redesigning the whole route from brief to publication. Both count as adoption, but they represent very different changes to marketing operations.
We created State of AI in Marketing to make those differences visible. Rather than asking only which tools marketers are trying, the research will examine where AI is being used across the workflow, how it is affecting productivity and output and how teams are adapting the way work moves between people.
Why begin with mortgage marketing
Mortgage marketing is a useful place to start because new capability has to operate alongside established regulatory responsibilities, so faster production is only part of the picture. Teams also need appropriate human oversight, effective compliance review and clear controls around AI-assisted work.
The research will therefore look at how AI is changing creation and decision-making as well as the processes that surround them. It will explore whether review and approval are evolving alongside production, where responsibility sits and what organisations are doing to govern work that may involve both human and machine contribution.
This is not intended to produce a league table of tools or a simple measure of enthusiasm. We want to understand how mortgage marketing is changing as a system: what teams do, where work slows down, how judgement is applied and whether the operating model is keeping pace with the technology.
Building the benchmark with Modern Lender
The mortgage edition combines brett’s focus on marketing operations with Modern Lender’s knowledge of and reach across the UK mortgage market. That partnership will help the research reflect how the industry actually works, rather than treating mortgage marketing as a generic use case for AI.
Andy Shields, Director of Modern Lender, said: “There is a huge amount of discussion about AI across the mortgage industry, but relatively little data showing how marketing teams are actually using it.”
The aim is to build a practical benchmark that can help marketing leaders compare experience across the sector. The report will show where AI is already embedded, where experimentation remains limited and which operational questions need more attention as adoption develops.
The first report will launch at the Mortgage Industry Marketing Awards on 25 November 2026. It will bring together the survey findings to show how AI is being used across mortgage marketing and what that means for productivity, workflow, governance and oversight.
This first edition also establishes the approach for the wider State of AI in Marketing programme. Future research can extend the benchmark into other parts of marketing and other regulated sectors, creating a clearer picture of how AI changes the work itself rather than merely adding another tool to the stack.
Mortgage marketing professionals can take part in the State of AI in Mortgage Marketing survey. Responses will help create a more useful industry benchmark and a more grounded account of where AI adoption stands today.
What teams need to know
What is State of AI in Marketing?
It is a new research programme created by brett to examine how marketing teams are adopting AI and how their operating models are changing.
Who is the first edition for?
The first edition focuses on marketing professionals working across UK mortgage lending and has been developed jointly with Modern Lender.
What will the study examine?
It will look at where AI is used across planning, creation, review, approval and measurement, alongside productivity, output, human oversight and governance.
When will the findings be published?
The first State of AI in Marketing report will launch at the Mortgage Industry Marketing Awards on 25 November 2026.
How can mortgage marketing professionals take part?
The survey is available until 20 November 2026.