Forrester notes many vendors now call their offerings a marketing operating system. They promise to coordinate data, content, workflows, decisions and AI agents. WPP, Zeta Global, Sanity.io and Sprinklr each use the label for different scopes. Providers see it as a way to stand out amid SaaS fatigue and slowing growth. Marketers increasingly need orchestration across sprawling ecosystems. Only 21% of B2C marketers see productivity as AI’s greatest benefit. Fewer than half of B2C decision-makers have documented marketing processes. Forrester argues orchestration needs process redesign as much as technology. It identifies three developments that will determine if the trend sticks. Agencies are starting to assemble end-to-end orchestration systems. Marketing AI agents are reaching mainstream adoption. Forrester plans further research on AI-enabled marketing organizations and agentic AI’s impact.

• 73% of B2C marketers plan to increase marketing operations tech spend in 2026
• 85% of B2B marketing orgs ran integrated campaigns
• 90% say integrated campaigns deliver more value
• 21% of B2C marketers see productivity as AI’s top benefit