AI and Brand Trust: What Marketers Are Missing in 2026

In this episode of The Fractional Take, Anjali Gupta breaks down two research reports, one from McKinsey and one from Harvard Business Review, that raise an important question for marketers: are we using AI to change how we grow, or just to do the same things faster?

McKinsey found that 90% of CMOs are experimenting with AI, but less than 10% are seeing real value from it. Most teams are using AI to speed up their existing marketing process rather than rethinking it.

Around the same time, Harvard Business Review found that AI tools are good at learning the basic facts about a brand (its name, its pricing) but often fail to pick up on what earns trust, reputation, and why customers choose one brand over another.

As buyers increasingly rely on AI to research and shortlist vendors, this gap matters more than ever. Anjali unpacks what these two findings mean together, why marketing needs to move from campaigns to continuous growth, and what brands can do right now to make sure AI understands them accurately.