AI is transforming B2B marketing by lowering costs and boosting efficiency. However, much like the pattern of the last 56 years, these productivity gains aren’t showing up in workers’ pay. The “2025 B2B Tech Marketing Salary & AI Career Impact Survey” from Metadata.io and VPMarketing.com found that 90% of tech marketers now use AI in their day-to-day roles. Despite this, only 4.7% report that their AI skills have resulted in a raise or promotion. For a shift often described as the biggest change since the dawn of digital, that gap is hard to ignore. “We’re investing heavily in learning how to use AI, but it’s not showing up in our comp plans,” one respondent said. They’re far from alone: nearly 83% of marketers say their AI expertise hasn’t led to any financial upside. As writer William Gibson observed, “The future’s already here — it’s just not evenly distributed.”
AI skills are growing — but employers aren’t backing them
Companies are clearly benefiting from AI, yet they’ve largely avoided paying for the training that powers those gains. Most professionals are upgrading their skills on their own time and with their own money. Seventy percent of respondents say they are either self-funding their AI education or relying exclusively on free tools and content. Only 22% report that their employer is covering the cost.
Dig deeper: Why AI is the most unpredictable cost in the martech stack
Marketers tend to be hopeful about the future, and many still believe their AI capabilities will eventually pay dividends. More than half expect that AI proficiency will earn them at least a 5% salary premium within the next one to two years. In…