Trends analysis adoption among marketers climbed 56.5% between 2024 and 2025, according to a new SAS survey of 300 marketing professionals released this month.

The acceleration crystallizes a pattern Scott Brinker of chiefmartec.com has been tracking: generative AI applications are streaking through Gartner's Hype Cycle at unprecedented speed. In a fresh analysis, Brinker argues that "gen AI" is not a single technology but a portfolio of capabilities, each occupying its own position on the curve.

Different use cases sit at different Hype Cycle stages simultaneously — some at the peak of inflated expectations, others sliding into the trough of disillusionment, and a handful already producing measurable value on the plateau of productivity.

"I know you feel this acceleration in the pit of your stomach," Brinker writes. "Trust me, we all do."

How fast are gen AI marketing use cases moving?

The 12-month shift across ten tracked use cases is striking. Three applications dominated the acceleration ranking:

• Trends analysis: +56.5%
• Chatbots and customer interactions: +44.2%
• Generating text and copy: +32.4%

Those same three applications also lead in current adoption, though in a slightly different order:

• Chatbots and customer interactions: 62%
• Generating text and copy: 45%
• Trends analysis: 36%

Which use cases actually lost ground in 2025?

Two applications reversed direction over the past year. Their slide maps cleanly onto the trough-of-disillusionment phase:

• Generating video: -9.1%
• Customer journey mapping: -4.3%

Brinker reads the negatives as a market correction. Last year's video-generation hype outran practical workflow integration. Journey-mapping tools may have hit similar friction inside enterprise martech stacks where data plumbing remains incomplete.

What does this mean for martech stacks in 2025?

Practitioners face a generational rollout, not a single product decision. First-generation gen AI tools already deliver on narrow tasks — today's customer service chatbot resolves routine questions with reasonable accuracy.

Future generations of customer service AI agents may handle complex scenarios, gain agency to act on customers' behalf, and autonomously engage in cross-sell and upsell motions, Brinker writes. Each generational leap triggers its own Hype Cycle.

A decade-long journey from trigger to plateau now compresses into roughly two years. Before one generation plateaus, the next generation's cycle has already started.

How did Brinker map the Hype Cycle?

Brinker published his own diagram placing chatbots and text generation on the plateau of productivity, trends analysis climbing the slope of enlightenment, and customer journey mapping plus video generation in the trough of disillusionment.

Gartner did not author the mapping. Brinker stresses the placement reflects his own estimate, drawn from the SAS survey data and anecdotes gathered across the martech community.

What's next for marketers reading the report?

The full SAS report — "Marketers and AI: Navigating New Depths" — also includes early data on quantum computing's marketing implications. Brinker flags the topic as another candidate for the next hype cycle.

For practitioners, the practical takeaway is direct. Chatbots, copy generation, and trends analysis show where first-generation gen AI has produced reliable workflows inside marketing stacks. Video generation and journey mapping show where expectations outran execution across 2024 and 2025.

Brinker captures the practitioner mood in a closing question: "Isn't it an exhilarating time to be in marketing and martech?"