{
  "@context": {
    "@vocab": "http://schema.org/",
    "martech": "https://schema.org/Thing/martech#",
    "ai": "https://schema.org/Thing/ai#",
    "agentic": "https://schema.org/Thing/agentic#",
    "mcp": "https://schema.org/Thing/mcp#",
    "cdp": "https://schema.org/Thing/cdp#",
    "context": "https://schema.org/Thing/context#",
    "howto": "http://schema.org/HowTo",
    "qna": "http://schema.org/QAPage",
    "definedTerm": "http://schema.org/DefinedTerm",
    "definedTermSet": "http://schema.org/DefinedTermSet"
  },
  "@type": "Report",
  "name": "State of Martech 2026",
  "author": [
    {
      "@type": "Person",
      "name": "Scott Brinker",
      "description": "Scott Brinker, dubbed the 'godfather of martech' by Ad Age, has analyzed martech for over 17 years, co-produces the MartechMap, and authored best-selling books on marketing technology.",
      "affiliation": {
        "@type": "Organization",
        "name": "chiefmartec"
      }
    },
    {
      "@type": "Person",
      "name": "Frans Riemersma",
      "description": "Frans Riemersma is a marketing technologist, researcher, and advisor with over 30 years of consulting experience, founder of MartechTribe, and co-producer of the MartechMap.",
      "affiliation": {
        "@type": "Organization",
        "name": "MartechTribe"
      }
    }
  ],
  "datePublished": "2026-05-05",
  "sponsor": [
    {
      "@type": "Organization",
      "name": "GrowthLoop"
    },
    {
      "@type": "Organization",
      "name": "Hightouch"
    },
    {
      "@type": "Organization",
      "name": "Knak"
    },
    {
      "@type": "Organization",
      "name": "MoEngage"
    },
    {
      "@type": "Organization",
      "name": "Pega"
    },
    {
      "@type": "Organization",
      "name": "Progress"
    },
    {
      "@type": "Organization",
      "name": "SAS"
    }
  ],
  "image": {
    "@type": "ImageObject",
    "contentUrl": "cid:cover-art",
    "description": "Cover art of State of Martech 2026 report showing a chrysalis symbolizing metamorphosis."
  },
  "articleBody": "The State of Martech 2026 report explores the structural transformation of marketing technology driven by AI, emphasizing the shift from campaign creation to management of AI agents and workflows, the rise of context as the new constraint, and the stratification of the martech stack.",
  "hasPart": [
    {
      "@type": "DefinedTermSet",
      "name": "Key Defined Terms in Martech AI",
      "description": "Definitions of key terms related to marketing technology and AI context.",
      "hasDefinedTerm": [
        {
          "@type": "DefinedTerm",
          "name": "Context (colloquial)",
          "description": "The background, circumstances, and framing that make information actionable."
        },
        {
          "@type": "DefinedTerm",
          "name": "Context window",
          "description": "The finite amount of information an AI model can hold and reason over in a single interaction."
        },
        {
          "@type": "DefinedTerm",
          "name": "Context engineering",
          "description": "The discipline of assembling the right data, content, tools, and instructions for an AI system to act effectively in a specific situation."
        },
        {
          "@type": "DefinedTerm",
          "name": "Context graph",
          "description": "A structured, living record of decision traces across entities and time capturing not just what happened, but why."
        },
        {
          "@type": "DefinedTerm",
          "name": "Context-as-a-Service (CaaS)",
          "description": "Platforms delivering domain expertise, governance logic, and operational intelligence as a contextual foundation for apps or agents."
        },
        {
          "@type": "DefinedTerm",
          "name": "Context stack",
          "description": "The layered time scales of context, from durable attributes to ephemeral signals."
        },
        {
          "@type": "DefinedTerm",
          "name": "Golden Context",
          "description": "The triple intersection of company context, customer context, and systems context where marketing value is generated."
        },
        {
          "@type": "DefinedTerm",
          "name": "Value engineering",
          "description": "The discipline of identifying where company goals and customer needs align to drive disproportionate revenue."
        },
        {
          "@type": "DefinedTerm",
          "name": "Agentic AI",
          "description": "AI systems that act autonomously within guardrails, orchestrating workflows and decisions."
        },
        {
          "@type": "DefinedTerm",
          "name": "RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation)",
          "description": "A method combining retrieval of relevant data with generative AI to produce accurate, context-aware outputs."
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "@type": "HowTo",
      "name": "How to Build an Agentic Context Graph",
      "description": "Steps to create a foundational AI context graph for marketing decisioning.",
      "step": [
        {
          "@type": "HowToStep",
          "position": 1,
          "name": "Run Cross-Channel Experiments",
          "text": "Conduct experiments that capture customer state, actions taken, and outcomes achieved."
        },
        {
          "@type": "HowToStep",
          "position": 2,
          "name": "Snapshot Customer State",
          "text": "Record detailed customer data and context at the moment of each interaction."
        },
        {
          "@type": "HowToStep",
          "position": 3,
          "name": "Capture Actions and Outcomes",
          "text": "Log the interventions and resulting business metrics to build a causal dataset."
        },
        {
          "@type": "HowToStep",
          "position": 4,
          "name": "Integrate Data in Warehouse",
          "text": "Store and unify data in a cloud data warehouse for accessibility and analysis."
        },
        {
          "@type": "HowToStep",
          "position": 5,
          "name": "Use Data for AI Decisioning",
          "text": "Leverage the context graph to power AI agents that make real-time, personalized marketing decisions."
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "@type": "HowTo",
      "name": "How to Implement Agentic Marketing Workflows",
      "description": "Guide for marketers to adopt AI agents in campaign creation and execution.",
      "step": [
        {
          "@type": "HowToStep",
          "position": 1,
          "name": "Define Business Goals and Guardrails",
          "text": "Set clear objectives and constraints for AI agents to optimize toward."
        },
        {
          "@type": "HowToStep",
          "position": 2,
          "name": "Integrate Marketing Data and Creative Assets",
          "text": "Unify customer data, campaign history, brand guidelines, and creative libraries."
        },
        {
          "@type": "HowToStep",
          "position": 3,
          "name": "Deploy AI Agents in Workflow",
          "text": "Embed AI agents in marketing platforms and collaboration tools for ideation, execution, and optimization."
        },
        {
          "@type": "HowToStep",
          "position": 4,
          "name": "Maintain Human-in-the-Loop Oversight",
          "text": "Ensure marketers review, refine, and approve AI outputs to maintain quality and brand consistency."
        },
        {
          "@type": "HowToStep",
          "position": 5,
          "name": "Continuously Monitor and Optimize",
          "text": "Use AI-driven insights and feedback loops to improve campaign performance and agent decisioning."
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "@type": "HowTo",
      "name": "How to Prepare Martech Stack for AI and Context Engineering",
      "description": "Steps to evolve martech infrastructure for AI-powered marketing.",
      "step": [
        {
          "@type": "HowToStep",
          "position": 1,
          "name": "Assess Current Martech Landscape",
          "text": "Identify existing tools, data silos, and integration gaps."
        },
        {
          "@type": "HowToStep",
          "position": 2,
          "name": "Invest in Data Quality and Identity Resolution",
          "text": "Cleanse data and unify customer identities across channels."
        },
        {
          "@type": "HowToStep",
          "position": 3,
          "name": "Adopt Composable CDP and Context-as-a-Service Platforms",
          "text": "Enable flexible data access and AI orchestration across systems."
        },
        {
          "@type": "HowToStep",
          "position": 4,
          "name": "Implement AI Decisioning and Orchestration Layer",
          "text": "Deploy a middle layer that governs eligibility, suppression, and next best actions."
        },
        {
          "@type": "HowToStep",
          "position": 5,
          "name": "Establish Governance and Human Oversight",
          "text": "Create policies, guardrails, and accountability for AI-driven marketing."
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "@type": "qna:QAPage",
      "name": "Frequently Asked Questions on State of Martech 2026",
      "mainEntity": [
        {
          "@type": "Question",
          "name": "What is the main transformation happening in marketing technology?",
          "acceptedAnswer": {
            "@type": "Answer",
            "text": "Marketing technology is undergoing a structural transformation driven by AI, shifting from campaign creation to managing AI agents and workflows, with context becoming the key constraint."
          }
        },
        {
          "@type": "Question",
          "name": "What does 'context engineering' mean in martech?",
          "acceptedAnswer": {
            "@type": "Answer",
            "text": "Context engineering is the discipline of assembling the right data, content, tools, and instructions so AI systems can act effectively in specific marketing situations."
          }
        },
        {
          "@type": "Question",
          "name": "How is AI adoption changing across martech categories?",
          "acceptedAnswer": {
            "@type": "Answer",
            "text": "AI adoption has increased significantly across all martech categories, with Content & Experience leading, and Commerce & Sales nearly doubling adoption since 2024."
          }
        },
        {
          "@type": "Question",
          "name": "What is the 'content marketing boom-bust'?",
          "acceptedAnswer": {
            "@type": "Answer",
            "text": "The content marketing category rapidly expanded with AI-powered tools but is now experiencing high product removals as foundational AI capabilities become commoditized and incumbents embed AI features."
          }
        },
        {
          "@type": "Question",
          "name": "What is the 'trust ladder' in AI adoption?",
          "acceptedAnswer": {
            "@type": "Answer",
            "text": "The trust ladder describes the progression from analytical AI to generative AI to autonomous AI, reflecting increasing organizational confidence and governance requirements."
          }
        },
        {
          "@type": "Question",
          "name": "Why is the middle decisioning layer critical in martech?",
          "acceptedAnswer": {
            "@type": "Answer",
            "text": "The middle layer orchestrates decisions across channels and time, enabling real-time, personalized customer interactions and serving as the intelligence layer for AI agents."
          }
        },
        {
          "@type": "Question",
          "name": "What is the Martech Context Stack?",
          "acceptedAnswer": {
            "@type": "Answer",
            "text": "The Martech Context Stack consists of multiple layers of context operating at different speeds, from slow-changing market and company context to fast-changing session and moment context."
          }
        },
        {
          "@type": "Question",
          "name": "How do AI agents change marketing workflows?",
          "acceptedAnswer": {
            "@type": "Answer",
            "text": "AI agents enable marketers to automate ideation, execution, and optimization of campaigns with human-in-the-loop oversight, increasing speed and scale while maintaining brand control."
          }
        },
        {
          "@type": "Question",
          "name": "What is the role of composability in AI-powered martech?",
          "acceptedAnswer": {
            "@type": "Answer",
            "text": "Composability allows integration of diverse data sources, channels, and tools, enabling richer context and more effective AI decisioning across the marketing stack."
          }
        },
        {
          "@type": "Question",
          "name": "How should marketers prepare for AI and agentic marketing?",
          "acceptedAnswer": {
            "@type": "Answer",
            "text": "Marketers should invest in building agentic context graphs through controlled experimentation, unify data and creative assets, embed AI agents in workflows, maintain human oversight, and establish governance."
          }
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "publisher": {
    "@type": "Organization",
    "name": "Marketing Technology Media, LLC and MartechTribe B.V.",
    "logo": {
      "@type": "ImageObject",
      "url": "https://chiefmartec.com/logo.png"
    }
  },
  "keywords": [
    "Martech",
    "AI in Marketing",
    "Agentic AI",
    "Marketing Technology",
    "Context Engineering",
    "Causal AI",
    "Composable CDP",
    "Marketing Automation",
    "AI Decisioning",
    "Marketing Stack"
  ],
  "license": "© 2026 Marketing Technology Media, LLC, and MartechTribe B.V."
}