In early May, the Real Story Group MarTech Stack Leadership Council convened in Atlanta for a private, two-day, in-person working session focused on AI enablement, stack modernization, and governance transformation. The session brought together senior enterprise MarTech leaders for open dialogue grounded in real-world challenges, moving past theory and into practical exchange.

Amid useful lesson-sharing, some major themes emerged.

Marketing Tech Stacks: Same Tools, New Pressures

We opened with a “share what’s in your stack” exercise that revealed a clear trend: while many organizations deploy similar technologies (and in some cases the same vendors), they differ dramatically in integration approaches, governance maturity, and team ownership. Some participants are trialing AI co-pilots and advanced analytics, while others face delays due to legal reviews, fragmented tooling, or misalignment with IT.

Themes such as user-generated content, influencer strategy, and performance analytics surfaced – or perhaps I should say “resurfaced,” since these had come up during meetings earlier this decade, then went quiet.  What goes around comes around, albeit in a different form.

We also explored the tension between centralized governance and marketing’s need for agility, especially as teams push to modernize content production and measurement, and look to accelerate faster with AI.

AI Governance: From Policy Gaps to Legal Minefields

AI was a dominant theme across both days, particularly the governance gaps surrounding its application. While some participants are required to submit quarterly attestations and navigate rigorous approval chains, others admitted to having few clear policies for AI in marketing contexts. The industry is ahead of enterprise teams here.

Discussions spotlighted issues ranging from IP rights and derivative content rules to the dangers of "going rogue" with unapproved tools. Several teams shared how legal departments now review nearly everything, while others are experimenting cautiously, using AI for things like parsing contracts or scaling knowledge bases.

A recurring challenge: how to empower innovation and scale without compromising brand, security, or compliance.

Org Models in Flux: Who Really Owns Martech?

Another revealing thread centered on where MarTech teams sit—and what that means for effectiveness. Some live under marketing, others under digital or enterprise tech. And then there’s the relationship to marketing operations. which can mean eight different things among ten different companies.

MarTech team sizes ranged from a handful to several dozen, depending on scope and maturity.  But common frustrations emerged: IT de-prioritization, lack of true product ownership, and difficulty evangelizing more modern capabilities to marketing peers.

Council members shared how they’re attempting to clarify intake models, define roles, and reframe MarTech as a strategic enabler of true omnichannel customer engagement.. As one participant noted, “If marketing doesn’t drive the change, who will?”

Agentic AI: Fast-Moving, High Potential, Still Very Early

The group previewed RSG’s early research into Agentic AI, an emerging category of autonomous and adaptive AI that can orchestrate activity across the MarTech stack. A maturity framework outlined how workflows might evolve from basic task automation to more adaptive, cross-functional agents.

Questions poured in: Where does the agent sit? What data can it access? How do we instruct it? Most agreed that while potential is high, enterprise deployment is still in its infancy - hampered by risk concerns, tribal knowledge, and the challenge of defining agent responsibilities clearly.

Agents represent a qualitative leap over non-agentic AI, but if an enterprise MarTech team has not mastered the latter, the former will not get them there any faster.

On the Docket for Our Next Meeting

Looking ahead to the next in-person council gathering, members set some agenda pins:

• Case studies on Ai / Agentic AI personalization and testing at scale
• Real-world change management frameworks tailored to MarTech teams
• Governance and budgeting strategies for agency relationships in the age of AI
• Best practices for leveraging centralized content across paid and owned channels

And since organizational models emerged as a key topic, we’ll spend our next virtual Council meeting conducting an org model “show and tell.”

The Real Story Group MarTech Council continues to be a proving ground for how marketing technology leaders can move from concept to execution, driving transformation through collaboration, not just technology.

Are you interested in becoming a member? Learn more about the Real Story Group MarTech Stack Leadership Council.