The Scaling Gap
Mid-market marketing teams have adopted AI. Most cannot yet scale it. We surveyed 200 senior marketers to find out where the work breaks, and what to do about it.
Wave 1 · Companies $5M to $249M in revenue · Fielded May 2026
Adoption is solved. The operating system around the AI is what gives way. That distance is the scaling gap.
Source: The Scaling Gap™ · Coastalview Advisory · Wave 1, 2026 · n = 200
Adoption is solved. The scaling is not
More than four in five of these teams run AI in production. The problem is no longer getting started. It is everything around the AI: the review, the measurement, and the people who run it. Three findings define the gap.
The headline findings below are open to everyone. Register free to unlock the full data, every cut, and the nine-move playbook.
The breakage starts at today's volume
Scaling AI appears to surface operational strain rather than relieve it. In this sample, breakage does not decline with maturity; the teams furthest along report it at the highest rate. The full curve is in the data behind registration.
Breakage by AI maturity
Breakage does not decline with maturity. The teams furthest along report it at the highest rate in the sample. Register to see the full curve.
Source: The Scaling Gap™ · Coastalview Advisory · Wave 1, 2026 · n = 200
Measurement is the weakest link
Most teams are scaling output they cannot yet read. And when volume doubles, performance measurement sits with brand consistency and review at the top of what gives way first.
Where it breaks first, if volume doubled
Eight workflow areas, by share rating each already breaking or likely to break if volume doubled. The full numbers are behind registration.
Source: The Scaling Gap™ · Coastalview Advisory · Wave 1, 2026 · n = 200
The constraint is people, not tools
Competency leads every other barrier, ahead of tools, budget, and governance. And the demand is climbing fast.
The barriers, ranked
Five barriers, ranked by how many call each a moderate-or-worse obstacle. The full ranking is behind registration.
Source: The Scaling Gap™ · Coastalview Advisory · Wave 1, 2026 · n = 200
See the data your way
Filter the headline metrics and watch them move against the all-teams average. A couple of lenses are open to everyone. The rest, plus the full playbook, sit behind a single email.
All respondents
n = 200
Gold marker shows the all-teams average. Bars show the selected segment.
Source: The Scaling Gap™ · Coastalview Advisory · Wave 1, 2026 · n = 200
The full dataset and the playbook
- The full AI maturity lens in the data explorer
- The numbers held back here, including the full maturity curve and the talent ramp
- The nine moves, three under each finding
- Every future wave as it publishes
Wave 1 of an ongoing series
The Scaling Gap is primary research by Coastalview Advisory. 200 senior marketers at US companies $5M to $249M in revenue, fielded May 20 to May 30, 2026 via the Cint Exchange panel. 200 of 276 panel completes passed a four-part quality screen. Margin of error plus or minus 6.9% at 95% confidence. The seven respondents reporting no AI use are excluded from the maturity curve. Wave 2 follows. Want the cut for your industry or a briefing for your team? Email us at info@coastalviewadvisory.com.
Cite as: Coastalview Advisory, The Scaling Gap, Wave 1, June 2026. Charts and figures may be shared with attribution to Coastalview Advisory and a link to this page.
The Scaling Gap™ is a research series by Coastalview Advisory, Inc. © 2026.