<p>Artificial intelligence (AI) powered marketing has been gaining the attention of global marketers and academicians. Contemporary marketing now views AI not merely as a cutting-edge technology, but also a valuable channel to create value. Extant research has extensively evaluated and qualitatively substantiated the significance of AI’s proliferation in marketing. However, research based on real-life practitioner data is limited in this domain. The present study addresses this research gap with a two-pronged approach: one, using grey-DEMATAL, it quantitatively evaluates the impact of AI on contemporary marketing; and two, it establishes industry validation to the driving factors of AI in marketing derived from the extant research. The scope of the study was limited to financial services. The results indicate that enhancing customer experience by personalization at scale, increasing marketing efficiency, and driving positive brand engagement were the most powerful causal factors driving the adoption of AI in marketing. As the global digital divide continues to expand between global south and north, the present study is relevant by highlighting, for researchers, practitioners and policymakers, the need to make digital and AI discourse an integral part of their research efforts.</p>