New Delhi, May 28 (IANS): Innovating and ramping up use of technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI) to make the most of data are top priorities for marketing leaders in India, while insufficient organisational structure and processes is their top challenge, said a report from US-based Cloud computing major Salesforce on Thursday.

As technology drives customer expectations to new heights, Indian marketers have emerged as not just messengers, but engagers who foster meaningful customer relationships well beyond the first purchase, according to the report titled "State of Marketing".

In addition to expanded online populations, marketers in India also expect that augmented reality (AR) and voice technology will also bring transformational impacts by 2030.

In India, marketers are expected to go from 20 data sources in 2019 to 25 projected data sources in 2021 and report a 118 per cent increase in AI adoption since 2018.

"The COVID-19 crisis is forcing marketers in India to rethink every aspect of their business -- from strategic priorities and challenges, to the technological and team skills they will need - as they navigate getting back to work during a global crisis, and then continuing to transform the customer experience to be best positioned for success in the years ahead," said Sunil Jose, Senior Vice President, Salesforce India.

For the report, Salesforce collected data from nearly 7,000 marketing leaders across the globe, spanning six continents, just as the Covid-19 crisis emerged.

The trends revealed in the report were collected from marketing leaders from companies across 30 countries, including 300 respondents from India.

The results showed that marketers are at the forefront having been increasingly tasked to take a leadership role, with 87 per cent in India leading customer experience initiatives across their companies.

Globally, 84 per cent of customers said the experience a company provides is as important as its products and services -- up from 80 per cent in 2018.