A new research report from Acxiom and EMARKETER suggests that fragmented customer data remains one of the biggest barriers to enterprise marketing performance, even as organizations increase investment in identity resolution. The study argues that interoperable identity infrastructure has become a strategic business asset, enabling marketers to improve personalization, AI-driven decision-making, and cross-channel customer experiences.

As artificial intelligence becomes increasingly embedded in enterprise marketing, organizations are facing renewed pressure to modernize the customer data and identity systems that power personalization and measurement. A new report from Acxiom, developed in partnership with EMARKETER, concludes that many businesses are still constrained by fragmented data environments, limiting their ability to create unified customer experiences and maximize marketing performance.

The report, "Data and Identity: From Marketing Capability to Company Asset," examines how enterprise marketers are evolving identity strategies beyond campaign execution into a foundational layer supporting customer intelligence, AI, and digital transformation.

According to the research, 80% of marketers report improved return on investment from identity initiatives, with personalization emerging as the most frequently cited benefit. Yet despite those gains, many organizations continue to struggle with disconnected customer records and siloed first-party data.

The findings highlight a significant maturity gap across enterprise marketing operations. Approximately 42% of respondents describe their customer data foundation as somewhat or very immature, while 55.4% say their first-party data remains siloed or only partially connected across systems.

These challenges are becoming more significant as organizations increasingly rely on artificial intelligence to automate customer engagement, predictive analytics, and marketing decision-making. AI systems perform best when supported by accurate, consistent, and interoperable customer identities that connect interactions across websites, mobile applications, CRM platforms, advertising channels, and offline touchpoints.

Rather than relying on a single identifier, marketers are adopting multi-identifier identity strategies that combine several authenticated data sources. According to the report, hashed email addresses (65.2%), first-party authenticated identifiers (52.7%), and device or mobile identifiers (50%) now form the foundation of modern identity frameworks. This layered approach helps organizations maintain customer recognition across multiple digital environments while supporting privacy requirements and data governance standards.

The study also identifies interoperability as one of the industry's largest remaining challenges. Although businesses continue adopting additional identity signals and data sources, only 23% of marketers report having fully interoperable systems capable of connecting customer information across platforms. Without interoperability, customer data often remains fragmented between marketing automation platforms, customer data platforms (CDPs), CRM systems, analytics solutions, and advertising technologies.

The importance of unified identity extends well beyond marketing departments. Increasingly, organizations are treating identity as enterprise infrastructure that supports customer service, sales, analytics, compliance, and AI initiatives. Reflecting this shift, 60.7% of marketers surveyed expect to increase investment in identity resolution over the next two years. Their primary objectives include creating unified customer profiles, supporting AI and advanced analytics programs, and improving website personalization.

The findings mirror broader enterprise technology trends. Companies including Google, Microsoft, Salesforce, Adobe, and Amazon continue expanding AI capabilities across their cloud and marketing platforms, placing greater emphasis on trusted first-party data and identity management. As third-party cookies decline and privacy regulations evolve globally, organizations increasingly require durable identity frameworks capable of supporting both personalization and regulatory compliance.

For marketers, identity infrastructure is becoming a prerequisite for delivering relevant customer experiences. Personalized recommendations, omnichannel engagement, attribution modeling, customer lifetime value analysis, and predictive audience segmentation all depend on consistent identity resolution across multiple systems.

Industry analysts have also emphasized the growing strategic value of unified customer data. According to Gartner, organizations are prioritizing first-party data strategies and customer identity capabilities to improve marketing effectiveness while adapting to changing privacy expectations. Forrester similarly notes that customer identity and data integration have become essential foundations for AI-powered marketing and customer experience initiatives.

Acxiom argues that organizations should move toward what it describes as a "glass-box" approach to identity management—one that provides greater transparency, interoperability, and control over customer data while integrating directly with existing enterprise infrastructure. This model is particularly relevant for industries such as financial services, healthcare, telecommunications, and retail, where regulatory compliance, data accuracy, and security requirements are especially stringent.

As AI continues reshaping enterprise marketing, customer identity is evolving from a technical marketing capability into a strategic enterprise asset. Organizations that invest in interoperable identity systems and connected first-party data will likely be better positioned to deploy AI responsibly, improve customer experiences, and generate more accurate business insights across the digital ecosystem.

Market Landscape

The transition toward AI-driven marketing is accelerating enterprise investment in identity resolution, first-party data, and customer data infrastructure. Organizations are moving beyond isolated marketing databases to build interoperable identity frameworks that support personalization, analytics, privacy compliance, and omnichannel engagement.

As third-party identifiers become less reliable, connected identity systems are emerging as core infrastructure for Customer Data Platforms (CDPs), marketing automation, advertising technology, and enterprise AI initiatives.

Top Insights

• Acxiom and EMARKETER found that 80% of marketers report improved ROI from identity initiatives, with personalization delivering the most significant measurable business impact.
• More than half of organizations still operate with fragmented first-party data, limiting customer intelligence, AI effectiveness, and cross-channel personalization capabilities.
• Multi-identifier identity frameworks combining authenticated IDs, hashed emails, and device identifiers are becoming the foundation of enterprise customer recognition.
• Only 23% of marketers report fully interoperable identity systems, highlighting ongoing challenges in integrating customer data across marketing and technology platforms.
• Growing investment in identity resolution reflects the industry's shift toward treating customer identity as enterprise infrastructure supporting AI, analytics, and privacy-first marketing.

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