Martech investment can have a costly blind spot. Companies spend billions evaluating platforms, comparing features and building increasingly sophisticated technology stacks. But they have far less visibility into a more important question: Will those investments deliver superior business performance?

AI is making that question more urgent. As companies add AI capabilities to already complex technology environments, getting the underlying martech investment strategy wrong can compound fragmentation, complexity and technology debt, says the partnership.

New research from the CMO Council and MartechTribe aims to address that blind spot. The report, Apex Martech Matrix 2026: A New Metric for Evaluating the Business Value of Martech Spend, aims to challenge the notion that buying the "best" software and adding more functionality will lead to better performance, adds the partnership.

The research finds there is no universal best martech stack, technology category or feature set. What matters is alignment — matching technology capabilities and organisational maturity to the investment patterns associated with superior performance within a particular industry and business strategy, says the partnership.

"For decades, companies have been told to buy the best technology and adopt industry best practices. Our data shows why that approach falls short," says Frans Riemersma, Founder of MartechTribe. "The goal isn't to build the biggest or most sophisticated stack. It's to build the best-aligned one."

The Best Martech Stack Doesn't Exist

For more than two decades, technology buying has largely been viewed through a technology lens. Analyst rankings, feature comparisons, RFPs and vendor demonstrations can help companies determine which platforms offer the richest functionality and strongest capabilities, says the partnership.

What they don't tell companies is whether those capabilities are the right investments for their business. The Apex research adds that missing business-performance lens through data showing how technology investment patterns differ between outperformers and their industry peers, adds the partnership.

MartechTribe analysed 988 real-world martech stacks across seven industries, examining approximately 1 300 features across 49 martech categories. The research compares how companies deploy technology with the investment patterns of companies in the top 30% for revenue per employee within their respective industries.

According to the partnership, the analysis uncovered six fundamental findings:

  • Don't copy "universal" best practices. The same technology investment can be associated with outperformance in one industry but not in another.
  • Don't assume more technology creates more value. Broader functionality creates value only in the right context.
  • Don't lean on better execution as always the answer. Higher organisational maturity — including skills, processes and organisational structure — is not universally associated with superior performance.
  • Do align technology investment with industry and company strategy. Whether an organisation should invest in features, maturity, both or neither depends on the industry, martech category and business strategy.
  • Do learn from outperformers. Understand the technology investment patterns associated with industry outperformance, then align those insights with your own strategy.
  • Do start building best-aligned technology. There is no universal best martech solution. There is only technology that is better or worse aligned with the needs of a particular business.

From Best-in-Class to Best-Aligned

The Apex Martech Matrix aims to turns those findings into an actionable framework designed to address the blind spot in traditional martech evaluation. Rather than asking which vendor or platform is "best," the Apex Matrix aims to uncover how closely an organisation's martech investment pattern align with the patterns associated with outperformers in its industry.

The report evaluates organisations across two dimensions:

  • Martech Presence measures feature sophistication — whether the relevant technology capabilities are present.
  • Martech Performance measures maturity — whether the organisation has the people, processes and skills to turn those capabilities into performance.

According to the partnership, those dimensions place organisations into four alignment profiles:

  • Powerhouse: Strong functionality and strong execution. 
  • Precision: Strong maturity but limited capabilities. 
  • Overbuilt: Capabilities exceed the organisation's ability to use them effectively.
  • Underbuilt: Both capabilities and maturity are limited, creating significant opportunity for improvement.

The accompanying Apex Martech Score quantifies alignment on a zero-to-100 scale and aims to identify the categories offering the greatest potential for improvement. The score does not reward broader functionality or higher maturity for their own sake. It rewards fit, says the partnership.

The Apex Matrix is designed with the aim to help determine where additional investment may create value, where organisational maturity needs to catch up and where spending more could produce little return.

AI Raises the Stakes for Martech Evaluation

The implications extend beyond martech optimisation. AI is adding another layer of capability to existing technology environments. Research cited in the report finds 85% of organisations are using AI to enhance their existing technology stacks, while 30% are also replacing some existing SaaS functionality with AI, says the partnership.

The partnership says that this makes the underlying technology foundation more important, not less. A well-aligned stack can give AI stronger data, workflows, governance and systems to build upon. A poorly aligned stack can amplify fragmentation, complexity and technology debt.

Companies need to know whether a platforms sophisticated AI capabilities fit the organisation's strategy, existing technology environment and ability to put them to work, adds the partnership.

Stack Follows Strategy

The research also calls wholesale martech consolidation into question.

In five of the seven industries analysed, 3% or fewer martech categories emerged as candidates for divestment. Retail and Consumer Goods were higher at 12%. The research suggests that consolidation opportunities often exist within individual tools, features and overlapping capabilities, says the partnership.

15% to 22% of martech categories represent potential quick wins across industries. These are areas where top performers use broader functionality without requiring higher organisational maturity. In some cases, companies may already own the technology they need, adds the partnership.

The opportunity is to identify and activate the capabilities that matter. The partnership says that technology decisions should begin with the business outcome, not the feature list. The optimal investment can vary dramatically by industry, technology category and company strategy.

"Marketing has spent years chasing more technology, more features as though there were a universal path to martech excellence," says Tom Kaneshige, Chief Content Officer of CMO Council. "The blind spot has been understanding whether those investments actually fit the business."

"The Apex Martech Matrix shifts the conversation from 'What's the best technology?' to 'What's the right technology given our current operational maturity?' It's more important than ever because AI will amplify whatever foundation you give it," adds Kaneshige.

The Apex Martech Matrix aims to provide objective evidence to help determine whether technology capabilities and organisational maturity are aligned with the investment patterns associated with superior business performance, concludes the partnership.

For more information, visit www.cmocouncil.org. You can also follow the CMO Council on LinkedIn, or on X. 

*Image courtesy of contributor