The 2025 State of Marketing to Engineers report conducted by TREW Marketing, GlobalSpec, and Elektor International Media makes one thing clear: engineers look less at AI-generated content and more towards publications. Their recent survey of more than 1,000 engineers found that 67% rate their trust in AI at 5 or below on a 10-point scale, while 70% rarely or never use AI to evaluate vendors when making buying decisions.
As a result, 86% look for third party sources they know they can trust, including supplier websites, technical publications, and third-party reviews.
What can marketers learn from this?
That engineers, in particular, value authoritative voices.
The loyalty between engineers and individual authors, trade journalists and experts has never been more important, and is growing, in large part because we don’t believe that AI can replace human knowledge and expertise.
So, AI isn’t likely to kill journalism or marketing any time soon. But, what can marketers do to prevent it? The answer is simple: focus on building relationships with respected industry figures and publish verifiable content about products and services through their reputable outlets.
If you want to learn more about the survey’s findings, experts from Elektor International Media conducted a webinar on the 2025 State of Marketing to Engineers, which is available on demand here.
