U of Digital, the leading education platform for marketing and advertising professionals, has launched the AI Literacy Alliance with 14 industry partners to address the growing disparity between AI capabilities and marketing professionals' understanding of these technologies. The initiative brings together companies building AI for marketing with U of Digital's education platform, curricula, and resources to create a shared foundation of understanding that helps marketers keep pace as AI capabilities rapidly advance.
According to Myles Younger, Chief Growth Officer at U of Digital, "AI capability has sprinted way ahead of AI literacy. The tools are here, but understanding hasn't caught up. Marketers are hungry for knowledge, but every AI-native company is currently faced with solving that education gap on its own. The AI Literacy Alliance saves the industry from having to write the same AI playbook a thousand times over." The alliance includes partners such as AdSkate, Anthrologic, Dstillery, Evertune, Gigi, Hightouch, MiQ, Optable, Snowflake, Transparent Partners, TwelveLabs, Viant, Vurvey Labs, and Yahoo DSP.
Industry partners emphasize the critical importance of this initiative for the marketing ecosystem. Florian Delval, Product Marketing Principal for Marketing and Advertising at Snowflake, notes that "data is the backbone of every AI breakthrough. Helping marketers build literacy around data and AI ensures innovation becomes part of every marketing decision." Alia Lamborghini, SVP of Global Revenue at Yahoo DSP, adds that "AI is woven through programmatic media planning, activation, and measurement. For marketers and agencies to get the most out of intelligent DSPs, they need a shared foundation of AI literacy — it's how our entire ecosystem will level up together."
The alliance addresses multiple challenges simultaneously. AI is changing how marketing works faster than most industry professionals can keep up, with new tools launching daily while understanding lags behind. At the same time, it has been inefficient and duplicative for every AI-native company to individually educate its customers on foundational AI concepts. The AI Literacy Alliance programming will grow and evolve to serve the industry, focusing initially on three core pillars: scalable AI education for marketers, industry research and benchmarking, and curriculum collaboration with ecosystem visibility.
Brian Stempeck, CEO and Co-founder of Evertune, highlights how "AI search is changing how brands are discovered. Marketers who understand how these systems actually work will be better positioned to influence the conversation." Alec Haase, General Manager of AI Products at Hightouch, adds that "agents are redefining what it means to be a marketer. As new products emerge and existing tools become more autonomous, AI literacy becomes the most important skill — knowing how to direct these tools and evaluate what they produce."
The alliance's programming includes partners receiving U of Digital AI training credits they can extend to customers, accelerating adoption by pairing innovation with structured learning. Partners can also participate in U of Digital thought leadership initiatives, including the upcoming AI Literacy Benchmark Survey measuring AI knowledge and confidence across marketing and advertising. Additionally, alliance members contribute expertise to U of Digital AI training curricula, helping shape how emerging AI capabilities are learned and adopted across the industry. More information about the initiative is available at https://uof.digital/ai/alliance.
