The advertising and marketing industry is rapidly adopting AI-powered tools, but a major problem is quietly emerging — most employees still don’t fully understand how to use them. Experts say this growing AI literacy gap could become a serious challenge for companies that claim to be “AI-first.”

Globally, organisations are investing heavily in artificial intelligence. For example, WPP has committed over £300 million toward AI development, while Publicis Groupe plans to invest €300 million in its CoreAI platform. At the same time, global AI spending is expected to cross $2.5 trillion by 2026.

However, training employees to actually work with these tools hasn’t kept pace. Reports show that 60% of business leaders expect workers to upskill themselves, yet many companies still lack formal AI training programmes.

Experts warn that simply giving teams access to AI tools is not enough. Without proper training, employees may struggle to interpret results, identify bias, or turn AI insights into real marketing strategies.

The real challenge now isn’t technology - it’s building a workforce that truly understands AI.