- Five marketing AI training options compared
- Why Google trains its marketers in under 10 minutes
- One lesson and one challenge per role
- Three jobs Google gives the team leader
- Adobe's hub for teams that run on Adobe tools
- The ANA workshop is for the manager, not the team
- OpenAI Academy and Google AI Essentials as a baseline
- A four-week rollout built from these sources
- What I'd pick for a team of eight or thirty
- Frequently asked questions
The AI training that works for a marketing team is short lessons by role, a small challenge after each one, and leaders who use the tools themselves, and that's the plan Google uses on its own marketers. The structured programmes worth a look are aimed either at leaders, like the ANA's two-day workshop, or at a specific toolset, like Adobe's Experience League hub, while Google and OpenAI offer self-paced options.
Here's how the five options compare as of October 2026, what each one teaches, and a four-week plan built only from what these sources recommend.
Five marketing AI training options compared
| Option | Format | Best for | What it covers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Google AI Boost Bites (Think with Google) | Free videos, under 10 minutes each | Creative, analytics and writing teams | Role-based short lessons plus a challenge loop |
| Adobe Experience League AI hub | Self-paced, certificate on the foundations course | Marketers in Adobe-heavy teams | Foundations, Firefly, responsible AI, community |
| ANA: Leading Marketing Teams through AI Transformation | 2 days, in person, from December 1, 2026, New York | Marketing and brand directors and VPs | Readiness signals, change frameworks, trust |
| OpenAI Academy: Apply AI at Work | Self-paced, assessment and badge | Anyone using ChatGPT | Prompting, workflows, directing agents |
| Google AI Essentials | 5 hours | Beginners | Generative AI basics and prompts |
Why Google trains its marketers in under 10 minutes
Think with Google published 'The 10-minute AI training plan Google uses to upskill marketers', written by Google's Director of Marketer Learning & Development and its AI Innovation & Learning Lead. Their argument is simple: marketers are time-starved, so training that pulls people away from the day job to sit as students often falls short. Learning by doing, and using it straight away, is what drives adoption.
So Google built an internal AI Boost Program. Its biggest part is AI Boost Bites, short practical video lessons where real Google marketers share real workflows and hands-on tips in under 10 minutes. Google has made parts of that library available externally for free.
One lesson and one challenge per role
The plan is organised by role, and each lesson comes with a job to do afterwards:
- Creative teams: a Boost Bite on making a video in minutes from a Google Slides deck using Google Vids and Veo, shown by a Google product marketing manager. Then the team shares what idea they tested and what they learned. A bonus 5-minute lesson covers generating music with Gemini.
- Metrics and analytics teams: a Boost Bite of under five minutes on finding 'the script behind the spreadsheet'. Then the team gathers the most common questions they get from the CFO, CTO and other leads, and gives them to Gemini to draft answers from their own context.
- Writers and strategists: a Boost Bite on a three-step 'poke holes' method in Gemini, using persona prompts to pressure-test strategy documents for gaps. Then writers share the watch-outs their editor flags, so Gemini can build in quick fixes before review.
Three jobs Google gives the team leader
- Show the team you're testing the tools yourself, and block time to learn.
- Don't let training be passive. Build a hands-on loop: at Google, people complete a quick challenge after each short lesson and upload their work, so leaders can see who's practising.
- Treat training like a launch, with a name, friendly competition and celebrated early wins, such as a low-stakes contest to write the best prompt.
Adobe's hub for teams that run on Adobe tools
Adobe Experience League's AI hub is aimed at marketers building practical AI skills for everyday work. Its 'AI foundations' course is described as an essential course where you earn a sharable certificate. Topics on the hub include:
- The difference between agentic and generative AI across marketing stages.
- AI image generation with Adobe Firefly.
- Implementing AI responsibly, and aligning stakeholders and legal requirements in large regulated organisations.
- Turning AI approval into a consistent practice with faster internal sign-offs.
- Creating AI content safely and verifying its origins.
- Spotting bias and writing more inclusive prompts.
The hub also has hands-on demo environments, a community group where marketers swap how they apply AI, and a free Chrome extension that checks what language models can and can't read on a web page, framed around getting a brand cited by ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude and others.
The ANA workshop is for the manager, not the team
The ANA (Association of National Advertisers) lists 'Leading Marketing Teams through AI Transformation', a two-day, in-person, hands-on workshop for marketing leaders. As of October 2026 a scheduled class begins Tuesday, December 1, 2026 in New York, NY, and on-site delivery is available. Noetic Consulting are the lead facilitators.
Look at who it's for: marketing and brand directors and VPs who lead people and are accountable for team capacity-building and AI-readiness. It teaches leaders to read readiness signals across exposure, curiosity, confidence, trust and judgment, learning orientation, and practice and adoption. It also covers spotting people and process barriers that slow adoption, applying change frameworks, and building trust and psychological safety so teams move from fear to informed participation. If that's the part you're stuck on, my guide to AI change management for marketing teams goes deeper on the people side.
ANA's list on the same page also shows virtual sessions in Eastern Time, including 'Empowering Marketers with Generative AI' on November 10 and 'Boost Your Digital and Growth Marketing with AI' on November 11.
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OpenAI Academy and Google AI Essentials as a baseline
For self-paced basics, OpenAI Academy's Apply AI at Work track has three courses by experience level: AI Foundations, Applied AI Foundations, and Agents and Workflows. Every course includes an assessment, with official badges issued through Accredible. OpenAI's deployment guide adds the rollout habits: make courses broadly available, engage executive backers, launch with organisation-wide communications, reinforce participation and measure available signals.
Google AI Essentials is listed as a 5-hour course for people new to AI. The Google AI Professional Certificate is listed as 10 hours with 20 or more hands-on activities, and covers work scenarios such as creating marketing assets and conducting data analysis.
A four-week rollout built from these sources
- Week 1: pick one lesson per role (creative, analytics, writing) and have each person complete the challenge that goes with it.
- Week 2: leaders share what they've tested themselves, so the team sees the tools in use at the top.
- Week 3: run a low-stakes prompt contest and share the winners with the whole team.
- Week 4: pick two workflows to keep and write them down, so they don't depend on one person's memory.
- Then decide whether the team needs a structured course, a workshop or a leadership programme.
What I'd pick for a team of eight or thirty
For a team of eight, I'd run Google's plan as written: one short lesson per role, a challenge each week, and the team lead doing the challenges too. I'd add AI Essentials or OpenAI's AI Foundations only for anyone who's never written a prompt. For a team of thirty, I'd keep the same weekly loop but lean on OpenAI's deployment habits, with an executive backer, an organisation-wide launch and a way to see who's finished. I'd also look hard at the ANA workshop for the directors, because ANA built it for the people who lead the team through the change, not for the people doing the work. If your team lives in Adobe, the Experience League hub is the obvious add-on. And if you'd rather have someone run the hands-on sessions, here's how my AI workshop for marketing teams works.
If you'd like a rollout like this planned and run with your marketing team, that's the work I do. I run AI training and workshops for teams, and help businesses with AI enablement, AI automation and GEO, which is about getting your business seen and cited in AI answers. Most of that work is with SaaS marketing teams, telecom companies and small businesses. Here's how we can work together.
Frequently asked questions
What's the best way to train a marketing team on AI?
Google's own plan: short lessons by role, under 10 minutes each, a small challenge after every lesson, and leaders who visibly use the tools and block time to learn.
Who is the ANA AI transformation workshop for?
Marketing and brand directors and VPs who lead people and are accountable for team capacity-building and AI-readiness. As of October 2026 a two-day in-person class begins December 1, 2026 in New York.
Does Adobe offer AI training for marketers?
Yes. Adobe Experience League's AI hub has an 'AI foundations' course with a sharable certificate, plus topics such as Firefly, responsible AI and faster internal sign-offs.
Is there a short AI course for marketing beginners?
Google AI Essentials is listed as a 5-hour course for people new to AI, and OpenAI Academy's AI Foundations covers prompting, context and responsible use.
