How Adobe and LinkedIn are Tackling AI Skills Demand

Demand for AI literacy is rising and the marketing sector is leading the charge. According to data from the LinkedIn Economic Graph, AI competencies have become the primary area of focus for marketing professionals. 

The shift is reflected in the jobs market, where the share of marketing role postings requiring AI literacy has more than doubled year-over-year.

To address this urgent need and prepare professionals for an AI-driven workplace, Adobe and LinkedIn have announced a strategic partnership to launch AI Essentials for Marketers. 

The initiative focuses on flexible, bite-sized education designed for individuals at any stage of their career journey. Courses utilise short-form, social-first learning formats, allowing marketing teams to seamlessly integrate upskilling into their daily workflows.

Rachel Thornton, CMO of Adobe Enterprise, explains that training and re-skilling have become top-of-mind priorities for leaders. 

She says: “Marketers everywhere are eager to embrace AI but need the right skills to do it with confidence. AI Essentials for Marketers is about more than mastering new tools; it is about reimagining what creativity, marketing strategy and customer relationships look like in an AI-powered era.”

Through the collaboration, users can access hundreds of hours of content, training, videos and expertise from a global community. Educational material is shaped by technologists and marketers who are actively using and building gen AI products. 

The partnership aims to make it easier and faster for corporate teams to learn what is next for creativity and technology.

Skills expansion via the digital academy

The initiative expands on workforce development efforts at Adobe through its Digital Academy, which looks to foster a diverse and inclusive workforce. The programme focuses on modern apprenticeships to train people.

The new curriculum features four role-based courses available in 47 languages. The targeted tracks span critical marketing functions that have been based on LinkedIn economic data and designed by brand experts.

Participants will gain actionable knowledge drawn from real-world customer case studies, expert insights and proprietary research conducted by the two firms, with the training designed to ensure that learners cover practical subjects that are highly relevant to modern business requirements.

Courses will focus on four key areas: digital marketing, content and creative, social and communications and data analytics.

Jessica Jensen, CMO of LinkedIn, says: “Together with Adobe, we are helping make AI skills accessible to every marketer – not just technical specialists – through scalable, practical learning designed for the realities of modern work.” 

Automation risks impacting corporate roles

The initiative arrives as new data highlights a stark reality regarding automation. Marketing roles are being significantly impacted by developments in gen AI, which threatens to displace traditional workflows.

According to the Labour Market Impacts Report from Anthropic, marketing roles are among the most heavily impacted by automated technologies. The study reveals that 64.8% of tasks performed by marketing professionals are likely to be replaceable by AI.

The report ranks market research analysts and marketing specialists at fifth place in a list of 800 roles at risk of AI job displacement, underlining why Adobe and LinkedIn are prioritising rapid workforce training.

Despite these statistics, many industry leaders argue that technology will evolve roles rather than eliminate them entirely. Employees are being encouraged to pivot toward tasks that computers cannot easily replicate.

Balancing technological integration

Daniela Amodei, President and Co-Founder of Anthropic, believes employees in industries impacted by AI should prioritise the development of human capabilities. She had previously stated that communication, teamwork and problem-solving will become more useful as people have to collaborate more with AI.

The growth of gen AI means that interpersonal abilities are becoming a critical differentiator for professionals. Developing these traits allows workers to complement automated tools rather than compete with them directly.

Speaking to ABC News, Daniela said previously: "I continue to believe that humans plus AI together actually create more meaningful work, more challenging work, more interesting work, high-productivity jobs. And then I think it will also open the aperture to a lot of access and opportunity for many people."

As the industry faces this structural shift, the joint programme aims to ensure the global workforce views AI as a powerful collaborative partner. 

By widespread upskilling, the partnership intends to protect employment while driving creative productivity.