ANA, 4As, and IAB to Establish Cross-Industry AI Leadership Council and Advance Shared Priorities Across Retail Media, Measurement and Talent

Marketing’s Leading Trade Organizations to Bring the Industry Together for Its First Leadership Summit in October

The Association of National Advertisers (ANA), the 4As, and the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) will create a cross-industry body to lead on AI governance and adoption. This was the most significant commitment to come out of a meeting in Cannes, France, where leaders from all three organizations sat down with a delegation of CMOs from top brands and other industry leaders.

The first time in nearly a decade that all three associations were at the same table, they agreed on where the industry needs collective leadership, and they committed to working together to deliver it. AI was the clear top priority, alongside commerce/retail media and talent. The following day, the leaders of the ANA, 4As, and IAB appeared together on the LIONS stage for the first time in nearly ten years, signaling a renewed commitment to industry-wide collaboration.

The three priorities:

1. AI. The group will formally stand up a cross-industry body for AI leadership and governance. This was the central outcome of the morning and the area where the three associations see the most urgent need to move together.
2. Commerce/Retail media. A push to establish shared definitions and standards across the industry, so buyers and sellers are working from the same playbook.
3. Talent. A shared system for assessing and developing the industry’s workforce, built to serve the whole ecosystem rather than any one part of it.

Between now and October, the ANA, 4As, and IAB will define the scope and priorities of these workstreams and convene a broader group of marketers and stakeholders at the inaugural Industry Leadership Summit at the ANA Masters of Marketing Conference. Following the ANA Masters of Marketing Conference, this collaboration intends to re-convene at future events in 2027, including the IAB’s Annual Leadership Meeting in February and the 4As Decisions conferences.

Building on a Track Record of Joint Action

These three organizations have come together before, on viewability and on creating TAG, when the problems were bigger than any one player could solve. This effort does the same thing at a larger scale. It re-establishes a foundational system for industry-wide collaboration, the kind of focused, structured work it takes to actually move the industry forward.

“For the first time in nearly a decade, these three distinguished associations are aligning and partnering on common challenges and opportunities. Now our job is to demonstrate coordinated leadership to build businesses and generate industry growth,” said Bob Liodice, CEO, ANA.

“This industry has always made its greatest progress when leaders come together around challenges that are too significant for any one organization to solve alone,” said Nick Primola, Group Executive Vice President of the ANA and leader of the Global CMO Growth Council. “What happened last week was the beginning of a renewed model for collective leadership and a commitment to build practical solutions for the issues shaping the future of marketing.”

“We are in a new era of marketing and value creation for brands. Clients and agencies need direction and guidance, in AI adoption, making sense of the complex media landscape, measuring business value, and talent remains critical. We look forward to joining forces with the ANA and IAB to provide the best answers which create lasting value,” said Justin Thomas-Copeland, CEO, 4As.

“At a time defined by rapid change, the strongest response is collective action. Alone, we adapt; together, we transform. IAB is proud to join hands with ANA and the 4A’s to collaborate on some of the most pressing opportunities and challenges facing the marketing ecosystem. We look forward to driving tangible outputs that will allow us all to meet the moment with purpose,” said David Cohen, CEO, IAB.