INMA unveils 2026 AI webinar series, focusing on ad efficiency

INMA is holding a free webinar on March 4, 2026, to show how Nordic publishers Schibsted and Sanoma use AI to make advertising faster and smarter. These companies use machine learning to help sell, target, and measure ads, making it easier for even small businesses to run campaigns. Experts think the AI ad market will grow huge in the next few years, and this webinar is a key part of INMA's plan to share the latest AI ideas with its members. If you want to learn how AI can make ads work better, you need to sign up early because spots are limited.

As part of its 2026 AI webinar series, INMA is highlighting ad efficiency with a members-only session on March 4, 2026, featuring Nordic publishers Schibsted and Sanoma. This free webinar will provide actionable lessons on automating ad sales, targeting, and measurement with machine learning, a topic central to 2026 media strategy.

Leading the charge, Schibsted's teams in Norway and Sweden are in an "AI efficiency phase," streamlining the entire campaign lifecycle with conversational ad formats and algorithmic personalization to boost engagement. Similarly, Sanoma Media Finland is enhancing its self-service portal, enabling small and mid-size advertisers to launch sophisticated, data-driven campaigns in minutes. These strategies, notes the INMA Advertising Initiative, exemplify a crucial industry-wide shift toward automation.

Why efficiency is top of mind

Publishers are prioritizing AI for ad efficiency to capture a larger share of a rapidly growing digital ad market. By automating processes with first-party data, they can compete more effectively with search and social platforms, offering advertisers faster campaign deployment, better targeting, and improved performance measurement.

Market forecasts underscore the urgency: the global AI ad market is projected to hit $107.5 billion by 2028. While search and social platforms currently dominate this revenue, publishers are leveraging first-party data and contextual signals to gain ground. The webinar will demonstrate how Schibsted and Sanoma are developing practical, publisher-focused solutions.

Schibsted's Native Report 2025 details how AI rapidly transforms articles into diverse ad formats like podcasts and vertical videos. Its research also confirms that tailored creative significantly boosts audience attention and recall.

Sanoma, meanwhile, is optimizing sales operations by integrating predictive models into its CRM. This allows human sales teams to focus on high-value clients while algorithms manage smaller accounts, effectively halving campaign turnaround times and improving renewal rates.

How the webinar fits the 2026 AI curriculum

The March 4 event is a key component of INMA's comprehensive 2026 AI calendar, which also includes:

Feb 18 - How to Use GenAI for More Effective Advertising
Feb 19-26 - Agentic AI for News Media Master Class
Mar 4 - AI is fueling advertising efficiency at Schibsted, Sanoma
Mar 19-26 - Advertising Measurement & Effectiveness Master Class

Members can find registration details and access on-demand recordings via the Calendar at a Glance page, which also lists upcoming events in April and June.

As space for the live March 4 webinar is limited, early registration is strongly recommended. All registrants will receive a copy of the presentation and a link to the replay within 24 hours.

What will INMA's 2026 AI webinar series cover?

The series is anchored by five live, members-only sessions that move from theory to practice:
- 18 Feb - How to use GenAI for more effective advertising
- 4 Mar - AI-fuelled efficiency at Schibsted & Sanoma (the March 4 webinar announced in the article)
- 19-26 Feb - Agentic AI master class
- 19-26 Mar - AI-driven measurement & effectiveness master class
- TBA Mar - AI-powered efficiency snapshots from other top publishers

Full calendar and registration links are on the INMA advertising initiative page.

Who are the featured speakers on 4 March?

Senior ad-tech and revenue leads from Schibsted Norway and Sanoma Media Finland will walk through live dashboards, campaign examples and the workflows that have cut campaign set-up time by up to 70% while protecting premium yield.

Why is AI advertising efficiency a priority in 2026?

Industry data show AI-powered ad buying will jump from 8% of U.S. ad revenue in 2025 to 26% ($142 billion) by 2030. Publishers that automate bidding, creative versioning and placement optimisation now capture a double-digit CPM lift before the market saturates.

What early results are Schibsted and Sanoma sharing?

Although full 2025-2026 metrics are still under embargo, Schibsted's Native Report 2025 confirms that AI-based versioning turns one article into podcast spots, vertical video and display assets in minutes, while Sanoma's sales team reports "double-digit growth in self-service bookings" after deploying AI-assisted proposal tools.

How can INMA members prepare for the sessions?

Block the calendar - all webinars run 10:00-11:00 a.m. New York time.
Submit one real campaign brief during registration; organisers will choose a few to be optimised live.
Review the AI advertising landscape primer so baseline terminology is fresh.