From AI to Ethics: Notre Dame's Innovative Master’s in Digital Marketing

We are all consumers of digital marketing. Each of us sees a unique set of algorithmically selected advertisements on our phones and in our social media feeds. The ads we see are specifically targeted to our interests and our income level, and sometimes, they can seem a little too well-targeted. “We have all seen ads about things we’ve only discussed with our closest friends,” said Kevin Hartman, an associate teaching professor of marketing at the University of Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business who previously served as Google’s chief analytics strategist. “That can feel a little creepy, but typically ad targeting does not result from our phones listening to us.”

As a consumer, you rarely know for certain why you are seeing a specific advertisement, but a new graduate business program at Notre Dame will shed light on an industry that is both innovative and opaque. The Notre Dame Master of Science in Digital Marketing is a STEM-designated in-person program starting in fall 2025. The 10-month program is designed for students with business or non-business undergraduate degrees and less than three years of work experience. The program will teach students how they can leverage emerging technologies to launch a career in marketing or supercharge their current career path. In addition to their coursework, students gain practical hands-on experience in conceiving and implementing a comprehensive digital marketing campaign working with a marketing agency or a company. Applications are now being accepted. Ethical use of digital marketing, said Hartman, will be a big part of the MSDM program. “That is one aspect that differentiates what we are doing from similar programs,” he said. “With the growth of data, concerns around privacy and the explosive use of AI, it is important that a digital marketing education be mindful of the ethical considerations the industry faces.” With nearly 25 years of experience in digital marketing, including serving as Google's chief analytics strategist, Hartman is well-positioned to reveal the techniques that shape what advertising algorithms show us. As the academic director of the new MSDM, Hartman will teach students how to create digital marketing experiences that are impactful and beneficial for consumers. “The Master of Science in Digital Marketing will teach students what is happening and why it is happening,” said Hartman. “It will teach them to understand the perspective of brands and the objectives of marketers. The program will equip students with the technical understanding that they need to dispel misinformation by cutting through the veil of secrecy and understanding their own experience as consumers so that they can create similar experiences for others.” Marketers have always sought to gather, synthesize and use information to make decisions. But AI is allowing digital marketers to analyze more data than ever before and synthesize it in ways that would not previously have been possible. “It’s important that marketers have an understanding of what AI can and cannot do for you. AI is not an analyst; it is nothing more than a synthesizer of information,” Hartman said. As a human, you need to direct AI, ask the right questions and draw the right conclusions. We want to equip students with an understanding of how to do those things so they can confidently walk into a company and make the most of the tools available to them.”   Read more about Kevin Hartman’s career in digital marketing.