> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://agenticadvertisingorg-snap-format-preview-links.mintlify.site/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Decision-Makers track > AdCP for Decision-Makers (L1-L3): a free, reasoning-only certification for brand leaders, agency executives, and SMB owners who evaluate, brief, and decide on agentic advertising but do not build agents. # AdCP for Decision-Makers (L1–L3) **Free and open to everyone.** Three short modules, about 45 minutes total. No agent-building, no code, no live agent queries — you earn this credential through strategic reasoning alone. Every other path in this program gates on hands-on work: the Basics track has you query a live agent, and the role tracks culminate in building one. That is the right bar for practitioners — and the wrong bar for the people who **evaluate, brief, and decide** but delegate the building. This track is for them: the brand media leader building a case for the CMO, the agency trading-desk exec deciding whether to adopt a standard, the founder figuring out whether they can reach AI surfaces without hiring an engineer. You will not build anything. You will learn to direct the people who do. Completing L1–L3 earns the **AdCP for Decision-Makers** credential. ## Who this is for Heads of media and marketing building the business case for agentic advertising and briefing agencies on what to do differently. Trading-desk and programmatic leaders deciding whether to adopt a standard for buying across AI surfaces — and where the competitive edge is. Founders and operators who want to reach AI platforms through a partner, starting from the product data they already have. ## How this track is different | | Basics & role tracks | Decision-Makers track | | ------------------ | ---------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **Assessment** | Query live agents, build a working agent | Strategic reasoning through conversation | | **Prerequisites** | A1–A3, then a role track | None | | **Cost** | Basics free; role tracks members-only | Free | | **You leave with** | A working agent | A decision artifact — business case, agency brief, or adoption plan | Assessment follows the same [fairness rules](/docs/learning/instructional-design#assessment-fairness) as every other module: each module has required demonstrations, identical for every learner, verified by Sage through conversation and recorded with a stable criterion ID. The difference is *what* you demonstrate — here it is reasoning, never recall and never code. This credential certifies **strategic fluency**, not hands-on implementation. It is not a substitute for — or an easier route to — the [Basics](/docs/learning/overview#basics-free) or [Practitioner](/docs/learning/overview) credentials, which verify that you can query and build agents. If your role is to build, start with Basics. ## The three modules What agentic advertising actually is, why it differs from programmatic, and how to explain it to a CMO. \~15 min. The brand-side inputs you control, generation-time brand safety, and why your measurement stack persists. \~15 min. Brief your team, decide pilot-vs-standardize, and produce a decision artifact. \~15 min. ## Reading list These are the same narratives the protocol publishes for buy-side leaders. Read them in this order and the three modules will feel like a conversation you have already started. New here? The two essential reads are **Monetizing AI surfaces** and **AdCP vs OpenRTB** — the rest are depth you can come back to. You can read everything, and [find a partner](https://agenticadvertising.org/members), without entering the assessment. The credential is optional; the understanding is the point. A cheat-sheet of the framings that land — by audience and by job — for when you have to make a CMO, board, agency, or publisher get it in one meeting. The buy-side guide for brands, agencies, and SMBs: what you provide, the shift from campaigns to ingredients, and getting started by role. How agentic advertising and programmatic are complementary, not competing — your existing stack persists. A walkthrough of every step a media team runs through AdCP, from finding partners to tracking performance. How brand-safety rules are enforced at generation time — before content is shown — rather than verified after the fact. The machine-readable brand identity AI platforms read to sound like your brand. Why your product feed is the main ingredient — and how it becomes the creative input. Plain answers on partners vs in-house, controlling how the AI talks about your brand, pricing, and how your IAS / DV / Nielsen measurement carries over. ## Get started Open Addie and say "I'd like to start the Decision-Makers track." No account required — this track is free.