The Erasmus+ project AISMark – AI-Driven Sustainable Marketing: Transforming Higher Education for a Greener Digital Future – examines how universities can combine AI, sustainability and responsible business practice in future marketing education. In May 2026, partners in Bulgaria, Germany, North Macedonia and Serbia used the same needs-assessment survey, collecting 502 valid responses across the four countries.
In Bulgaria, the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration and Net-Zero Lab at Sofia University ‘St. Kliment Ohridski’ conducted the survey between 22 and 27 May 2026. It produced 121 valid responses.
| Survey period | Valid responses | Students | Academic staff | Industry / public sector |
| 22-27 May 2026 | 121 | 53 (43.8%) | 31 (25.6%) | 37 (30.6%) |
Respondents generally feel comfortable using digital technology. The overall digital-confidence score is 3.98 out of 5, and 82.6% say they can learn new digital tools without much difficulty. Professionals report the highest average confidence (4.22), followed by students (4.01) and academic staff (3.60).
The clearest gap concerns specialised AI expertise: averages are 3.97 for professionals, 3.28 for students and 2.97 for academic staff. Data-analysis expertise is more balanced, ranging from 3.19 to 3.65. This points to unequal opportunities for practical AI experience rather than a general lack of analytical ability. Digital confidence offers a good starting point, but students and especially academic staff need more hands-on practice with realistic marketing tasks.
Source: Bulgarian AISMark survey, May 2026. The findings describe a self-reported sample and are not nationally representative.