Publishing Insiders Launch Next Chapter AI to Offer Ethical AI Strategy and Training

New company aims to help publishers, agencies, and creators integrate AI while keeping human craft at the center

Feb. 27, 2026 at 7:35pm

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Next Chapter AI, founded by publishing industry veterans Meredith Barnes and Ayanna Coleman, has launched to provide publishers, agencies, and creators with practical, ethical pathways to integrate artificial intelligence across their workflows. The company offers services including AI readiness audits, team upskilling and playbooks, creator empowerment resources, and implementation support to help the publishing industry lead the transition to AI rather than react to it.

Why it matters

The publishing industry is already being reshaped by AI in areas like discovery algorithms, content pipelines, and administrative systems. Next Chapter AI aims to help publishers, agencies, and creators navigate this transition proactively, with a focus on using technology to serve human craft rather than displace it. The company's mission is to build AI literacy and establish ethical guidelines across the industry.

The details

Next Chapter AI was founded by Meredith Barnes, a creator career strategist, and Ayanna Coleman, a publishing strategist and educator. The company offers a range of services to help organizations integrate AI, including readiness audits, training programs, resources for supporting creators, and hands-on implementation support. Their goal is to empower publishing teams to automate administrative tasks and free up time for more creative, impactful work.

  • Next Chapter AI officially launched on February 27, 2026.

The players

Next Chapter AI

An ethical AI readiness company serving publishers, agencies, and creators. The company provides audits, training, playbooks, and implementation support to help publishing teams automate the drudgery and protect the craft so technology serves human creativity.

Meredith Barnes

The co-founder of Next Chapter AI and a creator career strategist with 15 years of experience across the publishing industry and its ancillaries.

Ayanna Coleman

The co-founder of Next Chapter AI and a publishing strategist and educator who has worked globally across startup, nonprofit, and entrepreneurial spaces since founding Quill Shift in 2013.

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What they’re saying

“Every publishing team is already in this transition. The question is, who's driving it. When teams have the literacy and the systems to use AI intentionally, they stop reacting and start leading. That's when the real work gets space. Those sharper insights, the creative risks, the finding and elevating bold voices that actually change something. AI handles the overhead. Humans shape the culture and the conversation.”

— Ayanna Coleman, Co-founder, Next Chapter AI (Globe Newswire)

“When e-books arrived, publishing called it the wild west and let tech companies write the rules. The same thing doesn't have to happen with AI. Train the teams, identify what can be automated, and commit to a culture of innovation—then the drudgery goes to AI and the craft stays human.”

— Meredith Barnes, Co-founder, Next Chapter AI (Globe Newswire)

What’s next

Next Chapter AI plans to publish newsletters, host webinars, and release whitepapers and toolkits to advance AI literacy across the publishing industry.

The takeaway

Next Chapter AI's mission is to help the publishing industry proactively embrace AI in a way that serves human creativity and craft, rather than allowing technology to displace the core work of publishers, agencies, and creators.