As a core force in technological innovation, digital and intelligent technologies have deeply penetrated the academic publishing sector, reshaping its value system and driving its digital and intelligent transformation. This evolution requires academic publishers to possess multidisciplinary knowledge and capabilities—specifically, professional academic backgrounds coupled with expertise in digital publishing, cross-disciplinary understanding, awareness of emerging technologies, and ethical principles. Additionally, they must demonstrate continuous learning abilities, proficiency in intelligent technology applications, data analysis and utilization skills, as well as competencies in resource integration and project management. However, the digital and intelligent transformation of academic publishing institutions faces multifaceted talent development challenges and contradictions. These include: the misalignment between the demand for interdisciplinary, multi-skilled digital publishing talent within academic publishing institutions clashes with the “single-focused, theory-heavy” talent supply from China’s editorial and publishing education system, resulting in an imbalance at the “entry point” of the talent pipeline; the significant changes in the external environment faced by academic publishing institutions compared with insufficient internal prioritization; the market characteristics of digital and intelligent publishing talent conflicting with the income structure and organizational stability demands of the academic publishing industry; the path dependency of traditional publishing concepts versus the necessity for personnel to develop digital and intelligent mindset system; and so on. To address these contradictions and challenges in digital and intelligent talent development for academic publishing institutions, several targeted countermeasures are proposed. First, at the undergraduate, master's, and doctoral levels, talent cultivation should adopt targeted training programs emphasizing strong practical experience and interdisciplinary approaches. Undergraduate training must integrate digital and intelligent theories with practical digital publishing applications; graduate programs should implement interdisciplinary integration; concurrently, the theoretical framework of academic publishing should be reconstructed using a transdisciplinary paradigm. Second, academic publishing institutions must clearly define their strategic transformation positioning, expedite the deep integration of technology and operations, and develop systematic plans for cultivating digital and intelligent publishing talent. Third, priority should be given to establishing scientific talent evaluation and incentive systems, alongside mechanisms that cultivate a talent-oriented organizational culture with robust motivational structures, and ensure talent can be attracted, developed, retained, and empowered to thrive, thereby creating a virtuous cycle in talent development. Fourth, academic publishing institutions should provide comprehensive training in digital and intelligent skills for all staff, promote the effective application of digital and intelligent technologies, and strengthen education in digital ethics and regulatory compliance. These measures can advance the goal of achieving high-quality development in academic publishing through a skilled digital and intelligent talent pool, thereby enabling academic publishers to contribute effectively to the development of Academic China.