Written By Tristan Van Den Berg

AI has become part of everyday working life far more quickly than most of us expected. A few years ago, the thought of using AI to help write an article or summarise a meeting felt like an experiment. Today, it’s helping marketing and communications teams organise information, develop ideas, research faster, and remove many of the repetitive tasks that consume time and attention. I personally use it every day, and know I’d be much less effective without it.

That doesn’t mean every organisation is comfortable with how AI is being used, nor should they be. Many companies rightly want to understand what safeguards are in place and where human expertise fits into the process. How is their data protected? Who takes responsibility for the final output? Can they trust the thinking behind the work as much as the work itself? From my perspective, those are exactly the right questions to be asking.

PR and communications agencies need to demonstrate that the AI tools they’re using are supported by strong governance, clear processes and well-trained people. That may sound like common sense, but it’s quickly becoming one of the clearest differentiators between agencies that simply use AI and those that use it responsibly.

We’ve already started to see this put into action. During a recent procurement process, one of our clients asked for detailed information about how we use AI before they were prepared to move forward on a project. It’s important to note that they weren’t questioning if we were using AI. They assumed we were and wanted reassurance that their commercially sensitive information would remain secure, that it wouldn’t be used to train public models and that every piece of work would still be reviewed by experienced members of the team before it reached them. Those questions simply weren’t being asked twelve months ago and I suspect they’ll soon become part of nearly every procurement conversation.

As an agency, we have been proactively maturing our approach to using AI. Everyone across Spa Communications has received foundational training on the AI platforms we use regularly, and we’re investing in externally accredited AI training that covers governance, compliance and responsible use. The technology itself changes almost weekly, but we are ensuring that our professional standards do not. Our clients deserve to know that the people handling their business understand both the opportunities and the responsibilities that come with these tools.

We see how much faster it is to produce a first draft of content. That’s undeniably helpful, but it was never the part of the process clients were really paying for. They come to us because we understand their business and know the competitive landscape they operate in. They depend on our expertise to challenge their thinking when an idea won’t land with their target audience. AI can accelerate parts of that process, but it doesn’t remove the need for commercial judgement. If anything, it places even greater emphasis on it because someone still needs to decide whether the output is relevant and worth saying in the first place.

You don’t get to shortcut that understanding.

That’s why we’ve never viewed AI as a replacement for human experience and expertise. We use it to remove some of the repetitive work that sits around the creative process so our team has more time to think critically and develop stronger ideas. More content doesn’t automatically create better stories. If anything, it has made editors even more selective about what deserves their attention because they’re looking for something that offers genuine insight rather than simply filling space.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, AI is reinforcing the value of relationships in public relations. Journalists respond to credible spokespeople who have unique perspectives and PR professionals who understand both the publication they’re approaching and the wider industry it serves. These qualities become more important because they’re rooted in experience rather than technology. AI may help shape an idea, but experience will tell you if the idea has real value.

AI is fundamentally changing how agencies work, and that’s a good thing. But clients don’t appoint an agency because it has access to AI. They appoint one for perspective, strategic judgement, industry knowledge and trusted advice. Those qualities have always been at the heart of good communications, and they’re becoming even more valuable as AI becomes part of everyday working life.

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