What does a PR account executive's role look like post-AI?

Once upon a time, this reporter was doing a story on the Indian MBA professional for BBC's 'India Business Report'. The then director of the iconic IIM Ahmedabad described the MBA as being a super professional who was expected to be all things to all people. The interview, followed by a sequence of guitar strumming MBA undergraduates, at the fabled IIM A campus playing Pink Floyd's 'Time', struck a chord.

The 90s have given away to 2026. With AI firmly established in the work lexicon, PR professionals are also expected to be super professionals at the tap of an AI prompt. What does this mean for the PR executive? The backbone and frontline soldier of the PR business. How is their role changing with AI in play? 

While AI saves the account executive's time, judgement is critical. As Shivaram Lakshminarayan, is managing director, Ruder Finn India told PRmoment India, "AI is only as effective as the people using it. It amplifies good judgment, but it also amplifies poor judgment. The role of agency leaders is not simply to encourage AI adoption, but to build teams with the curiosity, critical thinking and cultural understanding to use it well."

Gen Z PR executives are bringing it 

22-year-old, Harsheeta Gandhi, account executive with India's largest PR firm Adfactors says she has spent the last 2+ years working in public relations and client servicing. Since, AI has naturally become a part of how she approaches her day to day work.

"I use it for brainstorming story angles, developing media pitches, refining client communication, drafting initial versions of content, summarising information and organising large amounts of information quickly. It is particularly useful when I am juggling multiple clients and need to switch between media outreach, content, reporting and client servicing.", explains Gandhi.

"It has significantly changed the speed at which I execute routine tasks. Reports, trackers, research, content drafts, media pitches, client updates and list maintenance can now be structured much faster. Earlier, a task could take several rounds of drafting before reaching a workable version. AI helps me get to that starting point quickly, after which I add the context, refine it and make sure the final output feels human", she adds.

Antara Sen Gupta, assistant manager, Consocia Advisory Pvt. Ltd. agrees saying, "AI has taken away a lot of the repetitive heavy lifting—report compilation, list maintenance, research, monitoring and organising data. This has shifted my role from simply doing the task to asking, “What does this data actually tell us?”

Explaining what that means, Sen Gupta shares, "For account executives, this is an important change. They can spend less time maintaining spreadsheets and more time understanding media narratives, spotting opportunities and contributing ideas. The role is evolving from execution-led to insight-led—and Gen Z is particularly good at adapting to that shift.Today, the value lies in the thinking, validation, refinement and strategic judgement behind the output. 

In that sense, AI is helping us move from clocking hours to making the hours count. Perhaps that is the Gen Z way of looking at work too—less “rock it”, more “clock it”: work smarter, move faster and create more value.

Time sheets, is less more?

Maxcal Dabre, account manager, media relations and brand communications, Blue Buzz concurs with Sen Gupta, " If a media list, pitch draft or coverage report takes significantly less time, that time often gets reinvested into stronger research, better pitching, client counsel or developing a more thoughtful story. 

PR also has a lot of work that isn’t easily captured by a timesheet, building a journalist relationship, having a useful conversation with a client or thinking through why a particular story might work. For me, productivity is increasingly about the value created, not just hours logged."

Emilee Kashyap, associate vice president & chief of staff, believes that AI is changing the role of the PR account executive from simply gathering information to becoming a sharper editor and communicator. By automating repetitive tasks such as media monitoring, reporting and media list management, teams can spend more time on actual ideation, client counsel and strategic thinking, while delivering real value to clients. 

This, in turn, is changing the way agencies measure value, with a greater focus on the quality and impact of work rather than simply looking at timesheets and hours spent.

Kashyap, however warns that for agencies the real question is not just how much of this work can be automated, but rather how responsibly AI can be integrated without compromising client confidentiality, professional judgement and the quality of communication.

Madhusmita Sahu, associate account manager, Spokesman Consulting Pvt Ltd, says, "I see it more as a productivity and thinking tool rather than a replacement for the PR professional’s judgement. AI has definitely reduced the time required for several routine activities. 

Tasks that earlier took hours can sometimes be completed in a fraction of the time. However, the time saved hasn’t necessarily meant less work; it has allowed that time to be redirected towards strategy, ideation, client servicing and more proactive work. So, the nature of the time being recorded has changed more than the overall workload."

What's next with AI tools

Michelle Lalrempuii Khiangte, senior account manager, Nucleus PR,  would like to explore tools that can support research, content development, presentation creation and information management more effectively. 

Tools such as Perplexity for research, NotebookLM for working with large volumes of information, Canva AI for visual communication and Microsoft Copilot for productivity are some of the areas I would like to experiment with.

I also want to understand how these tools can be integrated into my existing workflow rather than using them simply for the sake of using new technology."

Barde would like to, "Explore tools that can help identify patterns across media coverage, journalist interests, competitor conversations and broader industry narratives. That could help us move from simply finding opportunities to understanding why certain stories are gaining traction.

I’m also interested in using AI to make media monitoring and reporting more insightful, rather than just producing lists of coverage and numbers. I think the real opportunity for PR is using AI to help us ask better questions and make smarter communication decisions, while keeping relationships and judgement at the centre."