Today, July 16th, is the birthday of Ivy Lee, one of the forefathers of PR is celebrated as World PR Day. Initiatives around PR have been planned every year since 2021 by bhmUK. The theme for this year is “Building Bridges & Navigating Polarisation”

As AI disrupts industry after industry, the relationship power of PR has become increasingly important. On the occasion, Rishi Seth, founder, Evoc, speaks about the future of PR under the growing influence of AI.

PRmoment India:  What is the impact of AI on the agency model?

Rishi Seth: We are already seeing many areas of visible impact from AI and Gen AI on the agency or consultancy model, with a significant boost in productivity and efficiency across many aspects of day-to-day operations, from content creation to audience mapping and analysis. This is when AI is still only catching up to an average human-level performance. In another year or so, as LLMs replicate elite human-level performance, the disruption will be much more visible and all-encompassing. Naturally, there will be an impact on entry or junior-level jobs.

As on-ground execution becomes automated, one major advantage of AI is its ability to shorten the campaign cycles by quickly iterating messaging and evaluating its impact in shaping the public opinion or perceptions. In some ways, we are seeing PR or even advertising become far more effective, given that time and other costs of conceiving and executing campaigns and then measuring their impact have now become much more controllable.

At the same time, there will always be significant value in human interventions - ultimately, people skills are the foundation of public relations. From anticipating actions from consumers, partners, or regulatory bodies to orchestrating collaborations and partnerships, there are several aspects of the PR agency model that I believe will remain unchanged.

PRmoment India: What will it take for agencies like Evoc to differentiate themselves?

Rishi Seth: Apart from AI, there are other defining environmental shifts in the media and social media ecosystems that are changing the way PR agencies of the future will function. The fundamental metric of success will move from accumulating media coverage to demonstrating business value through shaping and reshaping perceptions, delivering influence, and protecting and nurturing reputation.

As I mentioned, AI will make it easier and cost-effective to measure or evaluate perceptions in the coming years and open the field for agencies that have the strategic capabilities to move quickly and decisively, and yet with enough judgment and discretion, to create, test, and refine narratives that deliver the results.

For us, the key differentiator will be in elevating the problem identification and solving capabilities of our professionals so that they can take full advantage of AI to do the grunt work, and then apply their higher-order thinking to advise and counsel our clients at a speed that was not possible before.

 A significant focus will also remain on building understanding of multidisciplinary approaches to problem-solving and in enhancing their people skills and relationships across institutions.

PRmoment India: One standout PR moment?: 

Rishi Seth: Evoc started in 2014 with one client but no employees. On the second day, a candidate applied and had an excellent interview and written test, and was promptly hired. She worked with us in three stints - first, she left us for a much bigger agency and then came back after a few months. Her third stint was after a couple of years, and she only left us to start her own agency.

Another key moment I would like to share. Early on in my career, I had the opportunity to witness the power of PR in influencing and shaping public policy firsthand. Nearly two decades ago, I led a campaign advocating for the adoption of open source technologies in India. The campaign’s goal was to influence India’s vote at a global forum in favour of open-source tech. After months of work involving media education, stakeholder advocacy and building coalitions with tech experts, open source evangelists and academia, our campaign succeeded in seeding over 30 stories emphasising the importance of choosing open source over proprietary technologies.

The biggest highlight, however, was when Indian officials finally cast our national vote in favour of open source, culminating in a deeply satisfying victory.

This campaign’s success left a strong imprint on me as it revealed how powerful PR as a discipline can be when it is anchored in public or national interest. It also taught me that the best storytelling goes beyond just being persuasive and can drive real-world outcomes.