News and Insights
Technology: The Great Differentiator
November 19, 2025
Over the years, specialized software has transformed the public relations profession and added to the industry’s toolbox. In the early days of my PR career, the key to success was simple: the names and numbers you had on hand. Over the years, specialized software has added new “must-have” tools for success. The practice of public relations has evolved to include new services, like SEO, but the tools haven’t been differentiators because they’ve been widely available to anyone willing to pay.
The landscape is shifting. Artificial intelligence has become a disruptive force that is fundamentally reshaping how PR firms operate, deliver value and serve clients. The future now belongs to communications agencies that can build their own tools and build new ways of working.
In other words, technology is about to become a tremendous differentiator within the industry, and this has ramifications regarding how firms win business, serve our clients and manage talent. Yes, agencies will continue to thrive on strategic insight, domain expertise and genuine human connection. But many will offer product development to the mix.
Designing the tools
As they always have, clients judge us by our ability to execute a strategy that builds trust with the public and delivers results. The strategy will remain the same. The tactics will undoubtedly change. Artificial intelligence gives firms the power to design bespoke tools for specific client needs or new products that all of them can use. The mandate has evolved from being expert users of technology to becoming expert builders of it.
We’re putting this principle into practice at FINN Partners, where we’ve developed tools, technologies and proprietary platforms designed to put AI to work for our clients. Each offering is built to address real-world challenges with precision, speed and insight, always backed by the human expertise that turns intelligence into action.
This includes:
GEO: Brand visibility optimized for LLMs and new search behaviors, so your message gets found.
AIristotle: A proprietary agentic tool that analyzes narrative discourse to craft the most effective messages, whether to drive engagement or counter manipulation, depending on client needs.
SAIL: Secure, phased AI integration for marketing and communications, including audits, roadmaps, training and tailored deployments for each brand.
Forensic media analysis: An AI-augmented forensic approach to uncovering coordinated attacks, bad-faith actors and disruptive technologies that manipulate client narratives.
Canary for crisis: A proprietary AI-powered simulation that helps communications teams prepare for real-world pressure in today’s complex media environment.
As we invest in tools, we are also investing in training our people to use them. Our staff are equipped not only to operate the tools, but also how to strategically use them to gain deeper insights. This fusion gives our clients faster, sharper and more informed counsel.
Redefining value: Think bigger, broader, deeper
We all know new tools and technology enable professionals to think faster and smarter. But the real opportunity is to go bigger, broader and deeper. As technology increasingly assumes more operational roles, early-career professionals fear it may replace them. The mindset should instead shift to how these new tools can accelerate the career growth of these individuals.
Technology allows a new generation of professionals to move beyond early career administrative work faster, enabling them to focus on strategy, creativity and client counsel much earlier in their careers. For agencies, it means what we are selling is changing. We’re no longer selling operational hours, but we’re unlocking a full team of strategists and creative problem solvers.
The result? Clients get more senior-level thinking per dollar spent, and young professionals develop deeper expertise faster, building a pipeline of future leaders shaped by creativity, curiosity and strategic depth.
Premium on human trust and authentic relationships
And yet, no matter how advanced the tools, PR will remain at its core, a relationship business. Trust and collaboration will remain the pillar upon which client relationships are built.
And whether we are dealing with clients, the media, or stakeholders, relationships require authenticity, real experiences and emotional intelligence. These are inherently human qualities that technology cannot replace. When a crisis hits, clients don’t turn to a tool; they turn to the person they trust.
To paraphrase Amy Poehler on SNL: AI can draft a press release, but it can’t build a genuine relationship with a reporter. It can track sentiment data, but it can’t navigate a nuanced crisis and provide empathetic counsel to a leadership team. It can track keywords, but it can’t craft a truly resonant story that lands with an audience.
The road ahead for public relations will not be defined by those who simply adopt technology, but by those who build, shape and integrate it into the very fabric of their counsel.
The opportunity lies in using these new capabilities to deliver greater value for clients and more meaningful growth for our teams. The challenge for today’s communications leaders is to guide this evolution, ensuring that technology serves strategy, not the other way around. If we rise to that challenge, we won’t just keep up with change, we’ll define what comes next.
Originally posted on O’Dwyer’s on November 19, 2025.
POSTED BY: Alicia Young
