The conversation around artificial intelligence is hard to ignore. For marketing and communications leaders in the industrial and manufacturing sectors, the key question isn’t if AI will change things, but how – and what to do about it.
One of our commitments to our clients at SE10 is to provide strategic counsel that cuts through the noise. It’s why we invest in continuous learning and, as part of that, I recently attended the PR Moment AI in PR Masterclass to hear how others across the communications industry – both agency side and in-house – are integrating AI into their workflows.
The day covered a huge amount of ground, and I came away with our core philosophy validated but my eyes opened to some powerful new opportunities. Here are my reflections on what these shifts really mean for SE10 and our industrial clients.
Meet your new co-workers ‘AI agents’
A crucial theme from the day was the rapid evolution of AI beyond simple task automation (like scheduling social media posts) to what the industry is calling AI agents. Unlike older AI that follows a pre-defined script, an AI agent is a tool with autonomy. You can delegate a responsibility – like conducting deep research on a competitor’s market position – and the agent can decide for itself where to look, what to analyse, and what to bring back.
This is why the analogy of an ‘AI co-worker’ is now so fitting. It isn’t here to replace strategic thinkers; it’s here to replace tasks. But as the technology becomes more autonomous, the value of human oversight, critical thinking, and ‘editorial instinct’ becomes more important, not less.
This chimes perfectly with our approach at SE10 because in industrial B2B communication, nuance is everything. You can’t ask a generic AI to grasp the complex engineering behind a new powertrain or the specific market challenges a new excavator solves. But you can use it to accelerate the research process, freeing up our human experts to focus on what truly matters: asking the right “so what?” questions and crafting a narrative that connects with your audience.
Amid AI noise, authenticity becomes your greatest asset
Journalists are already being inundated with low-quality, AI-generated pitches and even fake press releases. This creates a crisis of trust. For editors at the trade publications your customers read, a formulaic, soulless pitch is an immediate red flag.
This presents a huge opportunity.
As the flood of AI-generated content rises, verified, human-centric storytelling becomes the lighthouse in the storm. Our long-standing process – interviewing your subject-matter experts, verifying every claim, and building real relationships with journalists – is no longer just good practice; it’s a critical differentiator. Trust, as noted before in The value of human-powered PR in the AI age, is the bedrock of communication, and the masterclass reinforced that this foundation is more crucial than ever.
The next frontier is here: From SEO to GEO
Perhaps the most significant shift discussed was the evolution of search. For years, we’ve all focused on search engine optimisation (SEO) to get to the top of Google’s rankings. The new frontier is generative engine optimisation (GEO), also known as LLM optimisation.
What does this mean? It’s no longer just about being found; it’s about being cited.
When a potential customer asks a generative AI tool like ChatGPT or Google Gemini a question – “What are the most innovative developments in sustainable manufacturing?” – GEO is the practice of ensuring your company’s insights, white papers, and case studies are integrated directly into the AI’s answer.
A fascinating insight was that AI models place enormous trust in high-quality editorial and owned media. For our clients, who are leaders in innovation and quality, the deep, technical content we create together is precisely what these AI engines need to provide credible answers. For PR, this opens up a whole new discipline: shaping what the world’s most powerful AI models know and say about your brand.
The future is human-driven, AI-enhanced
My participation in the masterclass confirmed what we’ve long believed at SE10: the future of PR is not about a battle between humans and machines. It’s about human ingenuity, enhanced by AI. While we explore and integrate these powerful new technologies responsibly, our core values remain our compass. The “humanity” we prize – our deep industry knowledge, our strategic judgment, and the personal relationships we build – cannot be automated. As both the AI and media landscapes evolve, our promise to our clients is to be both your strategic guide and your human touchpoint in an increasingly automated world.Is your brand ready to navigate the new AI-powered communications landscape? Contact us to start the conversation.
