Golin's first chief AI officer shares the company's strategy for using AI to transform public relations

• The chief AI officer is a developing C-suite position that leads a company's AI strategy.
• The AI chief at Golin, a PR agency, said his role was created to help the company integrate AI.
• This article is part of "CXO AI Playbook" — straight talk from business leaders on how they're testing and using AI.

Companies worldwide are using AI to enhance their efficiency and creativity. Golin, a global public-relations agency, is embracing this transition with the ambitious goal of becoming the world's first fully AI-integrated PR agency by 2026.

Jeff Beringer, Golin's newly appointed chief AI officer, said he hoped to weave AI into every facet of the company's operations. He told Business Insider that the company was in the "phase of enablement" as it rolls out AI-powered tools to employees and strategizes how to use AI with clients. Golin partners with companies such as Adobe to access their AI services and also develops more niche solutions in-house.

Beringer, who's worked at Golin for over 20 years, stressed that public relations would always require a human touch. He said Golin wasn't looking to use AI for automation but for "intelligence augmentation."

The following has been edited for clarity and length.

The role of chief AI officer is new for Golin, and you're the first to have the title. Why did the company see the need for a CAIO?

Our journey with AI began over two years ago when we started an incubator to explore how new technologies could enhance our work for clients. We realized that the changes in AI are happening much faster than anticipated.

Our executive leadership team asked ourselves, if we were starting this 70-year-old agency from scratch today, would it look the same? The answer was probably not.

So we made a transformation plan to become the first fully AI-integrated global PR agency by the start of 2026. By fully integrated, we mean that every employee, regardless of role, specialty, or seniority, will benefit from AI's assistance.

That's a lot of change in a short time, and my role spun out of that ambition. As the chief AI officer, my job is to orchestrate that change by working with other leaders at Golin and with our clients.

What specific steps has Golin made toward achieving the goal of becoming fully AI-integrated by 2026?

We've mapped out a detailed plan that unfolds in phases, almost quarterly. The first step was setting the right ambition and making sure everyone in the organization understands it, and we've done that.

Currently we're in the phase of enablement. We've identified the right tools for core jobs across our organization and are building or licensing the best technology to support them.

We're also working with client partners to test these tools. For example, with Grubhub, we're exploring how AI can improve our work, from research and insights to creative content production.

Can you share details about the specific AI tools, software, and services Golin is using?

Our philosophy is to remain flexible and not get boxed in with specific providers. That said, we have partnerships with companies like Adobe. Adobe's Firefly technology, for example, is transformative for creative work.

Besides partnering, we develop products internally. We've created a solution for influencer vetting. Using AI, we can analyze up to 10 years' worth of an influencer's online presence to identify potential risks. Before, that was both time-consuming and less thorough.

We also use AI for emotive content testing. Traditionally, content testing involved expensive and time-consuming focus groups. Now we use AI and facial-recognition technology to gauge real-time emotional reactions to content that hasn't been published yet.

Does Golin have an engineering team on staff to develop these solutions?

We have developers, but we're not a technology company. Our strategy is to work with the best partners out there.

However, we're adding depth in areas like data science and data architecture because there's immense opportunity in leveraging the data we generate daily. We're hiring in these areas to better synthesize data and make more informed decisions with AI assistance.

Importantly, we're not trying to replace people with server farms. Instead of AI and automation for everything, we're at intelligence augmentation. What our clients really want is a great human partner.

There's a lot of interest in AI, but also a lot of criticism. How does Golin balance excitement with caution, especially with clients more wary of AI?

It's evolving, and it reminds me of the early days of digital or social media. Some clients are eager to move fast, while others take a wait-and-see approach.

What's different with AI is the speed at which clients have moved from being inspired to focusing on application. They want to see results, not promises.

Each client is different in their appetite for AI, but many realize that if they don't embrace it, they risk being left behind.

From a business perspective, where are you looking to see the return on investment with AI?

We are focused on efficacy more than efficiency.

With clients, our primary metrics are improved outcomes. We want to see that our clients are satisfied.

Internally, we're looking at employee engagement and happiness. If AI helps our people spend more time on thoughtful, strategic tasks rather than routine ones, that's a win.

These are the most important goals. Is our work getting better? Are our people happier in their roles? If we get those two things right, everything else will follow.