Thought leadership is entering a new era, where both journalists and public relations professionals are navigating the reality that AI has fundamentally changed how ideas are created and shared. Highly polished perspectives can seemingly be churned out in a matter of minutes after punching in a few prompts, and a blank page suddenly doesn’t quite feel as scary (or as blank).
In many ways, that’s a good thing. AI is helping democratize content creation, giving more people the ability to develop and articulate their ideas. But it’s also creating a new challenge. Despite more voices at the table and greater access to different perspectives than ever before, thought leadership is generic right now.
As PR professionals, we’ll always want content that is polished and compelling, even if AI plays a role in getting it there. That’s not the problem. The bigger question is whether the perspective behind that content is specific, credible and distinctive enough to be worth anyone’s attention.
This is where PR has a real opportunity. When anyone can produce polished content with AI, our value shifts from simply helping leaders say something well to helping them say something only they can say. The competitive advantage is no longer better writing; it’s better thinking. And that’s where PR can make all the difference.
Credentials aren’t enough for thought leadership.
Credentials alone don’t make someone a strong thought leader. A title may explain why they have a seat at the table, but it doesn’t tell us what they can bring to the conversation. The best person to share their perspectives with the media or on owned channels may not actually be the most senior. Instead, it might be the leader who is closest to the particular issue, working through the challenges, testing solutions and seeing firsthand what’s changing. For example, a C-level executive might be best suited to talk about company vision or broad industry outlook, but a product manager might have the deeper expertise to speak to more in-the-weeds topics.
This doesn’t mean high-ranking leaders should be ruled out – their unique point of view could be hiding behind corporate language, caution or fear of saying the wrong thing. So, before dismissing that leader as the wrong spokesperson, you and your team need to ask whether they’re the wrong fit, or you simply haven’t found the right conversation to have. Our job is to find the right voices, but sometimes we also have to help leaders uncover, develop and articulate the distinct point of view that’s needed.
Discovery has to go deeper.
Before you ever put pen to paper, PR teams have to know and understand what’s already been said about the category, what perspectives competitors are putting out there and which ideas are overused. That kind of preparation is going to change the questions you ask when you’re interviewing executives for fodder.
Instead of only asking subject matter experts, “What trends are you seeing?” we should ask, “Which trend is getting too much (or too little) attention?” Instead of asking, “What should companies do?” we should ask, “What are companies getting wrong?” Finally, instead of asking for general advice, we should ask what the expert would stop, change or challenge.
Essentially, you become a reporter during your discovery session, asking the hard-hitting questions and ultimately sourcing the most interesting points of view.
PR teams need to pressure-test and vet the thinking
Finding a point of view that feels strong and new is only the first step. Now, ask yourself the hard questions: Is it specific enough? Is it going to be useful to anyone? Does it solve a challenge that our audience is facing? Does it provide a differentiator that competitors can’t copy? And most importantly: Could any executive in the organization or the industy give the same insight? If yes, go back to the drawing board and find something that is specific only to that leader.
In addition, keep in mind that not every point of view has to be bold just for boldness’s sake. That kind of forced contrarian thinking can be just as empty as generic commentary. To stand out, a point of view just needs to help people see any given issue more clearly.
As professional communicators, our antennae should be finely tuned to pick up on messaging that, may seem polished on the outside, but when viewed up close is paper thin. We should be able to tell when a quote won’t catch a reporter’s attention. That judgement is needed now more than ever, and we shouldn’t be afraid to say it.
The AI barrage of “slop” isn’t going away anytime soon. Just as AI has created a greater democracy of content creation, the PR professional’s role has become increasingly more important in this era – not less.
Our job is not to counsel leaders to simply publish more. It’s to help them bring better thinking to the conversation. We do this through better preparation, deeper discovery, more honest pressure-testing and a clearer understanding of what a particular thought leader can and should own. The democracy of thought only works if the thoughts are real, and that requires the kind of perspective that can only come from hard-earned experience.
The next era of thought leadership won’t be won by the teams who publish the most. We’re already seeing what that looks like, and it isn’t working. It will be won by the teams willing to do the harder work before anything gets written: uncovering the insight, challenging the assumptions and finding the singular viewpoint only that leader can provide.
AI has made it easier to speak; PR’s role is to help leaders say something worth hearing.
