• In five years at MSR, Senior Account Executive Meriane has seen the pace of PR accelerate dramatically.
• AI has compressed the communications calendar. PR teams must be flexible, ready to plan, react, and/or pivot at a moment’s notice.
• The pitches that land coverage combine speed with timely insights, exclusive data, and customer examples.

Twenty years into my communications career and five years into my time at MSR Communications, I can confidently say that nothing has transformed the way we work quite like AI, and this is true for almost all knowledge workers.

Beyond the ethical question of “should I be using AI to write/rewrite/tweak this?” and the ongoing debate about loss of authenticity, one change that has turned my professional life upside down is the accelerated pace. Working with AI companies moves faster than anything I have ever experienced.

Communications Then vs. Now

Before AI entered the room, communications teams often had more time to proactively build campaigns around established product roadmaps and predictable announcement schedules. We could map out launches months in advance, develop content, brief spokespeople, and pursue media opportunities according to a relatively stable timeline.

Today, new AI products, features, and company announcements may arrive only weeks apart. A carefully built plan quickly becomes outdated as more models become available, a new product launches, a competitor changes direction,or an emerging issue starts getting the media’s attention.

What PR Teams are Doing Today

This fast-paced landscape demands a flexible and agile PR mindset. While strategic planning remains essential, they are now far more fluid and organic. PR teams must quickly adapt messaging, adjust timelines, and pivot resources to pursue and secure media, analyst, and event opportunities.

At the same time, it’s interesting to realize that traditional PR fundamentals are more essential and relevant than ever. Strong messaging, targeted media outreach, executive prep, compelling storytelling, and consistent follow-up are crucial to drive media coverage and deliver the authoritative links and results required for GEO and AEO search visibility.

What Works for Tech PR

As tech develops everyday so does tech PR. In this current landscape the media still has an appetite for stories around AI, but that doesn’t mean any pitch mentioning AI will draw interest. Rather the opposite is true, journalists are much more critical of any AI pitch. Reporters want clear explanations of key trends, their underlying causes, and what the real-world impact will be.

Below, I outline the three approaches that have helped land some of the strongest results for our clients in 2026. But as with everything in AI, success requires the flexibility to adapt, evolve, ,’and change course.

1. Issues-jacking

Companies and leaders can land meaningful coverage by providing timely expertise on trending news. With journalists closely tracking AI’s impact, offering thought leaders who can analyze trends, clarify key issues, and present practical solutions has been an effective way to secure media interest.

2. Data-driven and case study-driven stories

Proprietary data gives reporters something concrete to examine, while customer examples show how a trend is unfolding in practice. The strongest stories connect interesting, timely numbers with clear examples of what leaders in the real world are experiencing, learning, or changing.

3. Speed, insight, and helpfulness

Media relationships still have value, but a strong relationship alone cannot carry a weak or untimely pitch. What increasingly matters is the ability to respond quickly with an informed perspective, relevant data, and a source with genuine connection and insight to the story. The goal is always to make the reporter’s job easier, and you don’t need to be their established source to make it happen.

PR Continues to Evolve

The fundamentals of PR have never been more important. With more than 95% of AI-citations coming from non-paid sources, authority and earned media now form the foundation of visibility across GEO and AEO.

Success requires pairing proven communications practices with careful monitoring, critical thinking, and the agility to move at the speed of the story. Combined with resilience and persistence, these qualities define the best PR teams I’ve known.