Can artificial intelligence make pitching the media an easier process? KWT Global CEO Aaron Kwittken, who is also the founder and CEO of Prophet, an AI-driven, SaaS platform for PR professionals, discusses that question with Doug Simon in the latest “PR’s Top Pros Talk” video interview.

The short answer to the question is yes, but Kwittken says that although the time is right for AI to be integrated into the pitch process, the changes are not going to happen all at once. “It’s going to be baby steps,” he says. “It’s just a matter of time and patience for that technology to catch up to the vision.”

A big plus of incorporating AI into pitch-making, Kwittken says, is that it frees up PR pros from a lot of mundane work “so you can do higher value work for your clients, whether you’re in-house or you’re an agency person.”

Another benefit is that AI lets PR pros test out pitches, standby statements and crisis-oriented press releases before they go to market, giving them a better idea of how they will land.

While AI is the force behind Prophet, print media was its first target. “For the most part, really momentous and thoughtful trends, it all starts with print,” Kwittken tells Simon. He also says that the platform is reporter-driven, rather than outlet-driven, a response to the contraction of newsrooms and the increasingly freelance nature of the profession.

However, Kwittken also sees the AI-assisted pitch process as a way to bring the PR profession up to speed in an era of accelerating technological change. “PR people have always been at the bottom of the tech stack,” he says, “and it’s time that we take the stack back.”

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Interested in taking part? Contact Doug Simon at [email protected]

D S Simon Media helps clients get their stories on television through satellite media tours and by producing and distributing content to the media. The company also produces live social media events.