Diana Marszalek 28 Jan 2025 // 9:02PM GMT

On the heels of CES earlier this month, Jordan Rittenberry, Weber Shandwick West president and North American tech practice lead, spoke with PRovoke Media about the biggest development in the field — AI — and the multi-dimensional opportunities and challenges that come with it for PR. "Only by embracing new ways of thinking about storytelling can companies be sure they’re making their mark and not swept away with the crowd," he said.
What were your biggest takeaways from CES this year, and how do they reflect broader trends in the technology industry?
There were a lot of important messages to take away from this year’s CES. Not surprisingly, a lot of them revolve around AI. For me, the biggest takeaways are:
Responsible AI is a must. While it’s easy to get caught up in the excitement of agentic AI and GenAI, it’s also important that the technology is developed in ways that mitigate bias. For AI to be successful, it really has to serve a diverse audience.
Now that AI is seemingly everywhere in the tech market, leading companies need to find smart ways of integrating AI into their products and communicating how AI is actually improving the user experience and solving real problems. Pretty soon, AI is going to be just another feature consumers take for granted when they buy new devices.
AI’s impact will extend far beyond what GenAI is enabling PCs and mobile devices to do. Accenture CEO Julie Sweet covered this well during her conversation with CNBC’s Julia Boorstin at CES, and device makers on the show floor emphasized the point by showcasing new AI-enhanced gadgets. Some that stood out to me were WeWalk’s smart cane for people with visual impairments, Dreame Technology’s new vacuum that uses mini appendages to climb stairs and L’Oréal’s Cell BioPrint for monitoring skin health, to name just a few.
Which emerging technologies or innovations do you believe will define the tech landscape in 2025, and why should companies start paying attention to them now?
AI integration is certainly going to define the tech landscape in the coming year, and beyond. Consumers are looking for products that offer personalized experiences based on their needs, and that’s something AI can certainly deliver on.
Beyond that, I think we’ll see more examples of agentic AI make their way into the consumer space. This will create new levels of automation, leading to devices that are more proactive in nature. Imagine your virtual assistant learning your preferences and then making decisions scheduling appointments or reordering supplies, for example – based on those preferences. Once companies prove agentic AI is a real advantage to consumers, they’re going to start expecting that level of service in a lot of the tech they buy. The main caveat here is that agentic AI really has to prove it’s worth. No one wants their smartphone scheduling appointments or making purchases that they don’t really need or want.
What do you see as the biggest challenges for tech brands and their PR teams in the coming year, especially as technologies like AI and Web3 become more mainstream?
The challenges with AI and Web3 aren’t so different from what companies and their communications teams have faced in the past. They’re going to need to communicate the value (and tangible outcomes) in language that their audiences can understand. That means giving enough detail and nuance for tech journalists and enthusiasts who are up for the challenge of tackling that kind of info. Journalists, in particular, are struggling to separate hype from reality when it comes to AI’s capabilities and potential impact. Tech brands and their comms teams need to be able to provide credible proof points to support claims about their AI. Trust is critical to AI’s acceptance, and that trust can be earned, in part, through clear, unambiguous explanations of what AI can and can’t do.
More broadly, it’s also important for tech vendors and their comms teams to take the time to really explain to less technical folks the significance of generative and agentic AI, not to mention Web3’s promise of decentralized control over user data. Those kinds of campaigns take a lot of creativity and imagination, but they’re well worth the effort.
With increasing scrutiny on tech companies from regulators and lawmakers, how should brands approach storytelling and reputation management in 2025?
It goes without saying that emphasis on responsible, ethical AI use and data protection should be top of mind for tech companies at all times. The regulatory environment in the U.S. is still taking shape, but we’ve already seen tougher digital privacy and security measures in the European Union. One recent example there is the DORA framework aimed at making the EU’s financial services industry more resilient to digital disruptions and cyber security threats.
Consistent, proactive messaging in clear, jargon-free language continues to be a crucial part of successful storytelling and reputation management. Understand where your brand’s leadership stands on important issues so you can better manage your brand’s reputation and get ahead of potential problems. In the age of social media everywhere, all the time, it’s getting more difficult to successfully respond to a crisis after you’re already in the middle of it.
As tech evolves rapidly, how can PR teams play a more significant role in supporting innovation while managing the expectations of consumers, investors, and regulators?
We’ll always have a very important role to play in translating the significance of new technologies to different audiences. Brands will continue to try to communicate their messaging in ways that have been successful in the past, issuing press releases and seeking out more mainstream media, for example. PR teams have to satisfy those demands while finding smart ways to use new channels to reach new audiences. PR teams can do that by being well-versed in emerging social media and influencers. This will help them spread their clients’ messaging in ways that go viral without overpromising or making questionable claims that get them on the radar of regulators. Be bold, but also make sure you do your homework before making those bold recommendations to your client.
AI tools were a major topic at CES this year. How do you see AI reshaping the PR industry itself, both in terms of opportunities and potential risks?
AI tools are going to play a big part in making PR teams more efficient, freeing up time for more strategic and proactive counsel to clients and business partners. But, even more than that, I think AI’s big benefit is helping us create data-driven strategies for clients. There are a lot of great opportunities to use AI-based search and analytics to get deeper insights into how brands are being perceived, what sorts of traffic their social channels are getting, and how that information can quickly be applied to improving ongoing messaging. The main risks are depending too much on automation to get this work done and not taking the time to double-check the information and recommendations we’re getting back from the AI tools we’re using. If we think we can just hand over to our clients whatever we’re getting back from our AI tools, we’re going to find ourselves and our profession in deep trouble pretty quickly.
Are there any shifts in how tech companies should tell their stories in 2025 to stand out in a crowded marketplace?
For tech companies to be successful in telling their stories in 2025, and beyond, they need to continue to connect with key audiences in the ways those key audiences prefer to get their information. As upstart media channels, social communities, influencers and creators increasingly become important conduits of news, it’s become clear that companies need to consider not just whether they’re showing up on the WSJ’s front page but also how they’re showing up in Tiktok and Instagram feeds. We’ve come to think of this as the “media network effect.” The key is understanding that trusted media brands now come in many new forms.
Another point that I like to emphasize is that AI isn’t just influencing how people use your products, it’s influencing how people find your products. AI search is likewise redefining what “news” means. Rather than clicking on links, consumers’ queries are now answered with AI-orchestrated summaries. That means companies need to make sure they’re showing up online in ways that are optimized to be used in AI search results. Only by embracing new ways of thinking about storytelling can companies be sure they’re making their mark and not swept away with the crowd.