Shaping the future of PR with AI: Insights from Microsoft’s Frank X. Shaw

Send us Fan MailIn this episode, Microsoft CCO Frank Shaw joins host Jason Mudd to discuss how AI is reshaping PR workflows, strategy, and corporate communications.Tune in to learn more!Meet Our Guest:Our episode guest is Frank X. Shaw, chief communications officer at Microsoft. Frank leads global communications strategy, product PR, media and analyst relations, executive and employee communications, and global agency partnerships. He shares insights on how communicators can leverage AI to focus on high-value work and improve efficiency.Five things you’ll learn from this episode:1. How to identify high-value PR work and apply AI to repetitive tasks2. Practical AI applications for media monitoring, analyst engagement, and internal communications3. How autonomous AI agents can enhance predictive insights for communications teams4. The mindset needed to embrace AI tools without fear of job loss5. How efficiency gained through AI can drive growth rather than just cost-cuttingQuotables“It's not like you can outsource your judgment, but you can augment it.” — Frank Shaw“I don't look at all this technology as something that is going to cut costs. It's going to allow us to do the things that are in front of us that we want to do that we can't get to right now because we don't have the resources and the time.” — Frank Shaw“The mindset has to be one of experimentation, curiosity, trying new things, being willing to fail, at some, grabbing every tool that comes out there and thinking about how we can apply it to the work that we do. “ — Frank Shaw“I think everybody should be experimenting with stuff at home and at work because it's moving really fast, and the way you stay on top of it is just to play.” — Frank Shaw“People say the corporate communication profession has changed over the years. And my argument is it really hasn't changed. We just have better tools. But those same tools require us to be even better practitioners, more strategically minded.” — Jason MuddIf you enjoyed this episode, please take a moment to share it with a colleague or friend. You may also support us through Buy Me a Coffee or by leaving us a quick podcast review.Guest’s contact info and resources:Frank X. Shaw on LinkedInMicrosoft websiteLinkedIn Learning: Communicator’s Guide to AI Tools and Mindsets for Modern PR and Media courseAdditional Resources:Axia’s AI Relations serviceMicrosoft Copilot StudioMicrosoft BingGet to Know Microsoft EdgeSupport the showOn Top of PR is produced by Axia Public Relations, named by Forbes as one of America’s Best PR Agencies. Axia is an expert PR firm for national brands.On Top of PR is sponsored by ReviewMaxer, the platform for monitoring, improving, and promoting online customer reviews.

Send a text In this episode, Brandon Watts joins host Jason Mudd to discuss how to prioritize audience and authenticity in media-first PR during the AI era.Tune in to learn more! Meet Our Guest:Our episode guest is Brandon Watts, director of PR and communications at Storyblok. With 20-plus years in shaping narratives for startups and enterprise tech, Brandon brings insights from both the media and PR sides. He’s also contributed to Fast Company, Entrepreneur, and Adweek.Five things you’ll learn from this episode:1. How to adopt a media-first approach in PR during the AI era2. Why quality matters more than quantity when pitching stories3. How to put the audience before your PR agenda4. The power of exclusives and timings5. Tips for pitching original, AI-proof storiesQuotables“The biggest challenge here is when we think of what we're trying to tell, the story we're trying to tell, it's usually always framed through our lens. What do we have to say? What benefit do we get from it? That's a lot of we, me — a lot of self-service focus. So we have to reframe this. If it's media first, it means that it's really media first.” — Brandon Watts“Communication with your pitch is so critical because that's really what helps you to sell it, to make it more broad in terms of who's going to want to listen to that and why.” — Brandon Watts“You have to create the stories that AI can't. And all of that is due to your personal experience, what your company's experiencing, what your team is experiencing, and your customers' lived experiences that cannot be hallucinated, that cannot be made up. That's authenticity.” — Brandon Watts“We use AI just in the right way to help you get more power out of your content creation. So you just have to take that extra bit of time to understand that you can't just prompt and run. You've got to give it context and tweak.” — Brandon Watts“Garbage in, garbage out. If you put bad input into a generative AI app, you're going to get bad output from it.” — Jason MuddIf you enjoyed this episode, please take a moment to share it with a colleague or friend. You may also support us through Buy Me a Coffee or by leaving us a quick podcast review.Guest’s contact info and resources:Brandon Watts on LinkedInStoryblok websiteHow to stay ahead of AI in communication and marketingListen to more episodes of the On Top of PR with Jason Mudd podcast.Find out more about Axia Public Relations.Additional Resources:Axia’s AI ServiceAI in PR: Transforming communSupport the showOn Top of PR is produced by Axia Public Relations, named by Forbes as one of America’s Best PR Agencies. Axia is an expert PR firm for national brands.On Top of PR is sponsored by ReviewMaxer, the platform for monitoring, improving, and promoting online customer reviews.

Send us Fan MailIn this episode, Brett Farmiloe joins host Jason Mudd to discuss the comeback of HARO and smarter PR pitching. Tune in to learn more! Meet Our Guest:Our episode guest is Brett Farmiloe, founder and CEO at Help a Reporter Out (HARO). Brett has scaled startups and worked with global brands, and he helps professionals share their expertise online. His mission is to make knowledge more accessible and human.Five things you’ll learn from this episode: 1. Why HARO was revived and what’s changed since its launch2. How journalist profiles and “Open to Write” signals improve pitch success3. Tips for better pitches with fewer blasts to stand out to reporters4. How HARO is expanding to support journalists beyond sourcing experts5. How PR pros can measure expert authority instead of vanity placements in the AI era More About Brett FarmiloeBrett Farmiloe is the CEO of Help a Reporter Out (HARO), a platform connecting journalists with sources to create expert-powered content. An entrepreneur and author, Brett has scaled startups, collaborated with global brands, and helped thousands of professionals share their expertise. His mission is to make knowledge more accessible and human online.Quotables“Our goal at the end of the day is to connect journalists with great sources for stories.” — Brett Farmiloe“When sources come to us and they're like, ‘What do I do here? How do I be helpful?’ It's really in the HARO acronym: It's be Helpful, be Authentic, be Relevant, and be On time.” — Brett Farmiloe“Be authentic; don't just use 100% AI, and add your own human expertise to things.” — Brett Farmiloe“What comes around, goes around, and I really think that just being helpful and friendly and nice to people goes a long way.” — Jason MuddIf you enjoyed this episode, please take a moment to share it with a colleague or friend. You may also support us through Buy Me a Coffee or by leaving us a quick podcast review.Guest’s contact info and resources:@BrettFarmiloe on XBrett Farmiloe on LinkedInHelp a Reporter Out websiteFeatured websiteListen to more episodes of the On Top of PR with Jason Mudd podcast.Find out more about Axia Public Relations.Additional Resources:6 tips for using HARO to pitch your storyHARO Shifts to Connectively: What does this mean for PR professionals?ASupport the showOn Top of PR is produced by Axia Public Relations, named by Forbes as one of America’s Best PR Agencies. Axia is an expert PR firm for national brands.On Top of PR is sponsored by ReviewMaxer, the platform for monitoring, improving, and promoting online customer reviews.

Send us Fan MailIn this episode, Martin Waxman joins host Jason Mudd to discuss AI’s impact on communications and marketing, why training matters, and how to avoid “AI slop” by pairing AI with real expertise.Meet Our Guest:Our episode guest is Martin Waxman, LinkedIn Learning instructor, adjunct professor at the York Schulich School of Business, and associate director of the Future of Marketing Institute. He writes an AI and digital marketing trends newsletter, delivers hands-on generative AI training workshops, and conducts AI research.Five things you’ll learn from this episode:1. Why using AI only to offload tasks can lower quality and why thinking first matters2. What Martin predicted correctly about AI and what surprised him about its rapid adoption3. How to move beyond basic content generation to strategy and analytics4. Why subject-matter expertise is critical when using AI for insights and data5. How leaders can manage hype, train teams, and stay ethical as AI evolvesQuotables“Use their brains first so they can start to push themselves and then get AI tools to push them even farther.” — Martin Waxman“We have to prompt AI, but we also have to get AI to prompt us to think about things from a different perspective.” — Martin Waxman“You don't have to go at the pace of AI development, which is really fast, but you need to go at a much faster pace than we as communicators have been used to using.” — Martin Waxman“There's a new term called FOMO, fear of becoming obsolete, which is really real. Because we don't know what we need to learn to do our job successfully. So managing The hype is job number one, figuring out what's new, when it's going to start affecting us, and what can we do to prepare along the way.” — Martin Waxman“AI will take your job if you're the master and commander of it.” — Jason MuddIf you enjoyed this episode, please take a moment to share it with a colleague or friend. You may also support us through Buy Me a Coffee or by leaving us a quick podcast review.More About Martin WaxmanMartin Waxman writes a popular AI and digital marketing trends newsletter, delivers hands-on generative AI training workshops, and conducts AI research. He’s a LinkedIn Learning instructor, adjunct professor at the York Schulich School of Business, and associate director of the Future of Marketing Institute.Guest’s contact info and resources:@martinwaxman on X@martinwaxman on InstagramMartin Waxman on FacebookMartin Waxman on LinkedInFuture of Marketing InstituteThe Neuron newsletterAxios AI newsletterLinkedIn Learning course: Using Generative AI in Public RelaSupport the showOn Top of PR is produced by Axia Public Relations, named by Forbes as one of America’s Best PR Agencies. Axia is an expert PR firm for national brands.On Top of PR is sponsored by ReviewMaxer, the platform for monitoring, improving, and promoting online customer reviews.

Send us Fan MailIn this solocast, On Top of PR host Jason Mudd discusses the ethical and practical differences between exclusives, advances, and embargoes and how to use them correctly in media relations.Tune in to learn more!Five things you’ll learn from this episode:1. The clear differences between exclusives, advances, and embargoes2. The most common PR mistakes that quietly damage credibility3. Why advances don’t restrict publication unless you explicitly say so4. How to structure ethical exclusives without limiting coverage5. Practical scripts you can use for exclusives, advances, and embargoesQuotables“If you promise a national consumer outlet an exclusive and then you pitch another national consumer outlet the same story, you broke your promise.” — @jasonmudd9“Reporters don't forget. They may confront you; they may not. They may complain; they may not. But they will remember, so always be honest and ethical in all of your communication.” — @jasonmudd9“Embargoes work best when your organization has a plan for what happens if the embargo breaks. If you want to use embargoes correctly, you must be precise.” — @jasonmudd9“This is a critical lesson: Don't rely on terminology alone. Don't assume the other party defines the offer the same way you do.” — @jasonmudd9“Media relations is not about getting coverage. Media relations is about earning trust, earning credibility, and building relationships that last.” — @jasonmudd9“If your goal is first-class media relations, the standard is simple. Say what you mean, mean what you say, deliver what you promise.” — @jasonmudd9If you enjoyed this episode, please take a moment to share it with a colleague or friend. You may also support us through Buy Me a Coffee or by leaving us a quick podcast review.Contact info and resources:Jason Mudd on XJason Mudd on LinkedInAxia Public Relations website Axia Public Relations resources1:1 consultations and training with AxiaIf you like this episode, you're going to love this:What journalists want from your media pitch with Jason Mudd, Axia Public RelationsCommon mistakes publicly traded companies make when working with the news mediaGetting More Media Coverage by Making Journalists’ Lives EasierSupport the showOn Top of PR is produced by Axia Public Relations, named by Forbes as one of America’s Best PR Agencies. Axia is an expert PR firm for national brands.On Top of PR is sponsored by ReviewMaxer, the platform for monitoring, improving, and promoting online customer reviews.

Send us Fan MailIn this episode, PRSA CEO Matthew Marcial joins host Jason Mudd to discuss the ethical use of AI in PR and key insights for communicators.Tune in to learn more!Meet our guest:Our episode guest is Matthew Marcial, CEO of the Public Relations Society of America. He leads PRSA’s strategic priorities, focusing on advancing the profession and guiding communicators through emerging challenges, including the ethical use of artificial intelligence.Five things you’ll learn from this episode:1. The biggest ethical risks with generative AI in PR2. The “Promise and Pitfalls” principles every PR team should adopt 3. How smart PR teams are using AI without crossing ethical lines4. PRSA’s role in helping professionals navigate the fast-changing AI landscape5. Tips for rising PR pros who want to lead the profession forwardQuotables“As a leader, you really need to be able to set clear expectations with your team around what the role of AI is and what it is for your organization.” — Matthew Marcial“Being comfortable with that, sharing, and training across your teams is really going to help leverage that (AI) insight and expertise.” — Matthew Marcial“I think that as a communicator, putting out anything that compromises your reputation is going to be a risk.” — Matthew Marcial“We are taking a bolder voice on issues that impact our members, the industry, and the profession.” — Matthew Marcial“The best way to learn is through trial and error.” — Jason MuddIf you enjoyed this episode, please take a moment to share it with a colleague or friend. You may also support us through Buy Me a Coffee or by leaving us a quick podcast review.More about Matthew MarcialMatthew Marcial, CAE, CMP, is the CEO of the Public Relations Society of America, the nation’s leading organization for public relations and communications professionals. Appointed in March 2025, he leads PRSA’s strategic priorities, focusing on advancing the profession, supporting member growth, and navigating emerging challenges, such as the ethical use of artificial intelligence. With more than 20 years of association leadership experience, Matthew is a frequent speaker on ethical leadership and professional development and has recently led sessions across PRSA’s regional districts on the organization’s AI Ethics Guide for PR professionals.Guest’s contact info and resources:Matthew Marcial on LinkedInPRSA websitePRSA’s Promise and Pitfalls: Ethical AI GuidePRSA’s DEI ToolkitPRSA’s Membership | Promo Code for Listeners: PRPROD25Axia’s PR ScholarsSupport the showOn Top of PR is produced by Axia Public Relations, named by Forbes as one of America’s Best PR Agencies. Axia is an expert PR firm for national brands.On Top of PR is sponsored by ReviewMaxer, the platform for monitoring, improving, and promoting online customer reviews.

Send us Fan MailIn this episode, AMEC’s CEO Johna Burke joins host Jason Mudd to discuss the Barcelona Principles 4.0 and PR measurement best practices.Tune in to learn more!Meet Our Guest:Our episode guest is Johna Burke, CEO and Global Managing Director at the International Association for the Measurement and Evaluation of Communication (AMEC). With more than 30 years of experience in marketing, PR, communications, and strategy for B2B and B2C organizations, Johna is a global leader in communication measurement and evaluation and a sought-after speaker on PR, media relations, and metrics.Five things you’ll learn from this episode:1. The 7 Barcelona Principles Explained2. How to apply the Barcelona Principles 4.0 to measure and evaluate PR effectiveness across channels3. How AMEC’s Integrated Evaluation Framework can guide planning, measurement, and reporting in your organization4. Practical ways to use data ethically to build credibility, trust, and impact in communications5. How professional development and resources from AMEC can strengthen measurement skills and PR strategy Quotables“When we looked at the Barcelona Principles, because they were rooted in best practice, a lot of them are just making them clearer statements.” — Johna Burke"Supporting the Barcelona Principles, being compliant, helps communicators make a greater value to their organization and gives credibility and reliability to their data." — Johna Burke“It gives you the planning elements, and it is a fill in the text box for what you are doing, starting with your objective and going through to put your activities, your outputs, the outcome, so that when you use this with your team and you put everything in the framework, it also helps you understand which efforts are paid, earned, shared, and owned.” — Johna Burke“Use it as the planning tool as much as you use it as a measurement tool, which arguably, if you're doing measurement effectively, you need to have good concrete planning in place to have those well-defined objectives to know and understand what's working and what's not working.” — Johna BurkeIf you enjoyed this episode, please take a moment to share it with a colleague or friend. You may also support us through Buy Me a Coffee or by leaving us a quick podcast review.More About Johna BurkeJohna Burke, CEO and Global Managing Director at the International Association for the Measurement and Evaluation of Communication (AMEC), has more than 30 years of experience driving results in marketing, public relations, investor relations, general management, communications, strategy, and operations for B2B and B2C organizations. She is an expert in strategic planning, analytics, research, business growth, and operational efficiency and is a national and international speaker on PR, media relations, measurement, social media, and metrics. With over 20 years of focused experience in B2B and B2C marketing and public relations, Johna is recognized globally for her leadership in communication measurement and evaluatioSupport the showOn Top of PR is produced by Axia Public Relations, named by Forbes as one of America’s Best PR Agencies. Axia is an expert PR firm for national brands.On Top of PR is sponsored by ReviewMaxer, the platform for monitoring, improving, and promoting online customer reviews.

Send us Fan MailIn this episode, Keller Maloney joins host Jason Mudd to discuss why PR drives AI recommendations and how earned media and brand trust shape how AI models talk about brands.Tune in to learn more!Meet Our Guest:Our episode guest is Keller Maloney, co-founder of Unusual, a platform that helps brands understand and influence how AI models perceive them. Keller has a background in AI interpretability research and works with marketers and PR teams navigating AI as a new audience.Five things you’ll learn from this episode:AI as a new audience: Why PR has to persuade machines, not just humansWhy the AI era goes beyond traditional SEOHow AI determines and delivers recommendationsThe two key hurdles brands must overcome for AI visibilityPR’s renaissance: Thriving in an AI-driven worldQuotables“If you give AI models clear claims, real proof, consistent messaging, they reward your brand like a human reviewer would. You can just do what PR folks have always been excellent at doing, which is building a brand.” — Keller Maloney“The first thing that you need to make sure of when marketing to a customer is awareness. If they don't know you exist, then there's no hope in having them buy your product. The second is specificity, to actually get recommended. When ChatGPT is having a conversation with a specific user about their specific problem, in order for that model to recommend you, they need to know that your product or your solution is the best solution for their user's very specific problem.” — Keller Maloney“The real key is earned media. It’s like convincing a human. Earned media and a corroboration across trusted sources goes a really long way in helping these models find out about your brand and then determine that you are legitimate enough to consider as a recommendation for their customer.” — Keller Maloney“Getting more AI recommendations looks a lot more like PR than anything else.” — Keller Maloney“The things that help an AI model refer to your brand are the same things that help humans refer your brand, which is strong brand presence, earned media trust, and presence across sources.” — Keller Maloney“The best PR work is helping people, educating people. Steve Jobs is famous for saying, ‘Advertising helps with sales, but good PR educates.’” — Jason MuddIf you enjoyed this episode, please take a moment to share it with a colleague or friend. You may also support us through Buy Me a Coffee or by leaving us a quick podcast review.More about Keller MaloneyKeller Maloney is the co-founder of Unusual, a platform he built with his co-founder Will to help marketers understand and influence how AI models perceive their brands. Their work takes classic PR principles and applies them to a new audience — artificial intelligence. A Los Angeles native, Keller went to Princeton University, where he earned All-American honors in water polo.Guest’s contact info and resources:Keller Maloney on LinkedInSupport the showOn Top of PR is produced by Axia Public Relations, named by Forbes as one of America’s Best PR Agencies. Axia is an expert PR firm for national brands.On Top of PR is sponsored by ReviewMaxer, the platform for monitoring, improving, and promoting online customer reviews.

Send us Fan MailIn this episode, Carla Johnson joins host Jason Mudd to discuss how brands can use curiosity to drive innovation and ideation.Tune in to learn more!Meet Our Guest:Our episode guest is Carla Johnson, keynote speaker and Innovative Architect at Think Labs. She’s the author of “RE:Think Innovation” and has helped companies like Amazon, Dell, Intel, and Hilton embrace change and generate stronger ideas.Five things you’ll learn from this episode: How breakthrough ideas form and why you must push past the obviousHow to turn “no” into momentum and a steady flow of stronger ideasWhy curiosity mattersHow the “What I Like” and “What I Wish” method improves ideasHow fresh perspectives transform PR and communication Quotables“We all like interesting things. We like stories that are clever, that are memorable, and the more memorable you make that story, the easier it is for somebody to share.” — @Carla Johnson“The beautiful thing about that whole process of coming up with the ideas, sharing the ideas and socializing them, talking about what they could look like, doesn't mean that you'll need that idea right now. But every corporate communicator, PR person, media relations person has needed an amazing idea at a drop of a hat.” — @Carla Johnson“People come to our profession for answers on how to solve something, or ‘How do I tell the story?’ Or ‘How do I fix this situation?’ But oftentimes, this diabolical need to answer the question really limits the creativity and innovative thinking that we're able to put into it.” — @Carla Johnson“When we hear about creativity and innovation, the term we always hear is about connecting the dots. And what we don't think about is in order to have dots to connect, we have to collect those dots.” — @Carla Johnson“If we have unlimited resources, we better be creative and responsible with those resources.” — @Jason MuddIf you enjoyed this episode, please take a moment to share it with a colleague or friend. You may also support us through Buy Me a Coffee or by leaving us a quick podcast review.More About Carla JohnsonCarla Johnson helps organizations break out of conventional ways of thinking. She helps teams think bolder so they can create massive momentum and deliver a bigger impact much faster. She’s the author of 10 books, including the bestseller “RE:Think Innovation.” She’s worked with companies like Amazon, Dell, Intel, and Hilton on embracing change and welcoming new ideas. All of this has helped them transform their businesses, get people excited about the work they do every day, and deliver a level of results they never imagined possible. Guest’s contact info and resources:@carlajohnson.co on InstagramCarla Johnson on FacebookCarla Johnson on LinkedInCaSupport the showOn Top of PR is produced by Axia Public Relations, named by Forbes as one of America’s Best PR Agencies. Axia is an expert PR firm for national brands.On Top of PR is sponsored by ReviewMaxer, the platform for monitoring, improving, and promoting online customer reviews.

Send us Fan MailIn this solocast, On Top of PR host Jason Mudd answers Fernandina Beach High School students’ questions and shares his PR career journey, experiences, and key insights.Tune in to learn more!Five things you’ll learn from this episode:1. How perseverance helped build Axia into the agency it is today2. How integrity shaped Jason Mudd’s career, leadership, and long-term reputation3. Why lifelong learning sets great communicators apart in PR and beyond4. The value of genuine relationships in public relations, business, and everyday life5. How setting long-term goals can guide you in owning and running your future business Quotables“One thing about the profession of public relations, you’re always getting exposure to new ideas and new information. No two days are the same.” — @jasonmudd“My primary goal and aspiration for what I do is to have a great reputation of providing both valuable and helpful services that companies benefit from.” — @jasonmudd“Growing my agency with integrity and having a reputation of giving back so that we can attract the best talent in the profession, as well as attract the best clients and do some of the best work.” — @jasonmudd“In starting a small business, you've got to do what 99% of the people are unwilling to do themselves. And that's hard by itself.” — @jasonmudd“Think about everything long-term. So, whatever you’re doing personally, professionally, think long term about it. Will your future self thank you for what you’re doing today?” — @jasonmudd“Regardless of what profession you pursue, always be learning and improving. So improve your communication skills, both verbally and written. Because at the end of the day, that will apply to any profession you're in.” — @jasonmudd“Your integrity and reputation are essential to your success in life, in business, but also in your personal life. People want to do business with people they like, know, and trust.” — @jasonmudd“The greatest compliment for a small business is probably to get a referral. If you know a small business, don't hesitate to leave them an online review or give them a referral because that is the lifeblood of a small business.”  — @jasonmuddIf you enjoyed this episode, please take a moment to share it with a colleague or friend. You may also support us through Buy Me a Coffee or by leaving us a quick podcast review.Contact info and resources:Brightway Insurance PR case studyAdecco Group PR case studyFoundation Financial Group PR case studyFirst Coast Community Bank case studySupport the showOn Top of PR is produced by Axia Public Relations, named by Forbes as one of America’s Best PR Agencies. Axia is an expert PR firm for national brands.On Top of PR is sponsored by ReviewMaxer, the platform for monitoring, improving, and promoting online customer reviews.