Phyusion

As the PR industry nears the midway point of 2026, clients are far beyond asking their agency partners how they’re using #AI. Smart brands are asking their firms about the people using the tool, and how AI is helping them supercharge their own expertise. For this year’s Agency Business Report AI Audit, PRWeek’s Frank Washkuch spoke to Phyusion’s Samantha Stark, Edelman’s Brian Buchwald, Allison Worldwide’s Katie Huang Shin, Burson’s Chad Latz and Golin Ketchum’s Rob Bernstein and Jeff Beringer to get the inside scoop: https://lnkd.in/e3C-pHde

Curious about AI agents? Here's your chance to learn from someone who's building them every day. Tomorrow, our founder and chief strategist, Samantha Stark, joins The DM Show with Deirdre Breakenridge and Martin Waxman, MCM, APR for a candid conversation about what AI agents mean for communicators and marketers. Sam will get into how to identify which workflows are best suited for an agent, the difference between an agent and an automation (and why it matters), and the levels of autonomy most teams should start with. Noon ET. RSVP link in the comments.

Wow … can’t think of a better way to kick off the week than being surrounded by so many bright minds across Communications, Corporate Affairs, and Brand for our first-ever Strategic Communications Summit! There is something special about bringing this group together – peers across companies, continents, and backgrounds – all in one place (virtually), learning from each other and pushing our thinking forward. A big thank you to the phenomenal speakers joining us this week: Samantha Stark, Frank X. Shaw, Meghan McAndrews, Kori Inkpen, Jamie Haynes, Jennifer Rodriguez, Stacey Eisen, Liz Avera, Jon Harris, TR Straub, Maril Gagen MacDonald, Bradley Akubuiro, Linda Boff, Josh Earnest, Taniyah Beg, Eve Stevens, Jaimie Harding, Allyson Park. And, an even bigger thank you to the team behind the scenes who made this summit happen. You believed you could create something meaningful, and you did! Kasey Anderson, Farrah Aper, Sara Ballinger, Meghan Cushing, Kerry H., George Hradecky, Howard N. Karesh, Kaili Kasper, Stephanie Tharrington, Colleen Weber, Rachel Wille, Eileen Ziesemer, Katie Zoller. Looking forward to a week of ideas and energy!

Joined Mike Fernandez on The Crux of the Story podcast this week to talk about what it takes for communications leaders to drive the AI shift, and to move from experimentation to reinvention. A few trends discussed, in case you're working through any of this with your team: - The Ferrari (AI) is parked in the driveway. Many of us are driving it at five miles an hour. - The four stages of AI maturity, and why most comms teams are stuck somewhere between building and scaling - Why the friction between IT and domain experts is quietly shaping which AI tools get adopted, and which ones miss - What separates a prompted agent (the "smart intern") from a workflow agent (the "highly skilled junior team member"), and where multi-agent systems are headed - Synthetic audiences is an underused creative tool in PR right now - Why the metrics to watch are strategic and cultural - capability, job satisfaction, and the expansion of roles THANK YOU to Mike for the conversation. Link to listen: https://lnkd.in/g4zcfwgE

ON THE CRUX – What It Takes To Organize A Communications Team For A.I. Success What does it really take for communicators to lead in the AI revolution?  We explore that question and more with Samantha Stark, Founder and Chief Strategist of Phyusion, which is helping communications teams integrate AI with clarity, intention, and operational impact. Sam brings more than 25 years of PR and integrated marketing leadership – from Endeavor’s 160over90 to Ketchum, Burson, Rubenstein Communications and Hunter PR.   Today, through Phyusion, she helps enterprise organizations build AI agents, optimize workflows, and design governance structures that secure human judgment, ethics, and reputation. Named to PRWeek’s "AI 25", and a trusted educator and advisor to the Institute for Public Relations and Ragan Communications and PR Daily, Sam is known for her practical frameworks that demystify AI, workflow automation, and the cultural shifts required for teams to thrive. In this conversation, Sam breaks down: ·        Four stages of AI maturity – and her assessment of where most PR and communications teams are in their maturation; ·        How to build AI agents that act like “smart interns” or “highly skilled junior team members;” ·        The creative potential of generative AI; and ·        The capability she believes will define the next three years of AI in PR. Sam is a strategist, a builder, and a translator between technology and the craft of communication. If you’re a communicator, CCO, agency leader, or anyone navigating the future of our profession, this episode can be a helpful roadmap for your team’s AI journey. You can listen to the episode on: · Apple Podcasts · SoundCloud, and · Spotify.   The podcast discusses what is at the heart of communication in all its forms and has had among its guests: top journalists, brand experts, photojournalists, documentary filmmakers, authors, market researchers, agency leaders, CMOs and CCOs. The podcast is produced by the Kennedy Greenhouse Studio at the University of South Carolina School of Journalism and Mass Communications. #AI #Communication #PublicRelations #Leadership #TheCruxOfTheStory #Phyusion #AIFuture https://lnkd.in/g4zcfwgE

Random acts of AI. That's where a lot of teams are in their adoption right now. According to the latest Institute for Public Relations research, only 37% of organizations have communicated a change story around why AI matters. People are often experimenting on their own, without a shared goal or a way to measure what's working. And as AI agents go mainstream, it's only going to get more complicated (and more exciting). Instead of "write this draft," an agent chains together steps, makes decisions within a defined scope, and flags what needs your review. Think of the difference between handing someone one task at a time versus having a junior team member who understands the workflow. At the IPR Bridge Conference, Martin Waxman, MCM, APR and I are getting into the practical side of this shift. We'll walk through an AI Autonomy Ladder for increasing agent independence only as governance matures, demo automation in a real communications workflow, and talk through where human judgment stays essential: reputational risk, stakeholder relationships, ethical calls, strategic narrative. If your team is past the basics and trying to figure out what comes next, this is that conversation. March 18-19 | The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Details and registration: https://lnkd.in/eR_m39pU