How real is the threat of AI-driven job cuts within PR?

At the beginning of 2024, PRWeek UK editor John Harrington suspected that at least one PR agency would cite AI and automation as a factor in redundancies that year.

While this didn’t happen, a few months into 2025 we’ve witnessed our first explicit mention of the new technology in a redundancy statement.

Speaking to PRWeek, global tech marcomms agency Team Lewis said on March 31 it had reduced its UK team by five people, in preparation for launching a new AI tool.

“We are aligning skillsets as we implement industry-leading AI systems,” said an agency spokesperson.

“This reduces the number of posts in administration and allows us to invest more in client-facing areas.”

Team Lewis concluded that it expects the use of “AI to result in less overhead positions”. So, is this indicative of the direction in which the wider PR industry is headed? Could AI technology persuade more comms firms to make cuts?

PRWeek asked the industry to comment on AI-linked redundancies in general rather than in reference to any particular agency. 

‘Positioning stunt’ or ‘structural shift’?

“When PR agencies start blaming redundancies on AI, my first thought: positioning stunt, not structural shift,” says Mark Stringer, founder and chair of PrettyGreen.

“AI is changing how we work, but right now, we’re in the early stages of transformation, not the beginning of termination,” he asserts.

“If you’re reducing headcount and blaming AI, maybe it’s not the tech that’s the problem. Maybe it’s the model.”

Stringer points out that “clients aren’t buying tech from most agencies”, explaining: “They’re buying people: sharp thinkers, creative magic, nuanced counsel.

“AI can accelerate delivery, surface insights, help process data and even draft content. It’s an assistant, a sounding board, a brainstorm catalyst. But it’s not pitching the less ordinary idea in a boardroom or navigating a brand crisis on a Sunday night.”

Tom Hashemi, chief executive of Cast from Clay, is inclined to agree—sharing his view that while AI will fundamentally change many things, comms consultancy is not one of them.

Describing a PR professional’s ability to form relationships, a skill that AI has not yet begun to develop, he asks, “Which client wants to open a bottle of wine and sit—alone—in front of a computer complaining about their boss to a GenAI tool? Which board of directors will feel confident taking a contentious decision as advised by a chatbot? Which company stakeholder will feel heard and respected when their concerns are processed through an automated sentiment analysis tool?”

While admitting that day-to-day use of AI “will continue to drive efficiencies and job losses” to some degree, Hashemi reassures PR professionals that “technological adoption takes time, and those changes will be gradual”.

Given the current climate, he adds, “A global trade war will kill far more jobs, far more quickly.”

New opportunities

While humans no doubt have the upper hand for now, there’s no denying that AI’s abilities are playing a bigger role in PR output than ever before.

One agency well aware of this is B2B comms firm Definition, which was among the first in the UK to have invested in AI, launching its own proprietary tool in 2023.

But when asked about the tech’s impact on agency headcount, Louise Vaughan, co-chief executive and co-founder of Definition, affirms, “Rather than threatening jobs it’s opened new revenue and career opportunities in our business.

“We’ve seen six-figure revenue generation either from brands buying our platform to improve their own creative content or from consultancy work helping them improve the results they get.”

She explains that certain jobs have shifted rather than being eradicated, saying: “We have teams across language, creative and video all working on new products we can take to clients. But we can only do this because of the specialist experience they have, alongside new AI skills. It’s blending the best of both.

“Our director of AI likens it to a plumber who charges £100 to hit a boiler with a hammer—£10 for the hit, £90 for knowing where to hit.”

‘An important nuance’

Indeed, Andrew Bruce Smith, founder of AI-driven digital comms agency Escherman, doesn’t believe the PR industry needs to ready itself for a wave of tech-related redundancies just yet.

Instead, he believes “an important nuance in the AI transformation of the PR industry” has been revealed, in the fact that admin roles have generally been more threatened by automation than client-facing roles so far.

“This distinction matters,” says Bruce Smith. “The redundancies demonstrate that certain task-based roles may be vulnerable, but they also hint at new opportunities emerging—roles requiring human judgment and creativity augmented by AI capabilities.”

He explains, “AI’s impact on PR employment isn’t predetermined,” saying that PR professionals now face one of two paths: “Resistance or adaptation.”

In order to thrive, he argues that the PR industry must create “new roles focused on AI utilisation and strategic application, rather than just fearing widespread job cuts. It’s a moment for proactive adaptation, not passive resignation.”

Likewise, PrettyGreen’s Stringer believes that “we’re on the cusp of headcount growth, not decline”.

“Roles will evolve, some will disappear, but this is nothing new,” he explains. “I started my career at Disney sending out 5x4 transparencies to PR teams. The creative department didn’t vanish. It just evolved. Yes, every team, every agency should be deep-diving into AI. But let’s not forget, even B2B or tech businesses are about human-to-human, building emotional connection and brand fame.”

“AI isn’t the end,” he predicts. “It’s the exciting start of jobs we haven’t imagined yet.”