BizTrends206 | The Platinum Club’s El Broide: Collaborating with AI is the PR power move for 2026
In 2025, PR professionals across South Africa started using AI to stay competitive, automating everything from content drafts to media monitoring.
But here's the catch: while AI promised efficiency, it often delivered uniformity.
3 Feb 2026
El Broide, managing director, The Platinum Club, says collaborating with AI, not competing with it, is the PR power move for 2026 (Image supplied)
Pitches started sounding eerily similar, lacking the spark that makes a story stand out in a journalist's inbox.
In 2025, PR professionals jumped on the AI bandwagon because no one wanted to be left behind, but we’re now seeing that too many pitches are starting to sound the same.
Journalists aren't binning emails because AI wrote them; they're deleting them because they blend into the noise, stripped of that human touch that crafts a truly compelling narrative.
Finding that sweet spot
The problem isn't AI itself; it's treating it as a replacement rather than a collaborator.
Over-reliance has led to generic outputs, where creativity takes a backseat to convenience. However, 2026 is set to flip the script.
This year, the major trend will be finding that sweet spot: leveraging AI for what it does best, automation and efficiency, while reserving human ingenuity for the magic of storytelling, angle-finding, and relationship-building.
In South Africa, where diverse audiences demand culturally nuanced campaigns, this balanced approach could be the key to cutting through the clutter in a media environment shaped by economic pressures and digital fragmentation.
Think about it: AI excels at the grunt work. It can sift through data for sentiment analysis, generate initial reports, or even edit drafts for grammar and tone, freeing up time for PR pros to focus on what machines can't replicate.
Insight becomes the differentiator
PR has always been rooted in relevance, timing and relationships, none of which can be automated.
PR has never been about volume. It’s about understanding what will matter to a journalist, at that exact moment, and why.
When everyone has access to the same tools, insight becomes the differentiator. The agencies that stand out will be the ones that still know how to think, challenge and create.
Looking ahead, I believe the most successful agencies won’t be those who use AI the most, but those who use it most intentionally.
It’s about collaboration and the agencies that get this right will be the ones shaping the next era of public relations, not by sounding louder, but by sounding smarter.
About El Broide
El Broide is the Managing Director at The Platinum Club.
View my profile and articles...
View my profile and articles...