BW MBA grad explores impact of artificial intelligence on marketing and PR

As AI continues to progress, BW alumnus Brad Kostka, MBA '00, embraces the technology as a marketing and public relations efficiency tool. The key, he says, is keeping the human touch.

Artificial Intelligence, or AI for short, is nothing new for Brad Kostka, MBA '00.

In his role leading Roop & Co., a strategic integrated communications agency, Kostka is exploring how new AI tools such as ChatGPT can be brought to the table to improve content creation and boost efficiency.

Earlier this year, he discussed the impact of the emerging technology on marketing and public relations on the PRGN Presents podcast.

Working Smarter

Unlike some who may be reluctant to utilize or rely on AI, Kostka reveals, "It's really about making us smarter as communicators and making us more effective. The campaigns and the programs that we're running on behalf of our organizations or our clients, it's about making them better and more efficient."

Kostka, who's spent three decades providing strategic communications counsel to organizations from global, publicly traded corporations to local startups, makes it clear that he is not using AI to "cut corners" or save himself from having to work harder.

AI, he says, is simply a way to improve the work he and his agency are already doing in areas like brand strategy, integrated communications, PR, investor relations, digital marketing and corporate event planning.

Human element

Many people have the idea that when companies use AI, they are not producing humanized content. But when it comes to Kostka's team, this is entirely untrue.

He says, "There always has to be a human element to it. [Artificial Intelligence tools] will get better, but for now, they're in the early stages, and there are limits to them. They're also only as good as the human that's driving them, in terms of asking the right questions or in terms of the algorithm behind them."

It takes a certain amount of practice and skill to leverage AI tools successfully and to their fullest potential, which can only be done by astute professionals. Kostka is making sure that his team keeps a human aspect in all its work.

Delegating mundane tasks

Kostka isn't utilizing AI tools to do his job for him but rather taking some of the tedious, everyday tasks off his plate so he can spend more time on what is truly important to help his company's clients.

"When it comes to the content, we're certainly not just taking and copying and pasting what AI generates. We're thinking strategically about the prompts we submit to the AI tools, vetting the accuracy of information it generates and revising the outputs. We're also starting to use it for things like generating notes from a conference call or creating transcripts. It's making us quicker and more efficient and allowing us to spend more time to be more strategic, where we're automating some grunt work tasks."

Ultimately, Kostka believes the time and skills his team gains by leveraging AI now will elevate and improve the work it is already doing for Roop & Co. clients.