Ben Brugler Of Akhia communications: How AI Is Disrupting Our Industry, and What We Can Do About It
An Interview With Cynthia Corsetti
Don’t be afraid. I know that doesn’t read well but just like any other aspect of leading or managing an aspect of a company, you can’t live in your fears. The first three points I mentioned will immerse you into what’s going on in the world of AI pretty quickly. What you do with it, from there, is up to you.
Artificial Intelligence is no longer the future; it is the present. It’s reshaping landscapes, altering industries, and transforming the way we live and work. With its rapid advancement, AI is causing disruption — for better or worse — in every field imaginable. While it promises efficiency and growth, it also brings challenges and uncertainties that professionals and businesses must navigate. What can one do to pivot if AI is disrupting their industry? As part of this series, we had the pleasure of interviewing Ben Brugler.
Ben wanted to be a detective when he grew up. But since his childhood northeast Ohio neighborhood didn’t have the volume of mysteries Encyclopedia Brown’s town had, he turned to writing and eventually graduated from Kent State University.
Ben’s been in the agency world since 2000, honing his skills in the areas of communications strategy and planning, B2B brand building and more. Focused on what’s working now while looking to what’s next — he was making work-life balance happen before they even coined the term and delivers an AI-focused roundup every week — Ben keeps Akhia and its clients ahead. When not at work, Ben enjoys fantasy football, watching whatever shows his wife and two daughters want to watch, and meditating.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series. Before we dive into our discussion our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you share with us the backstory about what brought you to your specific career path?
Have you ever gone to a party and run across that person telling you a story about their profession that you think is really boring? You’re saying to yourself ‘I’ve been listening to this person for 10 minutes and still have no idea what they do.’
I’m the guy who thinks those stories are cool.
Everyone has a story to tell. I think everyone deserves a chance to tell it…and do so in a way that is compelling and connects. When I’m asked this question about ‘how I got here’ I can honestly say it’s based on three things I’ve truly done my whole life: ask a lot of questions, listening, talking a lot.
I think a lot of people in my position may tell you the same thing. PR people — we’ve never met a stranger.
What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?
As hard as it is to talk about myself…it’s a heck of a lot easier to talk about Akhia. And as you saw in my last question, I can talk a lot. So to keep it simple, I’ll share two things that I know set us apart:
The first is we truly care about our clients. I know — not the easiest thing to measure. But I think we have figured out a way to measure this. Consider that our average client relationship is 11 years (industry average is three). Also consider that we have had 20 (!!) client contacts take us to another company with them. Of those 20…three took us to a third! Those are numbers I love sharing with people.
The second is taken right from a client testimonial — we bring clarity to the complex. Or, as another client said a little more creatively, you took all that mumbo jumbo and made sense out of it. This is something we are extremely proud of when you consider the majority of our clients are manufacturers. We have the opportunity to learn about what they make, why they make it and why that matters — and then the privilege to tell that story.
You are a successful business leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?
I learned two and have always had one:
The first is transparency. I learned a long time ago to be yourself. Our founder may be one of the most authentic people I’ve ever met. I was spoiled early in my career. I watched her lead with honesty and transparency and thought everyone embraced those things.
The second is accountability. One of the biggest lessons I learned early in my role as president of Akhia is that simply saying something isn’t communicating something. We went through leadership training and our coach told us ‘the message is the responsibility of the sender’. Uh, what? Try telling a room full of type A leaders that to truly lead, they need to spend time on how they communicate…and if there is a failure to do so, it’s on you?! Wasn’t an easy lesson to learn…or to apply. But it makes all the difference in the world, in all your relationships.
The third is one I’ve relied on my whole life. Making mistakes. Maybe I just tell myself that because I make a lot of them..but I really believe it’s the best way to learn. My favorite mistake? Leaving Akhia. Thinking I had learned all I could learn here…and I needed to jump into a bigger pond to make a bigger splash. Life and humility come at you fast. Three months in, I was calling my old-boss and admitting I had made a mistake. Not only did she welcome me back but she did so by naming me her successor and working to eventually transition the business to me. Now, the real mistake would’ve been not learning from the experience…thankfully I learned a few tricks at the agency I jumped to, realized I have SO much more to learn (still do) and that no matter what, the biggest splash you can make, in any pond, is the (real) relationships you have with people. It is the holiday season so the timeless quote from It’s a Wonderful Life fits here — “Remember, no man is a failure, who has friends.”
Let’s now move to the main point of our discussion about AI. Can you explain how AI is disrupting your industry? Is this disruption hurting or helping your bottom line?
According to a lot of early indications and reports, the field of public relations was in a group of professions most likely to be influenced, first. So many of the large language models (LLMs) we’ve seen and experimented with have been touted as ‘AI taking our jobs’.
I tend to be in the camp so often mentioned by Christopher Penn — “AI won’t take your jobs. A person skilled with AI will take the jobs of people who are not.” How could we not think this? These tools, in a little over a year, have been proven to do the task of multiple people at unbelievable speeds.
For us, as an agency that is focused on supporting our clients’ businesses, we see generative AI as a tool we must not only know how to use but also one we need to know how to educate and train our clients on. So to that point, GAI is disrupting our business in three key areas:
- Professional development. The ability of these tools — and how to use them, get the most out of them — could be the most important professional development our team has taken on. Ever.
- Client education and trust. Our client relationships are built on a strong foundation of trust. A company may be ready to implement AI…they may not be. But regardless of their position, one thing they do know is we will be ready to help them either way. To do that, we are constantly testing these tools, immersing ourselves in the latest AI news and doing everything we can to be steps ahead, carving out a path that will be there when they’re ready.
- Structural/operational. I believe that AI is going to alter the structure of nearly every industry eventually. For us that starts with our workflow, our internal processes and our reporting. We can’t ignore the reality that these tools will impact the basic tenants of our work.
There has been no real impact to our bottom line here in the short term. In the long term, I’m not sure if we can answer that yet. It remains to be seen how fast companies adopt AI, their comfort level with it and how they’ll be structured. I’d like to think that the work and research we’re putting in now will enable us to maintain our flexibility and meet our clients where they are.
Which specific AI technology has had the most significant impact on your industry?
The large language models (LLMs) have definitely had the greatest impact if only for the reason people are seeing what these tools are capable of creating.
The more people experiment, the more their eyes and minds are being opened to what they can do. We’ve moved beyond simply using these tools as an extension of search. Over the summer we attended the Marketing Artificial Intelligence Conference (MAICON) and one of the themes was treating your AI tools as an intern. Well, that seems like an eternity ago and I would say we have graduated from intern to treating them like a full time employee.
(It is worth noting…because of internal and external policies…we only use our own programs and challenges, not our clients’, as we experiment and engage.)
The technology has impacted our business, early on, in some ways I don’t think we were fully expecting. Specifically, the clients who are using these tools have an appreciation of the value we bring to the partnership — maybe more than ever. Not to get on my soapbox, but it’s why establishing your core value and your key differentiator early — and sticking to it, no matter what — is so important for the long-term success of your business. Knowing who you are — and who you are not — is why clients will rely on you as new technologies emerge (faster than ever).
Can you share a pivotal moment when you recognized the profound impact AI would have on your sector?
Is it cheating to say “the first time I used it”?
I think one of the biggest misses early on is simply looking at these tools as replacements for what is being done. And while there are significant efficiency benefits to using LLMs, that’s not really the main draw (in my opinion). What is goes back to that comment around treating them like employees. The reality is you can have a conversation — a dialogue — with these tools and vet your thinking. Refine your thought process. Research and qualify rationales. Sure, we had our early fun with ChatGPT (Is Batman a superhero? Is a hot dog a sandwich?) but I think it was our ability to apply our own critical thinking to the tools that gave me goosebumps. Realizing that I could organize my thinking a lot faster, eliminating what I call ‘looking at the ceiling time’, and getting into the meat of a challenge is where I really saw the value.
How are you preparing your workforce for the integration of AI, and what skills do you believe will be most valuable in an AI-enhanced future?
We’ve taken a very foundational approach to AI readiness with a focus in a few key areas:
AI Council. A best practice, from the Marketing AI Institute, is to form an AI council. And ensure that it’s cross-functional. This team will serve as the gatekeeper for what AI tools are tested, how they’re rolled out, measured and used. It will also be responsible for the internal AI policies as well as the necessary external considerations such as MSAs, partner agreements and messaging/positioning to key stakeholders.
Training and education. This might seem a little more subjective than it really is. And here’s why — just like any other tool in your tech stack, AI is something that your employees need to be trained on–within the parameters that you define. I think that’s what makes this seem so daunting because the amount of AI tools available is so vast. Our AI council went through and chose what tools we were testing, worked within one of those tools to write the rubric and then conducted a five week audit of the tools. From there we selected which tools would make it into the tech stack and wrote internal training protocols to be rolled out company wide. This is not a finite process — it will need to be repeated not only to vet new versions but new tools that will be arriving in the coming months.
Process reviews. The operational arm of our business is using these tools to evaluate and reset our internal processes, specifically our project management, reporting, billing and creative briefs.
Transparency. We believe in clarity and transparency up front. Specifically, talking with our clients about their internal policies and usage expectations. Some weighed in early with what they expected from us — others waited for us to approach them so we could help them dip a toe. Regardless, it is our responsibility to be prepped on what’s available so they know we are here, ready to assist. This is critical, for us, as so many of our clients are in the manufacturing space. They will be in positions to audit and apply these types of tools in so many facets of their business — not just in marketing and communications. The time we’ve invested in the first two steps, combined with our core mission, will enable us to act and serve in a consultative role.
As for what skills are most critical…believe it or not, they aren’t new skills. I think you need to be curious, flexible, process-oriented and…a strong writer. That last one may seem out of place since…well…most people think these LLMs will make you a better writer. Or just do the writing for you. But in reality, my experience with these tools has shown that there is a significant advantage to having a writing background — from how you approach the prompt to what you do with the output to how you populate what you’ve constructed.
What are the biggest challenges in upskilling your workforce for an AI-centric future?
I think some would consider acceptance or readiness. But as Ethan Mollick recently mentioned in one of his blogs, ‘there are only two ways to react to exponential change: too early or too late.’ So personally, I don’t think acceptance is a factor when considering upskilling steps.
The biggest challenge, in my opinion, is time. Technology is moving so quickly. New tools are coming out every day. New versions of those tools are also coming out every day. Add those up and you are looking at new developments every. Day. This once again stresses the importance of knowing your core, why you’re adopting these tools and building the path forward on a strong foundation that can be scaled v. being rebuilt.
What ethical considerations does AI introduce into your industry, and how are you tackling these concerns?
I think it’s important to separate legal from ethical concerns when addressing this question. I guess you could argue that ignoring legal implications of the unregulated use of AI tools is an ethical dilemma. (Such as ignoring copyright issues, not vetting facts or using GAI-produced content as policy.)
For me the ethical consideration comes down to one thing: how you’re using the tools v. how you’re saying you’re using the tools. This applies to work you’re creating v. passing off as your own; what you’re charging for said work; disclosing the input or reliance on AI tools to produce your finished product.
Much like other topics we’ve addressed, using AI tools doesn’t pose new questions. The hope is that organizations would do all they can to operate in an ethical way. AI just creates new scenarios and outcomes that need to be accounted for in your existing policies and philosophies.
What are your “Five Things You Need To Do, If AI Is Disrupting Your Industry”?
1 . The first thing is to immediately create an account and start experimenting with these LLMs. Claude is my personal favorite but most people will default to ChatGPT. I think you owe it to yourself to try a few — my top three are Claude, Pi and ChatGPT. You will have a different experience with each.
If this was March of 2023 I would end this point here. But we’re in December. And simply trying these isn’t enough. You have to pay the $20 or so and try the premium versions. The reason? A lot of what’s being written and discussed, in the mainstream, is based on free versions of these tools. Pay up and see what AI is truly capable of (right now).
2 . Think about where you’re finding your information on this topic. Quick story–I play fantasy football. A lot. I’ve learned over the years that being (and staying) successful at this is not the result of one source of information. It’s based on the information you compile on a weekly basis from many sources. Experts, beat reporters, team statements — you need it all. I built a list on Twitter/X that has been refined over the years and used to push alerts to my mobile in real time.
I’d do the same thing here. Where are you getting your information? There are some incredible resources at your disposal. The quickest way to get plugged in is to listen to and read those who already are. I’ve done it and can tell you that my early morning ritual of checking-in with these outlets is so rewarding and mind-blowing, all at once.
3 . I mentioned earlier the importance of an AI council. One person can’t do it all anymore than all of us can be the one source. You need to invest time into building this council and creating a structured format where you can share ideas and perspectives as well as manage how your business is looking at AI-integration. Again, the reality of this is you aren’t creating something from scratch. You’re looking at how the next iteration of your company will operate and thrive within the new confines of how business is going to be conducted.
4 . Don’t be afraid. I know that doesn’t read well but just like any other aspect of leading or managing an aspect of a company, you can’t live in your fears. The first three points I mentioned will immerse you into what’s going on in the world of AI pretty quickly. What you do with it, from there, is up to you.
Internally we debated how much we wanted to talk to our clients about this. Yes, sounds strange now but think back to the spring of 2023 when people wanted to pause AI development and companies were instituting policies that simply consisted of ‘don’t use this’. Layer in the very real fear of cyber attacks and many manufacturers were hesitant to open themselves up to any additional risks. Also consider that people were saying early on that functions like ours would eventually be replaced. We had a responsibility to ask the question ‘how much do we want to push this topic and education?’
We ultimately decided to move forward as we have in years past with living our mission of being our clients most valuable resource. We wanted to educate ourselves and be ready to help, in any way, when our clients are ready for it or need it. Had we chosen fear — and operated as if nothing was ever going to change — well, I’m not sure I’d be talking with you today.
5 . Have a position and a policy. Back in 2020, when companies were navigating Covid-19, we worked with a lot of companies on updating their employee handbooks, creating new safety protocols and how we would communicate policies such as mask mandates.
Remember, so many of our clients are in the manufacturing space so looking at all of the channels we needed to communicate in was an extremely important step. Because of this, we were asked about the possibility of not having a policy just to make it easier on managers when it came to enforcing the specifics of those policies. Our advice then is the same as our advice now — not having a policy IS your policy. Regardless of what you say or don’t say, that’s what people are going to reference when making whatever decision they make.
That applies again here with AI. Not having a policy opens up how employees use it, what they use it for and what they do with it. You may think ‘we don’t have a policy, so they won’t use it for _______’ In the absence of a policy, there’s no way to communicate — or enforce — that.
What are the most common misconceptions about AI within your industry, and how do you address them?
I’ll give you two big ones that I hear a lot:
AI isn’t going to replace us. Uh, yes, it will. Well, some of us. You can’t ignore the potential of those tasks and outputs that AI, once it’s integrated into a company’s infrastructure and vetted/approved for use, will change the way companies work with those in marketing and communications. Not to keep repeating myself, but this is why what I said earlier is so important — define what you do, do it better than anyone and continue to evolve it. Show value by embracing technology rather than ignoring it.
AI will replace us. Uh, no it won’t. Well, some of us. You see where I’m going here. The fact that ‘replacing us’ can be summed up purely as an output is short-sighted (and definitely undervalues what we do). I like to think we offer more than a deliverable and have always been in a position to add value beyond the work.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Do you have a story about how that was relevant in your life?
I’ll give you the one that has had the biggest impact on my life:
“Once a job you have begun, see it through until it’s done. And whether the job be big or small…do it right or not at all.”
Is it my favorite? NO! It haunts me daily!
I’m kidding (a little). My dad said that many times to me and my sister growing up…and when we were grown up. I’m not sure where it came from although some quick internet sleuthing shows it may be Quincy Jones.
There’s not a day of work that goes by that I don’t say that to myself (or now my kids). It has frozen me in my tracks, forced me to re-evaluate my work and as I gain more experience, helped me to define and understand what ‘jobs’ I want to take on. Can I see it through? Can I do it right? Because if not…well, you see how the quote ends.
Off-topic, but I’m curious. As someone steering the ship, what thoughts or concerns often keep you awake at night? How do those thoughts influence your daily decision-making process?
Well first, nothing really keeps me awake at night. Over the years I’ve gotten pretty good at turning off my brain and letting that muscle rest. However, there is something that pops into my head every morning — will I continue to be mindful of my role and my responsibility as a company owner? One that requires me to make decisions that impact so many? One that demands I don’t succumb to the instability of today’s world to make short-sighted decisions? Then I meditate, clear my head and tackle the day. But the weight of that responsibility is larger than I ever imagined it would be.
You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)
This may be selfish but we put a lot of work into developing them so I will say one of our values: Keep being different.
It is a challenge and inspiration to everyone to be themselves. Be different in your thinking. Your lifestyle. Your relationships. The point in selecting the word ‘different’ is because in some cases you see movements that are based on fitting in or acceptance. That implies there is a standard that has been set and to do this you need to ignore or give up part of what makes you, you. Encouraging people to ‘keep being different’ celebrates the fact that we’re all different…and the more we remind people to keep being that way, the more being different, in any way, becomes the norm.
How can our readers further follow you online?
My LinkedIn (Ben Brugler) or my biweekly newsletter (linked here).
Thank you for the time you spent sharing these fantastic insights. We wish you only continued success in your great work!
About the Interviewer: Cynthia Corsetti is an esteemed executive coach with over two decades in corporate leadership and 11 years in executive coaching. Author of the upcoming book, “Dark Drivers,” she guides high-performing professionals and Fortune 500 firms to recognize and manage underlying influences affecting their leadership. Beyond individual coaching, Cynthia offers a 6-month executive transition program and partners with organizations to nurture the next wave of leadership excellence.
