Indonesia's PR industry is bridging the generational divide in the age of AI

As artificial intelligence reshapes communications, Indonesia's public relations industry is discovering that the future of talent is less about replacing one generation with another than combining their strengths.

Agency leaders say AI is accelerating research, content development and analysis, but it is also shifting expectations for junior professionals and reinforcing the value of experienced practitioners. Rather than choosing between digital-native graduates and seasoned consultants, firms are increasingly building mixed-generation teams that blend technological fluency with strategic judgement, cultural understanding and client counsel.

The shift comes as PR agencies expand beyond media relations into creator engagement, digital communities, data-driven communications and AI-assisted workflows, requiring skills that span both technology and human relationships.

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Communications fundamentals still come first

For Windy Anindya Putri, country head of Redhill Indonesia, communications fundamentals remain the strongest foundation for new recruits despite rapid advances in AI.

"I would choose the graduate with strong communications fundamentals," she said. "AI skills are extremely valuable, but tools will continue to evolve. What does not change is the ability to understand audiences, craft sharp narratives, build trust, manage nuance, and think critically about reputation."

Putri argued that these qualities are particularly important in Indonesia, where long-term relationships and cultural sensitivity continue to shape business success.

"Indonesia is a relationship-based economy, where trust is built over time through personal connections, cultural sensitivity, and the ability to navigate complex stakeholder dynamics," she said.

Lina Marican, regional managing director at Mutant Communications, shared a similar view, saying clients continue to value strategic advice over AI-generated content.

"AI has certainly changed how we work, but it hasn't changed what clients actually pay us for," she said. "If I had to choose between two graduates today, one highly skilled at AI and another with strong communications fundamentals, I would hire the latter every time."

Clients don't come to us for AI-generated outputs - they come to us for the human judgement that turns those outputs into recommendations that help their business grow.

Shouvik Prasanna Mukherjee, head of creative for Asia Pacific at Omnicom Public Relations, said the hiring decision ultimately depends on the role.

"In most cases, it's faster to teach a strong communicator how to use AI than to teach an AI expert how to counsel a client," he said. "Great prompting is really just great briefing - you can't direct a machine well if you can't first think clearly about the problem you're solving."

"AI tools amplify judgement - they don't replace the need for it."

Expectations shift from execution to judgement

While agencies continue to teach foundational communications skills, AI has significantly altered what they expect from junior practitioners entering the profession.

Previously, junior executives were expected to spend much of their first year mastering research, media monitoring, drafting and reporting. Today, those tasks can often be completed with AI assistance, shifting the emphasis towards analysis and critical thinking.

"Those fundamentals are still important, but AI has raised the baseline," Putri said. "Today, I expect junior PR executives to be more resourceful, faster in research, more structured in thinking, and more curious in exploring tools."

However, she cautioned that AI cannot replace local context or professional judgement.

The real value is no longer just 'doing the task.' It is understanding the task, knowing how to improve it, and being able to explain why a recommendation makes sense.

Mukherjee echoed that assessment, saying AI has transformed how junior consultants work rather than what they do.

"What used to take a week of drafting and research now takes hours - so we expect more thinking, less typing," he said.

"We didn't lower the bar for juniors. We moved it - from output to judgement."

Different generations bring different strengths

Agency leaders said younger communications professionals enter the workforce with distinct advantages, particularly around digital culture and emerging technologies.

According to Putri, younger practitioners possess a stronger instinct for understanding how audiences consume information across creators, online communities, short-form content and social platforms.

"They are more fluent in digital culture, platform behaviour, visual storytelling, and emerging trends," she said, adding that younger professionals are also "not afraid to test, iterate, and learn quickly."

Mukherjee believes every generation naturally develops expertise in the technologies defining its era.

"Every generation arrives more fluent in the technology of its time and more comfortable with change itself," he said.

Every generation inherits a new instrument. This one just knows how to play it faster.

Yet experienced consultants continue to offer qualities that AI and younger practitioners cannot easily replicate.

"Experienced practitioners bring judgement, perspective, and stakeholder maturity," Putri said. "Younger talent may move fast, but experienced practitioners help ensure the direction is right."

Mukherjee argued that this distinction will become even more pronounced as AI automates routine execution.

"As AI automates more of the execution, the value of a PR consultant shifts entirely to the quality of their counsel," he said.

Reverse mentoring moves into the mainstream

Rather than maintaining traditional top-down learning structures, agencies increasingly see knowledge flowing in both directions.

Putri believes reverse mentoring has become essential as communications continues evolving rapidly.

"The communications industry is moving too quickly for learning to only happen from senior to junior," she said. "The best version is mutual learning."

Mukherjee said Omnicom Public Relations has formalised the approach through its APAC Sunrise Board, an advisory group of junior employees established to challenge conventional thinking across the agency.

Leadership used to flow one direction. Now the best ideas flow up as often as they flow down.

That collaborative model is also influencing client work.

At Redhill Indonesia, Putri described technology communications projects where younger consultants use AI, social listening and digital research to identify emerging conversations, while senior advisers shape those insights into narratives aligned with business objectives and reputational considerations.

Mutant Communications has adopted a similar philosophy through what it calls "One Mutant".

Marican cited the agency's recent work for travel platform Klook, where younger consultants highlighted changing consumer search behaviour as travellers increasingly discover destinations through AI platforms, creators and online communities instead of conventional search engines. Senior advisers then combined those insights with strategic communications expertise to develop the winning pitch.

The agency follows a similar model for healthcare clients, where younger consultants track emerging trends and creator communities while experienced practitioners apply media relationships and strategic counsel to refine messaging.

"At Mutant, we call this One Mutant," Marican said. "We operate as one team - bringing together the best minds, regardless of seniority or market, because the strongest communications ideas come from diverse perspectives, not job titles."

Beyond AI

Looking ahead, all three leaders argued that technology alone will not define the next generation of PR leadership.

Putri expects future leaders to combine AI fluency with business understanding, cultural sensitivity and strategic advisory capabilities, enabling communications to support reputation, market entry and long-term growth rather than simply media coverage.

Mukherjee believes agencies must also adapt to a world where AI increasingly shapes how brands are discovered and understood.

"As earned media becomes the primary fuel for how AI systems describe a brand, the leaders who win will be the ones who treat reputation as an engineering discipline as much as a creative one - building for citation, not just coverage," he said.

"The next generation of PR leaders won't just tell stories. They'll engineer the ones AI tells for them."

Marican, meanwhile, sees enduring human qualities remaining at the profession's core.

"I don't think AI will define the next generation of PR leaders," she said. "Strong judgement, original thinking and trusted counsel will. AI is simply another tool to help us get there."

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