Why We Launched AI-Stories (And What It Means for the PR Industry)
After 20 years in strategic communications and over five years of iStories, we went and did something that might seem counterintuitive: launched a $99-per-month AI platform that automates much of what agencies traditionally charge thousands for.
Some will undoubtedly have hated the ideas. Others might have thought we’re undermining the industry. A few will most likely have quietly admitted they've been thinking about doing something similar but weren't sure how to reconcile it with their existing business model.
I get it. This is uncomfortable territory. But after months of development and years of watching the industry evolve, we became convinced that AI-Stories wasn’t just necessary – it was the most honest response to where our industry is actually heading.
The Uncomfortable Truth We're All Avoiding
Let's start with what everyone in PR and marketing knows but rarely says out loud: AI is already transforming our industry. Your clients are already using ChatGPT. Your competitors are already automating workflows. Junior staff are using AI tools to draft releases, create social content, and generate campaign ideas.
The transformation isn't coming. It's here.
And yet, we're still pricing and positioning our services as though nothing has changed. We're still charging $3,000-$5,000 monthly retainers for work that increasingly involves supervising AI outputs rather than creating everything from scratch. We're still pretending that our value comes from the execution rather than the strategic thinking that guides it.
This disconnect can't last. And frankly, it shouldn't.
Why Traditional Agency Models Were Always Incomplete
Here's what the industry doesn't talk about enough: the traditional agency pricing model has always excluded most businesses that actually need professional communications support.
Think about it. How many small businesses can afford $3,000+ monthly retainers? How many startups can commit to $5,000 for a campaign when they're still trying to achieve product-market fit? How many solo entrepreneurs and creators need strategic communications guidance but can't access it because agencies price for enterprise clients?
The answer is millions. Literally millions of businesses who need professional PR and marketing support but have been priced out of the market.
Before AI, there wasn't much we could do about this. Running a boutique agency has real costs. Skilled practitioners deserve proper compensation. The maths just didn't work for serving smaller clients profitably.
But AI changes the equation. Not by replacing strategic thinking but by making execution dramatically more efficient.
What AI Actually Threatens (And What It Doesn't)
What it automates:
Social media content creation and scheduling workflows
Press release drafting and media pitch development
Blog posts and thought leadership content
Crisis communication response frameworks
Editorial calendar planning and content strategy
What it doesn't replace:
Understanding market positioning without strategic input
Making judgement calls about crisis response timing
Identifying opportunities that require industry insight
Building genuine relationships with journalists
Knowing when to push back on a client's brief
Creative problem-solving that requires pattern recognition across hundreds of campaigns
If your value proposition is primarily execution – writing posts, drafting releases, creating content calendars – yes, you should be concerned. But not because of AI-Stories, because that work was always going to be automated.
If your value is strategic thinking, industry expertise, and creative judgement? AI just became your most powerful amplifier.
The Real Opportunity: Expanding the Market
Here's the argument almost no one is making about AI in communications: it doesn't threaten the industry. It threatens the pricing model that's been excluding most potential clients.
AI-Stories isn't designed to compete with traditional agencies for enterprise clients. It's designed to serve the businesses who could never afford agencies in the first place.
When you make professional communications accessible to businesses who were always priced out, you're not cannibalising the industry. You're expanding it.
And frankly, this creates opportunity for everyone:
For businesses: You no longer have to choose between DIY marketing chaos and agency fees you can't afford. Professional communications strategy becomes accessible.
For practitioners: You can focus on high-value strategic work whilst using AI to handle routine execution. Or you can serve more clients efficiently. Or you can create new service models that weren't previously viable.
For the industry: We stop pretending that $5,000 retainers for basic execution are sustainable when AI can do that work in minutes. We start charging appropriately for genuine strategic expertise instead.
What AI-Stories Actually Is
AI-Stories is a platform featuring four specialised departments, each with multiple AI personas designed to simulate working with a boutique agency:
Social Media Team: Content strategy, platform-specific copywriting, scheduling recommendations, and performance optimisation.
Press Office: Media strategy, pitch development, release drafting, and journalist relationship guidance.
Content Strategy Lab: Long-form content, thought leadership, SEO optimisation, and editorial planning.
Crisis Communications: Scenario planning, response frameworks, stakeholder messaging, and reputation management.
But here's what makes it different from just using ChatGPT or other generic AI tools: it's built on 20 years of strategic communications expertise. The platform doesn't just generate content, it asks the right questions first based on the agency briefing experience. It challenges assumptions. It provides strategic frameworks before execution.
This is creative communications and strategic thinking, amplified by AI. Not replaced by it.
Why Now?
We could have kept running iStories as a traditional boutique agency. We could have quietly used AI tools to improve efficiency whilst maintaining traditional pricing. Many practitioners are doing exactly that.
If we genuinely believe AI is transforming the industry, then we need to build offerings that reflect where we're actually heading, not where we've been.
If we genuinely believe that businesses traditionally priced out of professional support are less likely to seek our professional support than they were before AI, then we need to find new ways to add value that is affordable.
And if I genuinely believe the future belongs to practitioners who embrace AI rather than resist it, then we need to demonstrate what that looks like in practice.
AI-Stories is our answer to all of those convictions.
What This Means for the Industry
The practitioners who thrive in the next decade won't be the ones who resist AI. They'll be the ones who use it to amplify their strategic expertise, serve clients more efficiently, and create value in ways that weren't previously possible.
The agencies that survive won't be the ones defending traditional pricing models. They'll be the ones articulating their genuine strategic value and charging appropriately for it.
And the industry as a whole will be healthier when we stop bundling execution with strategy and start being honest about what we're actually providing.
An Invitation
If you're a business owner who's been struggling with DIY marketing or can't afford traditional agency support, AI-Stories might be exactly what you need.
If you're a PR or marketing professional who thinks this is bad for the industry, we’re happy to hear from you.
And if you're somewhere in between – curious about AI but uncertain about what it means in practice – join the conversation. Because this isn't about one platform or one practitioner. It's about an entire industry figuring out how to evolve without losing what makes it valuable.
The future of communications isn't human versus AI. It's human expertise amplified by AI.
Ready to experience professional communications without the agency price tag? Try AI-Stories.
Questions about what this means for practitioners? Get in touch.