As artificial intelligence becomes the silent intermediary between brands and the people who seek them out, a quiet but consequential shift is underway in how companies must think about their own voices. Jason Domantay, a communications consultant, will address this transformation at a Manila technology conference in August 2026, arguing that public relations has outgrown its traditional boundaries and must now account for the entire ecosystem of signals that AI systems read, synthesize and present to the world. The stakes are not merely commercial — they touch on the deeper question of who, o
AI Reshapes Brand Discovery and Reputation Management, Says PR Expert
AI systems now stand between the message and the audience
Mark
When you say AI is changing brand discovery, what does that actually look like from a consumer's perspective?
Mimi
Imagine you search for a product or company online. Ten years ago, you'd get a list of links—the company's website, news articles, maybe a Wikipedia entry. Now, before you even click, an AI system has already read hundreds of sources about that company and is showing you a summary it generated. That summary shapes your first impression.
Mark
So the company loses control of its own narrative?
Mimi
Not entirely, but the control is distributed now. What the company says matters. What journalists write about it matters. What customers post on social media matters. But an AI system is the one deciding which pieces to highlight and how to present them together.
Mark
Does that mean PR professionals need to think differently about their job?
Mimi
Completely. They can't just pitch a story to a journalist and call it a day. They have to think about how that story will be found, how it will be summarized by machines, how it connects to everything else the company has published and what people are saying about the company online. It's all one system now.
Mark
Can AI do the actual PR work, or does it still need humans?
Mimi
AI is excellent at speed and scale—analyzing data, spotting trends, drafting content quickly. But it can't decide what the brand actually stands for or why that matters. It can't understand the nuance of a particular moment or what tone will resonate with a specific audience. That's still human work.
Mark
So the future is AI plus human judgment?
Mimi
Yes. The companies that will win are the ones that use AI to execute faster and smarter, but keep humans in charge of strategy and meaning. Technology amplifies what you're trying to say, but it can't fix a weak story.
The Pulse
- AI-powered search and recommendation engines now stand between a brand's message and its audience, silently filtering, summarizing and repackaging what companies say before any human ever reads it.
- The old model of managing a press release here and a social post there is breaking down — brands that treat their communications as separate channels risk being misread, misrepresented or simply invisible to the machines that now mediate discovery.
- Domantay is urging companies to treat news coverage, owned content, search presence, social conversation and digital reputation not as distinct functions but as a single, interconnected environment that must be tended as one.
- Technology firms face a sharper version of this challenge: as products grow more complex, the gap between what a device can do and what a person can understand widens, making clear and compelling storytelling a competitive necessity.
- The path forward is not to surrender strategy to automation — human judgment, context and accountability remain irreplaceable — but to use AI as an accelerant for more precise and credible communication.
As artificial intelligence becomes the silent intermediary between brands and the people who seek them out, a quiet but consequential shift is underway in how companies must think about their own voices. Jason Domantay, a communications consultant, will address this transformation at a Manila technology conference in August 2026, arguing that public relations has outgrown its traditional boundaries and must now account for the entire ecosystem of signals that AI systems read, synthesize and present to the world. The stakes are not merely commercial — they touch on the deeper question of who, or what, ultimately shapes the stories we tell about ourselves.
Jason Domantay, who leads an integrated communications consultancy, is set to address The World of Consumer Electronics Expo 2026 in Manila with a pointed argument: the ground beneath brand communication has shifted, and most companies have not yet caught up.
The shift he describes is structural. Where brands once spoke directly to audiences through media, websites and social platforms, AI systems now occupy the space in between. These systems ingest what companies publish, what journalists write and what people say online — then distill it all into the version of a brand that the next searcher encounters. The message no longer travels unmediated.
This changes what public relations must be. Domantay argues it can no longer mean press coverage and social activity managed in parallel. News articles, self-published content, search visibility, social conversations, paid campaigns and overall online reputation now form a single ecosystem, each element shaping the others. A story published today may become source material for an AI system's summary tomorrow.
Still, Domantay resists the conclusion that human judgment has been displaced. AI can accelerate analysis and content production, but it cannot supply context, tone or meaning. The real opportunity, he suggests, is original thinking executed with AI assistance — communication that is more precise, more relevant and more accountable, not simply more voluminous.
For technology companies, the challenge is especially acute. Complex products require more than specifications; they require stories that make innovation legible and meaningful to the people it might serve. Domantay Consulting's own presence at the conference — spanning a conference talk and a booth in the Startup Pavilion — reflects the firm's conviction that the fundamentals of good communication endure, even as the landscape around them grows more intricate and more machine-mediated.
Jason Domantay, who runs a consulting firm bearing his name, is preparing to tell an audience at a major technology conference that the ground beneath brand communication has shifted. Artificial intelligence is no longer just a tool companies use to make their work faster. It has become the intermediary through which the world discovers, understands and judges them.
Domantay will present these ideas at The World of Consumer Electronics Expo 2026, running August 5 through 8 at SMX Convention Center Manila. His talk, titled "Beyond Credibility: PR in the Age of AI," arrives at a moment when AI-powered search engines and recommendation systems have begun to reshape how information about companies reaches people. The conference itself—organized by Worldbex Services International—draws together technology firms, industry professionals, investors, government officials and consumers to examine where consumer electronics and digital innovation are heading.
The shift Domantay describes is subtle but consequential. Brands used to speak directly to audiences through newspapers, their own websites and social media. Now, artificial intelligence systems stand between the message and the audience. These systems read what companies publish, what journalists write about them, what people say on social platforms. The AI then processes all of it, distills it and presents a version to the next person searching for information about that brand. "Brands are no longer communicating only with people through traditional media, websites and social platforms," Domantay explained. "Their information is also being processed, summarized and presented by AI systems."
This reality demands that companies rethink what public relations actually means. It can no longer be confined to generating press coverage or maintaining an active social media feed. Instead, Domantay argues, PR must now encompass an entire ecosystem: news articles, content a company creates itself, how easily it appears in search results, conversations happening across social networks, paid digital campaigns and the overall reputation the company holds online. Each of these channels influences the others. A news story affects search visibility. A social media conversation shapes how people perceive the brand. Content a company publishes today might later be used as a source by an AI system analyzing that company tomorrow. "Communications can no longer be managed in isolated channels," Domantay said. "These areas now have to be approached as parts of one reputation environment."
Yet Domantay is careful not to suggest that artificial intelligence has made human judgment obsolete. AI can help organizations process vast amounts of information, spot patterns and produce content more quickly. But it cannot replace the human work of understanding context, choosing the right tone or determining what something actually means. "The opportunity is not simply to produce more content," he said. "It is to communicate with greater precision, relevance and accountability." The real power, he suggests, lies in original human thinking paired with AI-assisted execution.
For technology companies specifically, the challenge cuts deeper. Products grow more complex each year. Explaining what a new device does, why anyone should care and how it improves someone's life or business requires more than specifications and features. It requires storytelling. "Even the most advanced technology needs a clear and compelling story," Domantay said. Without that narrative clarity, even breakthrough innovations struggle to reach the people they might serve.
Domantay Consulting itself operates as an integrated practice, working with businesses and institutions across public relations, social media, digital marketing, multimedia content and reputation management. The firm's participation in WOCEE—including a booth in the Startup Pavilion—reflects a broader truth the conference itself embodies: emerging technologies are reshaping not just what companies make, but how they communicate, engage with customers and manage their standing in the world. The fundamentals of good communication have not changed. Brands still need clarity, credibility and a consistent body of verifiable information. But the landscape in which those fundamentals must operate has become far more complex, and far more mediated by machines.
Notable Quotes
Brands are no longer communicating only with people through traditional media, websites and social platforms. Their information is also being processed, summarized and presented by AI systems.— Jason Domantay
The opportunity is not simply to produce more content. It is to communicate with greater precision, relevance and accountability.— Jason Domantay
Want the full story?
Read the original at Inquirer.net ↗
Technology