By: Samantha Draxler
Ask any public relations professional where they feel the greatest pressure today, and many will likely say the same thing: doing more with fewer resources. Tight deadlines, full client rosters, and shrinking margins have left agencies squeezed at every turn.
It is in that pressure cooker where Jason Erkes and his venture, PromptedComms, are striving to make an impact. Rather than selling more hustle, Erkes is introducing innovative AI-powered solutions that aim to help communications professionals work more efficiently, effectively, and more strategically.
From Newsrooms and Politics to AI Pioneer
Erkes is not a typical tech founder. He often jokes that the closest he has come to being a tech guy was dressing up as Steve Jobs one Halloween. His career spans nearly 30 years in media, politics, and high-stakes communications, work that has earned him several Emmys, Reed, and MarCom awards. He has covered news events around the world, advised campaigns in political war rooms, and led communications strategy at the executive level.
Before founding PromptedComms, Erkes served as chief communications officer at Cresco Labs, where he helped shape the narrative of the emerging cannabis industry. He managed acquisitions, IPOs, store launches, and regulatory battles, developing a reputation for steady leadership under pressure. In short, he understands crisis, nuance, and the unique challenges PR professionals face every day.
That experience gives his AI work a strong foundation. Erkes did not pivot to artificial intelligence because it was trendy. He stepped back from a successful communications career to study AI, prompt engineering, and how the technology could be applied to the real-world demands of public relations.
PromptedComms: No Hype, Just Impact
Photo Courtesy: PromptedComms
The guiding principle behind PromptedComms is straightforward: show communications teams how to use AI, not just explain why it matters. Erkes focuses on practical strategies rooted in the realities of agency life. His message is clear: you do not need more tools; you need to leverage AI to work smarter, not harder.
The Masterclass: Turning AI From Buzzword to Business Asset
The live PromptedComms Masterclass has become the foundation of Erkes’s work. The 90-minute session feels more like a workshop than a lecture, blending his PR expertise and journalistic instincts with startup energy. PR teams watch as abstract AI concepts turn into immediate, usable applications.
Erkes demonstrates how AI can potentially refine media pitches, draft award submissions, simulate crisis responses, and pull insights from data that once sat untouched. The focus is on what can be done today, not someday. “Jason made AI feel accessible, even exciting,” said one participant. “By the end, we were already rewriting our workflow.”
The pace is fast, the tone practical, and the content deeply familiar to anyone in communications. Teams leave the masterclass with tools—prompts, systems, and workflows—they can apply the next day.
“The session was fast-paced, engaging, and packed with real-world use cases that every PR pro will recognize. I walked away with practical tools I could implement immediately—several ‘wow’ moments made the value undeniably clear,” said masterclass attendee Kelly Evans.
The Agency Accelerator: Building AI That Knows Your Clients
Photo Courtesy: PromptedComms
For agencies ready to delve deeper, Erkes developed the Agency Accelerator, which implements five custom-built PR tools right into the agency’s ChatGPT Business account. These tools act like built-in team members that can write, research, and develop creative strategies trained on each client’s voice, tone, and communications playbook.
Each GPT is programmed to follow AP style, match brand tone, and understand campaign context. The result is a copy and strategy that closely resembles that of a seasoned account executive, not a machine. The system allows teams to generate press releases, creative ideas, or analysis in seconds without sacrificing accuracy or authenticity.
“AI should never be about taking people out of the process,” Erkes said. “It’s about taking the repetitive, time-consuming parts off their plate so they can focus on strategy, storytelling, and creativity. The technology is the assistant — the communicator is still the author.”
Bridging the Gap and Reimagining PR
The PR industry is at an inflection point as generative AI increasingly becomes a standard part of the communications toolkit. Yet adoption has been uneven, often stalled by training that comes from technologists rather than communicators. Erkes bridges that divide, speaking both languages fluently. His background in media and corporate strategy allows him to translate complex technology into tools that solve real PR challenges.
He views AI not as a replacement for human judgment but as a partner in creativity and analysis. The potential is vast—from tailoring media pitches and simulating crisis scenarios to transforming analytics into actionable insights. With PromptedComms, Erkes is helping agencies move from curiosity to capability, offering clarity amid the noise and a roadmap to a smarter, more agile era of public relations.
