Jeff DeMarrais, SVP and Chief Communications Officer at Cognizant, shares insights on how corporate communicators can stop defending legacy PR methods and start using AI to unlock measurable business value. Having spent his career driving communication strategy across tech and media powerhouses—from NBC and GE to IBM and Cognizant—Jeff is at the forefront of bridging the "velocity gap" between enterprise AI investment and actual business outcomes.

In this episode, Jeff joins Andrew Bleeker to discuss why defending traditional PR workflows is the fastest way to get left behind. Together, they explore how Cognizant ran a Guinness World Record-breaking vibe coding event, how multi-agent digital twins are revolutionizing executive communications, and why AI-powered "borrowed knowledge" is actually creating more demand for entry-level talent rather than replacing it.

In this episode:

• Closing the AI Velocity Gap: Why enterprise leaders must shift from casual experimentation and "token maxing" to structured implementation that delivers clear ROI.

• Building Digital Twins and Custom Agents: How Cognizant uses multi-agent systems to replicate authentic executive voices and proprietary tools like "Fortune Teller" and "Agency in a Box" to identify media white space and scale PESO comms models.

• The Russian Nesting Doll Metric: Why traditional clip packs are just "data exhaust" and how to link media coverage to message pull-through, quarterly business reviews, and budget growth.

• AI-Enabled Early Careers: Why capturing enterprise institutional memory allows recent college graduates to bypass years of routine data gathering and perform higher-level strategic tasks on day one.

• Personal Sandbox Experimentation: Why communicators should test tools on low-stakes personal projects—like Jeff's automated fantasy football blog—to build coding confidence and ask better questions of tech partners.

Allyson Park, SVP and Chief Communications Officer at Walmart, shares insights on how the world's largest retailer is navigating the intersection of transformational technology, human trust, and workforce empowerment. Overseeing a massive communication network that connects over 2.1 million global associates and spans an internal retail media ecosystem with its own P&L, Allyson is pioneering a "people-led, tech-powered" approach to corporate storytelling and modern brand reputation.

In this episode, Allyson joins Andrew Bleeker to discuss how her team actively deploys generative AI to stress-test strategic thinking, eliminate operational friction, and build custom workflow tools without requiring a technical background. Together, they explore the meticulous orchestration behind Walmart's recent textbook CEO transition, how communications functions must defend brand narrative against misinformation and Generative Engine Optimization (GEO), and why the most critical asset for any professional is acting as the CEO of their own career.

In this episode:

• The People-Led, Tech-Powered Philosophy: Exploring Walmart’s foundational approach to AI that keeps humans firmly in the loop, alongside the company’s massive commitment to upskilling its frontline and corporate workforce through debt-free education and OpenAI and Google AI certifications.

• AI as a Strategic Sparring Partner: How Allyson personally leverages a custom AI agent as an unvarnished teammate to challenge her own certainty, identify structural bias, and analyze critics' perspectives rather than using it as a simple drafting tool.

• Vibe Coding in Corporate Communications: A look at "Code Puppy," an open-source tool developed internally at Walmart that has enabled over 50% of Allyson's comms team to vibe code their own custom agents for automated web scanning, content flow tracking, and deep background research.

• Clarity, Continuity, and Confidence: An inside look at the multi-month communications timeline surrounding the transition from long-time CEO Doug McMillon to John Furner, and how careful sequencing of tone, visuals, and messaging preserves market and internal trust.

Maureen Davenport, Head of Corporate Affairs at KPMG, shares insights on navigating the operational shift of AI from isolated IT departments directly into the hands of the workforce. With a career dedicated to steering brand reputation and corporate communications at the highest levels, Maureen is currently helping anchor one of the world’s leading professional service firms through its most collaborative digital shift yet: moving from AI experimentation to full orchestration.

In this episode, Maureen joins Andrew Bleeker to discuss why the most successful integration of AI relies on treating the technology as a sophisticated thought partner rather than a transactional tool. Together they explore what evaluated data from over a million organizational prompts reveals about workforce adoption, how custom AI "reporter agents" are revolutionizing executive prep, and why human EQ and judgment matter more than ever at the entry level.

In this episode:

• The Sophisticated Prompter: Fascinating takeaways from KPMG’s research partnership with the University of Texas evaluating over a million user prompts, and why treating AI as a teammate accelerates expertise.

• Simulating the Media Landscape: How communications teams are using custom AI agents to mimic specific reporters' voices and tones to better prepare leadership for high-stakes speeches and interviews.

• The Trifecta of Work: A look into how AI fundamentally rewrites the workforce, the work itself, and the workplace—including how KPMG is embedding tools like Anthropic’s Claude into their digital gateway platform.

• The Return of EQ: Why automating routine tasks like baseline press release writing elevates the immediate demand for critical thinking, human connection, and liberal arts capabilities from day one.

Max Gleischman, Partner and Global Head of Strategic Communications at McKinsey & Co., shares a behind-the-scenes look at how AI is transforming management consulting, executive leadership, and global communication strategies. Navigating McKinsey’s own massive AI integration — including their internal knowledge engine, Lilli — Max is at the forefront of helping organizations pivot from talking about AI to actively building with it.

In this episode, Max joins Andrew Bleeker to discuss why the most successful AI integration requires leaders to model the behavior they want to see, shifting their workflows from manual data retrieval to high-level strategic analysis. Together, they explore the realities of vibe coding, how the shift from traditional search engines to large language models is redefining corporate publishing, and why authentic human storytelling has become an indispensable anchor of trust in an automated world.

In this episode:

• From Data Gatherers to Strategists: How automating repetitive comms tasks, like media monitoring, clip gathering, and style guidelines can free up teams to focus entirely on predictive, proactive strategy.

• The Authentic CEO: Why the rise of AI means executives must step up as Chief Storytellers, providing the clear, unique, and deeply authentic human connection that algorithms can't replicate.

• Learning by Doing: Why Max blocks out time every week to experiment with new AI tools firsthand, and why he believes core communications teams – not just outsourced tech departments – need to embrace vibe coding.

• The importance of cultivating broad interests and knowledge: Why the best career armor for recent graduates is wide-ranging intellectual curiosity, becoming an adaptable thinker, and the willingness to learn from being wrong and loud.

How does a legacy organization operating in over 60 countries use AI to scale their global movement?

Amy Dunham, Chief Communications Officer at Habitat for Humanity International, joins Andrew Bleeker to discuss her team's strategic integration of AI.

Amy explores how HFHI is leveraging its 50th anniversary to shift the focus from its history to the urgent global housing crisis. She shares how her team uses AI as a strategic "thought partner" to bridge the gap between idea and action — scaling their mission across diverse markets while maintaining the human authenticity that is the hallmark of the HFHI brand.

In this episode, they discuss:

• Scaling Global Data: Using plain-text AI queries to transform brand tracking into actionable insights across 50 states and dozens of countries.
• Authenticity vs. "AI Slop": Why human stories and homeowner consent remain the non-negotiable core of Habitat’s global communications strategy.
• The Business of Comms: Amy’s advice for the next generation of communicators on prioritizing ROI and business value to drive real-world impact.

Ben Smith, co-founder and editor-in-chief of Semafor, shares insights on media transformations from blogs to AI, the future of journalism, and how AI tools are reshaping communication strategies. Having spent his career at the vanguard of media transformations, from the early days of blogging and the rise of Politico to leading the virality era at BuzzFeed, Ben is now navigating the most significant shift yet: rebuilding news for the AI era.

In this episode, Ben joins Andrew Bleeker to discuss why AI isn't just another platform adjustment, but an entirely new medium. Togther they explore how newsrooms are using AI to find clarity in a slurry of information and why, in an automated world, trusted human connections and original stories matter more than ever.

In this episode:

• AI as the New Internet: Why Ben believes AI is a qualitative shift in how we communicate, not just a tool for the digital medium.
• The Tension in Journalism: How news is pulling in two opposite directions: toward total automation and toward intense, creator-led connection.
• Global Perspectives on Adoption: How attitudes toward AI vary from region to region.
• The Return of Fragmented Media: Why the 20th-century model of a few central channels was an anomaly, and how we’ve returned to a world of hyper-partisan, human-led influence.
• The Evolution of Earned Media: Advice for anyone looking to build their brand with journalists in the AI era.

In the premiere episode of Actionable Impact, host Andrew Bleeker sits down with Robert Gibbs, Chief Communications and Public Affairs Officer at Warner Brothers Discovery and former White House Press Secretary.

From the White House podium to the helm of a global media giant, Robert has navigated some of the most complex transitions in modern history. In this conversation, he discusses the acceleration of the news cycle, leveraging AI to scale communications, and why the rise of AI makes earned media more essential than ever.

In this episode:

• The Velocity of Information: How to manage a news cycle that now moves in minutes, not days.
• AI as an Additive Force: Why the goal isn't replacing teams, but scaling a 500-person global operation to the power of 2,500.
• The Future of Earned Media: Why the era of LLMs and synthetic data has made traditional, high-integrity reporting more vital to a brand’s narrative.
• Getting Comfortable with Discomfort: Advice for the next generation of communicators on why embracing the "uncomfortable" is the only way to shape the future rather than being shaped by it.

Join Bully Pulpit International (BPI) CEO Andrew Bleeker for Actionable Impact, a new series of brief, practical discussions on AI transformation with the world’s top communications and public affairs experts. We’re going beyond the hype to focus on the real decisions leaders are making every day: managing team anxieties, maintaining brand trust, rebuilding organizational structures, and more.

Whether you’re leading a global corporation or just starting your career, we are all working through these changes together. Subscribe to explore the high-stakes reality of how technology is actually being used to change how we reach people and how we lead.