1284 Communications MD George Oliver delivered a talk on AI at the Chartered Institute of Public Relations’ Midlands PR Conference.

The Midlands PR Conference took place at Birmingham City University (BCU) on 23 June. 

Themed around ‘Accelerating Influence’ the conference explored how the industry can now supercharge audience engagement, but also consider the challenges, risk, ethics and skills gaps to ensure AI helps build not break reputation.

George’s invitation to give a talk at the conference came after 1284 was named Small PR Agency of the Year at the CIPR Midlands PR Awards.

In the session, George talked about the EMC AI News Editor project - designed by 1284 and built by 1284 associate Digital Planning  - a generative AI platform that helps East Midlands Chamber respond faster to policy developments by monitoring news, drafting statements, and streamlining director sign‑off.

George explained how the project moved from idea to implementation, including how 1284 balanced innovation with the CIPR’s emphasis on ethics, transparency and professional standards.

He also introduced CommsTally®, 1284’s proprietary campaign platform developed last year with support from an Innovate UK grant. 

CommsTally® is designed to bring structure and data to multi‑channel communications campaigns, making it easier for organisations to plan activity, track outputs, and link PR and comms work to measurable outcomes.

George outlined how CommsTally® grew from a prototype into a fully funded MVP and how PR teams can use similar types of innovation to help demonstrate the value of PR and comms to boards and stakeholders.

Together, these two projects illustrate how agency insight into bottlenecks, repetitive workflows, and measurement gaps can be turned into funded innovation. 

George’s talk focused on spotting patterns in client work, designing solutions around real world cases, and then securing backing to build tools that make communications teams more effective.

George said: “Speaking at the conference was a useful chance to step back and look at how fast AI is moving inside real communications teams. 

“What struck me most was how many people are wrestling with the same bottlenecks we saw at East Midlands Chamber and in our own client work. 

“Sharing the AI News Editor and CommsTally® stories was about demonstrating that, with the right insight, agencies can turn their industry knowledge into funded innovation that sharpens campaigns and makes teams’ lives easier.”

1284 Communications has also been shortlisted for Small PR Consultancy of the Year at the CIPR Excellence Awards 2026.