Hina Huria is Training And Development Consultant and Founding Director Fulcrum Awards
I see three key areas that we, as a profession, need to consciously work on as we move into the next phase of growth.
First, we are heading towards a future where automation and artificial intelligence will be intrinsic to everything we do. Tools will become smarter, faster, and more accessible. However, one clear and enduring differentiator for a PR practitioner will remain their personal network and the bonds they build within the communications community. Skills can always be enhanced and new capabilities learned, but the opportunity to demonstrate expertise often comes only when you are present at the right table—and that access still comes through real, human connections.
Somewhere along the way, especially post-COVID, we have begun to overvalue work-from-home and remote efficiencies while unintentionally diminishing the importance of face-to-face interactions. Trust has grown, yes, but connection has weakened. In the early years of our profession, it was these personal interactions—meetings, conversations, shared moments—that helped us grow, learn, and earn credibility. Personally, I believe this has been my biggest strength throughout my journey, and it is something we must consciously revive for the next generation.
The second area is storytelling. By the time this gets published, I am certain we will already have two or three new AI tools capable of drafting creative stories in seconds. But the real skill will lie not in writing the story, but in explaining it well. We are entering an era where the human mind will give you barely 30 seconds of attention. In that window, a pitch supported by 30 slides simply will not work. We need to prepare our talent to communicate ideas with clarity, and impact—making every second count.
Lastly, and this is specific to India, we need to work towards making public relations one of the first career choices for students studying mass communication. Today, most government-run postgraduate colleges offer a single, broad degree, where faculty backgrounds are largely in journalism or advertising. As a result, PR is often reduced to just one module in a two-year programme. When this changes—when PR is taught as a specialised, standalone discipline—the quality, diversity, and readiness of talent entering our industry will change dramatically.
These three shifts will define the future of PR in India more than any tool or technology ever can.