On the Move: PAN Ups Fidlon to AI Innovation Chief
PR leaders are reorganizing for AI, culture-first storytelling, and performance accountability. Here are the moves that matter and how to translate them into working playbooks for your team.
PAN names Zareen Fidlon head of AI innovation
PAN has promoted Zareen Fidlon to lead AI innovation, expanding her remit beyond SVP of integrated marketing. Before joining PAN in 2022, she served as managing director at CSTMR Fintech Marketing & Design. Fidlon will guide AI services, an internal council, and workflow integrations. The move follows PAN's AI Optimization offering, built to help B2B brands see how they present across AI platforms.
"Zareen has continually shaped our approach to AI in integrated marketing, and this expanded role reflects her impact in bringing smarter, faster and more measurable solutions to our clients," said PAN chief of integrated marketing & strategy Megan Kessler.
For PR teams, this is a nudge to make AI visibility a real metric. Treat answer engines and chat assistants like new channels-audit branded prompts, monitor entity data, and test how models summarize your company and clients.
If you're formalizing AI skills inside your team, a structured path can help. Consider a focused certification for PR/marketing teams via Complete AI Training.
Alison Brod Marketing & Communications hires Ariel Moses as SVP
ABMC has brought on Ariel Moses as SVP on its lifestyle team. She comes from Rogers & Cowan PMK, where she led a bicoastal consumer and marketing team, and previously served as VP at LaFORCE and DKC. Her client experience spans The James Hotels, STK/The ONE Group, Fairmont, Brookfield Place, Jack Daniel's, The Plaza Hotel and L'Ermitage Beverly Hills. At ABMC, she'll join senior leadership, oversee accounts including Inspire Brands (Arby's, Jimmy John's, Baskin, Sonic & more), Dave & Buster's and Lands' End, and help drive new business.
"We've known Ariel for years and have watched her craft nuanced, culture-driven campaigns across leading lifestyle and hospitality brands," said ABMC owner Alison Brod. "Her ability to immerse herself in the heartbeat of culture is exactly what defines ABMC, and exactly what we need."
For lifestyle and hospitality PR, this underscores a simple truth: cultural fluency plus performance. Tie ideas to moments people care about, then prove lift with foot traffic, reservations, and repeat purchase-alongside earned reach.
Stratacomm promotes Kara Frank to SVP
Stratacomm has elevated Kara Frank to SVP and added her to the executive leadership team. With the agency since 2019, she brings depth in program management, marketing and advertising strategy, creative development and campaign measurement. In her new role, Frank will continue to grow organic revenue and coordinate with external agency partners.
Managing partner Bill Buff highlighted her growth mindset, adaptability and values-driven leadership, noting her ability to anticipate client needs, build lasting relationships and lead teams with clarity and purpose.
What to take from this: measurement discipline and partner orchestration are climbing the agenda. Build clear governance for shared KPIs, creative ops, and media mix so multi-agency teams move as one.
Nickerson elevates Alyssa Jewell and Olivia Leese
Nickerson has promoted Alyssa Jewell to associate director, PR & communications, and Olivia Leese to associate director, design & brand. Jewell joined in 2023 after serving as executive producer at NBC10 Boston. She'll expand leadership across PR and communications in the built environment, property tech, retail, nonprofit and senior living.
"Alyssa's transition from broadcast journalism to strategic communications has been seamless, and her ability to craft compelling narratives while maintaining strong media relationships has been invaluable to our team and our client partners," said Nickerson director, PR & communications Shannon Mulaire.
Leese, who joined in 2023 as lead graphic designer, steps into a broader brand role with experience across branding, print, digital, web and social-spanning real estate, retail, restaurants, nonprofits, technology and electrical services. Expect tighter PR-creative integration, faster content cycles and stronger visual systems for complex portfolios.
Why this matters for PR and communications leaders
- AI is becoming a service line, not a side project. Stand up an internal council, define approved workflows, and set QA standards for human-in-the-loop review.
- Audit how your brand appears across AI platforms. Check entity data, knowledge panels, model answers, and content summaries for accuracy and tone.
- Culture-led work still wins-pair it with hard performance metrics. Bring finance and analytics in early to agree on what success looks like.
- PR, creative and design are converging. Build shared briefs, joint sprints and a single measurement framework across teams.
- Partnerships are a growth lever. Document roles, SLAs and decision rights with external agencies to prevent duplication and rework.
Quick next steps
- Appoint an AI lead and pilot two repeatable workflows (media research and content QA) within 30 days.
- Create an "AI brand presence" checklist: priority prompts, canonical facts, approved boilerplates, and escalation paths for fixes.
- Publish an AI use and disclosure policy for clients and staff-with examples and acceptable-use guardrails.
- Upskill your team with a structured path, such as AI courses by job role, and review outcomes quarterly.
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