Margot Edelman, lead of the global tech practice at Edelman, discusses her PR background, the differences between the tech cultures in San Francisco and New York, and Edelman's unique value proposition in the tech public relations space.
Nicole Schuman is Managing Editor at PRNEWS.
Transcript:
00;00;06;02 - 00;00;16;22
Speaker 3
I'm here with Margot Edelman, lead of the global tech practice at Edelman. And Margot, thank you for joining us today. We'd love to hear a little bit about your background. And you know how you ended up in tech.
00;00;16;23 - 00;00;37;01
Speaker 2
Absolutely. So I've always been fascinated by technology. The way I really ended up in tech PR is that I moved out to San Francisco without a woman in my mid 20s and really found myself smack dab in the middle of the tech boom. And it was just incredibly interesting. There was so many companies being started, so much funding going into the sector.
00;00;37;03 - 00;00;50;18
Speaker 2
And my viewpoint was, I want to be part of this, and I want to help tell the story of these companies that are based here in the Bay around the world. And I think what's so cool about my role right now is that's exactly what I get to do. As global tech practice leader and yeah.
00;00;50;19 - 00;00;54;09
Speaker 3
Could you please expand on some of the responsibilities for your role and what you're working on?
00;00;54;11 - 00;01;12;09
Speaker 2
Yeah, absolutely. Of course, part of it is staying close to the sector. Know what's happening from a technology perspective. Coming to events like this to really sort of understand what's next. At the same time, I also client responsibilities. I lead a number of our clients. You know, I also work closely to understand who do we need to hire?
00;01;12;14 - 00;01;30;08
Speaker 2
How do we continue advancing the practice of what we do? And then I also want to stay close to the media. So, for example, I host a monthly, tech meet the media series where we talk to different journalists about sort of what they're focused on reporting on. I get just so that we're really staying close, to folks that we are looking to have sort of cover our tech, our clients as well.
00;01;30;10 - 00;01;31;01
Speaker 2
It's interesting.
00;01;31;01 - 00;01;42;25
Speaker 3
I'm hearing a lot of PR people, even though we're in a tech space, talking about meeting and talking with journalists more in person and just keeping that connection going, which I do think is important. Yeah, it's you're here, so thank you.
00;01;42;26 - 00;01;55;16
Speaker 2
What's with that? With the rise in lens, you can get any information you need incredibly quickly. So what's unique of course. And having a conversation and having that sort of unique and inside information. Yeah I think people like that I know I do.
00;01;55;18 - 00;02;07;09
Speaker 3
I was, you know, also curious because you were you started in San Francisco and now you're in New York. What do you see as a difference? You know, in the tech culture out there versus New York, you know, and working, you know, with.
00;02;07;09 - 00;02;30;15
Speaker 2
Comms and things like that? Of course, San Francisco is all tech, all the time. And it's amazing because you really get a feeling for what's next. Of course, right now it's the heart of the AI revolution, the two sort of hottest companies, AI anthropic and OpenAI both, of course, headquartered there. But what's great about New York, is that you really get a sense of how are these innovations actually pulling through with companies, with consumers.
00;02;30;18 - 00;02;39;25
Speaker 2
So you get a little bit more of a sense of, okay, what's happening now? What's the adoption curve versus in San Francisco? It's really all about what's next. Great.
00;02;39;27 - 00;02;42;08
Speaker 3
What's it's Edelman stand out when.
00;02;42;08 - 00;03;03;07
Speaker 2
It comes to PR and you know, what are you guys doing differently? Absolutely. I think what happened? I think it's a couple things. First, it's really our global network. We really are. You know, we have offices around the world. In Europe, in Latin America. And so really, what we're able to provide for clients is sort of that point of connectivity.
00;03;03;11 - 00;03;19;10
Speaker 2
So you can have a single lead, you know, that's based, let's say, in the US, but we're really able to take that message globally and really ensure a sort of consistent quality of team and storytelling everywhere. So I think that's one thing that's unique about us. I also think we really do have sort of deep, deep industry knowledge.
00;03;19;12 - 00;03;39;04
Speaker 2
We have someone who is our AI Center of Excellence lead. He actually was an engineer before going into PR. And so really staying close to the technology made an AI center of excellence since 2017. So we have really been in the space for almost ten years now, learning about it and really working with clients in depth, sort of get that tech message out.
00;03;39;07 - 00;03;56;24
Speaker 2
And then lastly, I think it's really having close relationships with media, and that's not just traditional press. It's also folks in the new media world, it's creators. It's really sort of understanding what's coming next and how to get the message out. So I think it's that combination of those three really makes it a it's for us, unique and also is a very powerful value proposition.
00;03;56;28 - 00;04;03;23
Speaker 2
Yeah. The AI Center of Excellence, that's something that I haven't heard. You know, a lot of organizations doing. So we've been doing it for a while.
00;04;03;26 - 00;04;13;15
Speaker 3
Yeah, no. For sure. You know, what is it's 2026. Happy new year. Happy new year. What is your team focused on this year.
00;04;13;17 - 00;04;30;28
Speaker 2
Differently from last year? That's a great question. I mean, I think you'll hear this from a lot of people, but for the AI clients we work with, it's really about showing adoption. And what sort of the ROI is. So it's really working to sort of quantify in particular through customer storytelling. How is it working? How is it being implemented?
00;04;31;03 - 00;04;46;15
Speaker 2
It's not just about sort of the amount of money that's being raised. It's not just maybe even about the number of users, but actually what's the impact of the technology? So we're really working to tell that story on behalf of our clients. And I think something else you just need to look around at what's at CES is physical AI.
00;04;46;17 - 00;04;56;14
Speaker 2
So how is AI being used in robotics? For example, that's another area that's super hot and it's an area we want to focus on and get clients in that space or help our clients tell the story in that space.
00;04;56;16 - 00;04;58;12
Speaker 3
Yeah, even robots need.
00;04;58;15 - 00;05;02;20
Speaker 2
Exactly. Companies that make robots need PR. That's important.
00;05;02;23 - 00;05;07;07
Speaker 3
This, one question I was going to ask, you know, what are you personally hoping to gain from being asked?
00;05;07;12 - 00;05;17;26
Speaker 2
Yes, absolutely. I mean, it's unparalleled networking. So you get to come here and just see a ton of people that you wouldn't necessarily see in one place, you know, basically in the span of like 3 or 4 days.
00;05;17;26 - 00;05;19;11
Speaker 2
So that's great, of course,
00;05;19;11 - 00;05;33;17
Speaker 2
but it's also the opportunity to learn. I was just sort of touring around the convention center, for the last couple of hours and really got to see sort of whether it's automotive, whether it's in robotics, even in areas, frankly, like TV or hairdryers, you get to see what's next.
00;05;33;20 - 00;05;34;11
Speaker 2
And so.
00;05;34;13 - 00;05;35;24
Speaker 3
Did you see any robots?
00;05;36;01 - 00;05;51;28
Speaker 2
I did see some robots. Know. And it's cool. And so really, you know, taking the opportunity to be here and learn, of course, in addition to the networking opportunity is is great. I know absolutely. And then obviously, you know, we are in client service. So we are here of course, you know significant team on the ground.
00;05;51;28 - 00;05;54;28
Speaker 2
You know, helping them secure press and
00;05;54;28 - 00;05;55;09
Speaker 2
recognition.
00;05;55;12 - 00;05;56;08
Speaker 2
Great. Absolutely.
00;05;56;14 - 00;06;01;27
Speaker 3
Is it does it seem to be more difficult or easier to secure press in an environment.
00;06;01;27 - 00;06;29;18
Speaker 2
Like see us? You know, I think what's interesting is that the definition of media is really changing. And so I think if you look at it from just a traditional media standpoint, you know, that group is shrinking. And they're not necessarily paying for as many people to come to a place like CBS. So, you know, from that perspective, yes, it's harder, but at the same time, there's analysts, there's creators who all come here, to really sort of understand what's next and sort of tell the story, of technology.
00;06;29;18 - 00;06;42;10
Speaker 2
And so if you look at it from that perspective, there's actually a broader group to tell a story to. So we're very much encourage our clients to think with that lens. It's about creators, analysts, and of course, media as well. Last.
00;06;42;10 - 00;06;47;13
Speaker 3
Question. Any one trends you're seeing at CBS this far?
00;06;47;15 - 00;06;57;01
Speaker 2
I do think robotics is big. And that's something, of course, that we've spoken about in the keynotes. You know, Nvidia and AMD. And that's something when you walk on the floor, you
00;06;57;01 - 00;06;59;18
Speaker 2
really see robotics is huge this year.
00;06;59;28 - 00;07;02;03
Speaker 3
I had a robot dog on my flight here.
00;07;02;07 - 00;07;09;21
Speaker 2
Oh my gosh. Wow. It was lovely. You know, you're headed to CES and there's a robot talk or you're in San Francisco one of the other day. All right.
00;07;09;22 - 00;07;13;11
Speaker 3
Well, thank you so much, Margot. We appreciate your time. And thank you for watching.
00;07;13;11 - 00;07;14;16
Speaker 2
Thank you.