A task that once took a communications team a full day can now be completed with AI in about thirty minutes. Bojana Mandić sees that speed as an opportunity to spend more time on strategy and complex decisions, but also as a reason to check more carefully what reaches the public. At Infobip, where she works on communications across Croatia, EMEA and global markets, she recently took part in the company’s transformation towards an AI-first approach. Today, around 90 percent of its employees use AI tools.
More than twenty years of experience in PR agencies and the international technology sector have taught her that a good story does not emerge simply from gathering information. Infobip has offices in more than 70 countries, so its communications team must decide what matters to a particular audience and how to adapt the same message to different markets. We spoke about that daily judgment, collaboration with local teams, and the risk that beginners who rely on AI may get a ready-made answer before they learn to ask the right question.
We also discussed School of the Future and Infobip Startup Tribe, projects through which the company connects technology with education and support for young entrepreneurs. Mandić, this year’s recipient of the PRO PR Globe People Achievement Award, reflected on what the award means to her after years of work shaped by tight deadlines, differing expectations and the relationships she has built with people in the profession.
How do you see the development of artificial intelligence and its impact on the communications profession? Could AI eventually replace some of the work communications professionals do today?
Like almost every discipline and industry, AI is changing the communications profession. One of its greatest advantages is the speed with which we can complete repetitive tasks. Work that once took us as long as 24 hours can now be finished in about thirty minutes, leaving us more time for strategic activities, more complex parts of the job and higher-value tasks.
Its capabilities are considerable, but so is our responsibility to use it in a way that protects the integrity of the profession and public trust. CIPR stresses that communications professionals and organizations are accountable for the AI systems they use, as well as for the work and consequences those systems help produce. That requires human oversight, fact-checking, reliance on trustworthy sources, critical thinking and clearly defined responsibility, alongside the use of tools in line with ethical standards, transparency and trust.
I believe AI will make the difference between average and excellent work even more apparent. The better we understand the goal, the more knowledge and experience we bring to the process, the more precisely we frame the question and the better context we provide, the more useful the result will be. AI does not create excellent communication on its own, and audiences will quickly tire of generic texts that offer no real value. That is why human input, experience, authenticity and a personal tone of voice will matter more than ever.
What risks does excessive reliance on artificial intelligence pose, particularly for people just entering the communications profession?
One risk for people just entering the communications profession is relying too heavily on AI and skipping the learning process. AI can help us find a better answer, but first we need to know how to ask the right question and assess the result critically. It is important to try, make mistakes, make a decision and learn from it. Otherwise, we may get a good result without necessarily understanding why it is good.
That is why continuous learning is essential, especially at a time when technology and its capabilities are changing rapidly. In communications, no tool can take responsibility for understanding context, relationships with people or the reputational consequences of a decision. Awareness of our own limitations keeps us curious and encourages us to look for our own “blind spots”: what we cannot see or do not yet know, and what even AI, however powerful it may be, cannot identify for us. Technology can speed up the process, but without the desire to understand, question and learn, it is hard to become a good communicator.
You are part of the strategic communications team at a company like Infobip. What are the biggest communications challenges you face in your day-to-day work, and how do you approach them?
Working in a global technology company brings a particular kind of complexity. Infobip operates across different markets, has offices in more than 70 countries, and develops a wide range of products and technology solutions in a rapidly changing industry.
In that environment, the challenge is not just to explain what Infobip does, but to recognize what truly matters in that story to a particular audience. The volume of information we deal with every day does not, by itself, mean we have a good story. We need to keep reminding ourselves that what matters to us may not necessarily matter to the media, customers, partners and other stakeholders we address, and to step outside our own communications “bubble.” That is why we need to keep returning to the basic questions: What do we want to achieve? Who are we speaking to? Why does this topic matter to that audience? And what do we want them to understand or do after hearing from us? It sounds obvious, but when the volume of work and the pace of events consume your time, it is easy to overlook.
Another important challenge comes from Infobip’s global presence. A message that works well in one context or market may not have the same meaning or relevance in another. That is why collaboration with local teams and agencies, and their knowledge of the market and culture, are extremely important.
In a global communications environment like this, it is important to maintain an overarching narrative while adapting communications to the characteristics and needs of each market and audience.
But some of the greatest benefits of working at Infobip also arise from these challenges. Every day, we collaborate with colleagues from around the world who bring different cultures, experiences and perspectives, while working as one team.
That is one of the values we truly live at Infobip: we learn from one another, through experience and through mistakes. It became particularly clear a few months ago when we began our transformation into an AI-first company. That was when our real strength, collaboration, came to the fore. Colleagues from different teams shared knowledge and best practices so that we could introduce AI tools into our daily work as quickly and effectively as possible.
Today, around 90 percent of employees use AI tools. This shows that we went through the transformation together as a team, as well as at the organizational level in strategy and technology.
Many people may not know that, alongside its technology business, Infobip also carries out a range of social responsibility initiatives. Which projects are you particularly proud of, and how important are social responsibility and sustainability to the communications of a global technology company today?
Our key projects connect technology, education and opportunities for young people just entering the world of technology. I would particularly highlight Infobip’s collaboration with Stemi on School of the Future, as well as Infobip Startup Tribe, a global support program for startups and scaleups.
School of the Future gives students the opportunity to do more than use technology as a ready-made tool. It helps them understand how it works and what they can create and develop with it, particularly at a time when AI is changing the way we work and learn.
Infobip Startup Tribe is a global program that has supported thousands of startups in more than 120 countries since its launch in 2021. It gives startups and scaleups free access to Infobip’s services, along with technical support, mentorship and connections to a global network of investors, funds and accelerators.
That is the point of social responsibility for all companies, not only technology companies: identifying areas where they can make a concrete contribution and that are connected to their core business. This enables them to act authentically and increases the likelihood that such initiatives will achieve long-term, measurable results.
What does the PRO PR Globe People Achievement Award mean to you personally?
This recognition means a great deal to me, above all because it comes from the profession and from people who understand how demanding, complex and responsible communications work is. I am especially pleased that the nomination came from Vlatka Kamenić Jagodić, Director of Marketing and Corporate Communications at Končar Group, whose work I greatly respect.
Everyone who works in this field knows how demanding and stressful it can be: tight deadlines, explaining what we actually do and how we measure the impact of our work, managing different expectations, and constantly learning and adapting. You really have to love this work. If you do not, it is hard to do it well over the long term.
I also see this award as a recognition of the relationships I have built over the years, because I believe the quality of our lives and work is largely shaped by the quality of the relationships we build with other people.
