The Academic Institute for Qualified Methods and Professional Structures (AQPS) is one of the leading international institutes in the field of methodological and structural sciences. Its clients include companies such as Allianz, BASF, Bayer Leverkusen, Commerzbank, Deloitte, Hilton International, Lufthansa Cargo and TBI Industries, as well as political institutions such as the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber and the European Union. My task as CCO is to gradually increase the visibility of the Institute and its pioneering work and findings in a targeted manner.

WIN WIN WIN WIN through Predictive Communications

AG CommTech: Claudia, you’ve been in the business for a long time. How would you describe the mechanics of communication work? In your opinion, has it changed fundamentally across the board in the past 20 years?

Claudia Gabler: I have observed that communication has never stood still in the last two decades – but not much more either. For a long time, the mechanics of communication resembled a linear process: messages were planned, produced and distributed via channels – ideally with uniform wording and consistent brand management. This so-called “sender-receiver” approach was the dominant paradigm – supported by classic KPIs such as reach, impressions or media resonance.

In recent years, however, we have realized that these mechanics are reaching their limits. Reality is more dynamic, more fragmented – and it can no longer be depicted one-dimensionally. Communication today is a complex system of permanent interactions, feedback loops and data points. Reactions not only occur more quickly, they also influence each other. And that calls for new ways of thinking.

AG CommTech: What are the consequences? How must communications work change and what contribution does Predictive Communications Intelligence (PCI) make?

Claudia Gabler: If we accept that the classic mechanics of communication are no longer sufficient in a world of All-2-All (A2A) interaction arenas, we also need to recalibrate our tools and ways of thinking: Communication must be transformed from a reactive to a proactive, to a forward-looking system. Communication must no longer simply reflect what has been – it must anticipate what will be. This is exactly where PCI comes into play. PCI combines communication work with data-based predictive power. It not only analyses content and channels in real time, but also recognizes patterns, dynamics and probabilities of future reactions, moods and impact scenarios. On this basis, it delivers precise recommendations for communication measures with maximum conversion in an interactive and agile manner.

What is still referred to today as “campaign planning” is being transformed by PCI into a continuous, learning system: communication content is no longer just created, but predictively contextualized. Target groups are no longer segmented, but understood situationally. Key performance indicators are no longer based on output, but on impact within the corporate value chain.

AG CommTech: How did you proceed with the implementation of PCI at AQPS? How should one imagine it when taking the first steps?

Claudia Gabler: We approached the topic of PCI not as an isolated technology project, but as a cultural and strategic transformation. That was crucial. After all, PCI doesn’t just affect tools – it affects mindsets, processes and, above all, our attitude to our own work.

Our approach can be described in three phases:

1. Creating awareness:
   Before we selected any software or built any data models, we developed a shared understanding within the team of why PCI is necessary. That created clarity: We want communication that is economically, ecologically and organizationally intelligent.
2. Building a data strategy:
   Communication has long been a perceived discipline. PCI makes it measurable and controllable. We started by determining what data we already collect – from reaction patterns in social media to stakeholder dialogs in projects. We then considered which KPIs are effective – in other words, which contribute to the company’s success. On this basis, we were able to develop our first predictive models.
3. Upload and enter internal and external context in the PCI:
   Instead of launching a major “PCI offensive”, we started small – with the pilot project designed for the Swiss region in cooperation with the predictores.ai team. In the first step, we defined relevant questions for the PCI. We then dragged and dropped all relevant information and documents about the institute, our publications and current research projects and results into the PCI. These were then processed step by step by the PCI and immediately served as an internal context. In the next step, we entered all relevant external data sources, websites of media, associations, congress organizers, etc. directly into the PCI as external data points. These then served as the so-called external context, whose individual data points were evaluated by the PCI in the form of a trust score.
4. Prompting, evaluating and applying:
   After a short time, we were able to start prompting and generate the first results. At the beginning, results were often not generated because we had either prompted incorrectly or had not yet loaded the information relevant to the answer into the PCI. Precisely because – in contrast to conventional LLMs – predictores.ai does not hallucinate, this is unfamiliar at the beginning, but an essential step in the training phase of the PCI. The PCI was used directly, for example, when communicating a public tender or a research proposal. This allowed us to learn, adjust and build trust – both with ourselves and with our stakeholders. Today, PCI is an integral part of our communication strategy and our project architecture.

AG CommTech: What specific insights does PCI provide?

Claudia Gabler: PCI is more than just an analysis tool or a conventional AI. It is an insight and recommendation system that enables us as communication managers to understand impact, anticipate the future and strategically align communication in a predictive way.

In concrete terms, PCI provides us with insights in three key areas: We can recognize interdependencies. For the first time, we can really see which messages reach which target groups via which channels and with what effect – not only retrospectively, but also in real time and with foresight. This fundamentally changes our planning: instead of acting on gut feeling, we communicate based on evidence.

We can understand the dynamics of expectations because the PCI not only analyzes content, but also moods, contexts and cultural codes. This allows us to recognize at an early stage how the needs, expectations and perception patterns of our stakeholders are changing. This is essential – especially in sensitive areas such as employer branding, public affairs or change communication.

And we can increase our decision-making ability. PCI makes communication relevant to leadership. We can demonstrate concrete contributions to corporate strategy, employee retention or innovation culture. In our case, this has meant that communication is now an integral part of strategic planning – with clear value propositions and definable value contributions.

And perhaps the most important point: PCI shifts the focus away from communicating for the sake of communicating – towards communicating and interacting with meaning, impact and purpose – 24/7 and with a 360-degree view.

AG CommTech: Based on your initial experience, what benefits does PCI deliver?

Claudia Gabler: The AQPS Institute is already seeing clear effects after just four months: The efficiency of communication processes has increased by 30%, while manual effort has been reduced by half. At the same time, the team recorded a +30% increase in book orders and a +20% increase in media presence.

But PCI delivers more than just figures: It creates a real win-win-win situation for everyone involved. Companies benefit from strategic visibility, media and events gain access to sound research insights, customers and partners receive valuable communication paths to best practices – and communications teams experience a new dimension of data-based impact and process clarity for the first time.

AG CommTech: What advice would you give to interested colleagues? How should they proceed if they want to deal with PCI?

Claudia Gabler: The good news is that companies and organizations of all sizes and from all sectors can now benefit from the enormous progress made in recent years. The predictores.ai team has been researching and working on the topic of predictive intelligence since 2019. Back then, complex data models had to be defined and data had to be laboriously prepared and processed or purchased at great expense. Today, it is relatively easy to get started with PCI immediately, without a great deal of preparation and time. Upload internal context, set external relevant data points and immediately start prompting and thus applying PCI, which then learns continuously based on feedback and input and becomes increasingly precise. The bad news is that no one will take the first step for you – and success is and remains the result of many small steps. So just embark on this wonderful adventure and feel free to contact me if you have any questions.