A new strategic comms practice for the AI era

Senior strategic comms, rebuilt around AI.

Sundial Studio works with communications teams and founders rebuilding their comms function around AI — without losing the judgment that makes the work actually land.

Currently: Chief of Staff, Strategy & Communications, TechSoup
AI track record: Led AI-enabled editorial transformation at enterprise scale
Background: 20 years across nonprofit tech, journalism, science, and healthcare
A point of view

Most communications teams are automating the wrong half of the work.

The AI rollouts I keep seeing inside comms functions are focused on the commodity half of the job — generating more press releases, more blog posts, more social copy, faster. That work was never the part that made comms good in the first place.

The half that matters — and the half AI is genuinely transformative for — is the work before the writing starts. Seeing your audience more clearly. Stress-testing messages before they ship. Sharpening rough executive thinking into arguments worth reading. Building a point of view that a market can actually remember.

The next generation of comms leaders won't be the ones who saved the most hours with AI. They'll be the ones who used it to think more rigorously about what to say in the first place. That's the work I'm focused on, with a handful of teams and founders at a time.

— Stephen Jackson, Principal
Lead practice

AI strategy for communications teams.

The core of Sundial's work. For in-house comms teams and agencies who know their function is being rewritten around AI but don't know where to start — and don't want to guess in public.

01 / PRACTICE

A senior partner for the AI work inside your comms function.

We map your comms workflow, identify where AI actually helps (and where it just adds noise), and build the systems, training, and governance that let your team move faster — without losing the judgment that makes the work trusted.

Work happens as a scoped project, a monthly retainer, or an embedded fractional role — whichever shape fits your reality.

What we build together

  • AI readiness audits & tooling selection
  • Workflow redesign for editorial & PR
  • Custom prompt libraries & playbooks
  • Team training & enablement
  • AI governance
  • Fractional AI-comms leadership
See full practice
Start here · Pilot engagement

The AI Communications Setup.

A configured AI system built around your brand voice — ready to use in days, not months. Most teams are experimenting with AI for content. Few have it set up to actually sound like them. We change that in three weeks.

Timeline3 weeks
Investment$4,500–$6,500
Delivered byStephen, directly
Start the conversation

What you walk away with

  • A custom AI assistant trained on your brand voice — system prompt, tone guidelines, calibrated examples
  • A library of 5–8 ready-to-use prompt templates for newsletters, social, exec messaging, and press
  • A 90-minute team handoff session so you're using the system day one
  • A 30-day check-in to refine the system based on real use
  • An optional retainer path for ongoing refinement and expansion
02 / SECONDARY PRACTICE

Executive thought leadership.

For founders and executives who need to show up credibly in the AI conversation — or any conversation their market cares about. Positioning, ghostwritten essays and bylines, keynote prep, and ongoing editorial partnership.

See how this practice works →
Open for new work

Sundial is currently taking on a small number of pilot engagements.

If you're early in thinking about AI inside your comms function — or building a new voice as a founder — the best time to talk is before you've committed to a direction. Intro calls are free and frequently useful.

Book an intro call