CPRS Toronto: In conversation with Lindsay Peterson, APR
For our November In Conversation With blog series, we connected with Lindsay Peterson, APR, Managing Director at Golin Canada, who has led the agency’s growth from a two-person start-up to a 35+ person integrated communications powerhouse. With more than two decades of experience shaping reputations for Fortune 500 companies, Lindsay serves clients such as Specsavers, Staples Canada, Ferrero, and the LEGO Group, while championing AI innovation and breakthrough creative work across corporate, healthcare and consumer sectors.
How has your role as a PR practitioner evolved in recent years?
The pace of change in our industry has been extraordinary, and honestly, I’m here for it.
When I joined Golin to launch our Canadian operations in 2016, we were a single-client office with two employees. Today, I lead a team of 35+ integrated specialists delivering everything from large-scale, earned-first creative campaigns to national brand reputation initiatives to immersive experiential activations. I lead our corporate practice as well, and it’s seen exceptional growth, particularly accelerating during Covid as organizations recognized the critical importance of strategic communications. We’re seeing the tide turn again with the emergence of Gen AI and search optimization. It’s an exciting time.
I’m part of Golin’s global AI Champions team, so I’m actively shaping how artificial intelligence transforms our work and businesses of all sizes. From our newly launched FIRST ANSWER platform that helps brands optimize their visibility in ChatGPT and Gemini, to leveraging AI for research, strategic support and campaign optimization, we’re leading the industry transformation.
The breadth of expertise required in our profession has expanded dramatically. Today, I oversee teams across research and insights, social media and strategy. We have our own in-house content studio, digital innovation, influencer marketing, corporate reputation and sports marketing. We’re not just advisors anymore. We’re strategic business partners who understand data analytics, emerging platforms, AI applications, cultural movements, and how to create content that drives measurable business impact while building emotional connections with audiences.
What major shifts have you seen in the PR profession, and how are they shaping your work today?
A few fundamental shifts are reshaping everything we do at Golin.
The collapse of traditional media gatekeepers means earning attention requires a completely integrated approach. Our consumer practice, including sports marketing, exemplifies this evolution. We use real-time social listening and cultural insights to activate campaigns across multiple touchpoints simultaneously. Whether it’s leveraging Reddit conversations, partnering with micro-influencers, or creating TikTok-first content, we meet audiences where they are with authentic, culturally relevant messaging.
AI isn’t just changing how we work. It’s completely redefining brand visibility. With 67% of Gen Z using AI for research instead of Google, first impressions increasingly happen in ChatGPT responses, not on websites. This reality drove us to develop FIRST ANSWER, ensuring our clients appear prominently and accurately in AI-generated content. We’re experiencing the third major technological tipping point after the dotcom boom and iPhone launch, and Golin is at the forefront of this transformation.
The demand for integrated, measurable solutions has also intensified exponentially. Our work with CPG clients demonstrates this integration well. Campaigns rooted in strong insights designed to activate creative simply and seamlessly across earned, paid, owned, and shared channels. We’ve invested heavily in proprietary tools like Influencer IQ for real-time measurement and Emotiv Intelligence for predictive content testing. The days of PR operating in isolation are over. Today’s practitioners must be equally comfortable discussing impression share, conversion rates, emotional resonance scores, and brand sentiment. We need to be driving impact, not just impressions.
What truly differentiates Golin Canada is our commitment to building a culture where innovation meets humanity. We’ve created an environment where our team feels supported to experiment, fail fast, learn faster, and in turn, they consistently deliver smart work for our clients that cuts through.
Looking ahead, what trends or changes do you think will define the role of PR practitioners in the future?
The future belongs to practitioners who embrace change. Period. This includes intelligence augmentation, using AI to enhance rather than replace human creativity. As Golin becomes the first fully AI-integrated global PR agency by 2026, we’re discovering that the most powerful outcomes emerge when human insight guides technological capability.
Hyper-personalization at scale will become table stakes. With AI analyzing millions of conversations in real-time, we’ll move beyond demographic targeting to understanding individual contexts, emotions, and micro-moments. Our tools can even measure emotional intelligence in conversations. Imagine applying this granularity to every stakeholder interaction across every platform.
The earned media renaissance is coming, and Canada is uniquely positioned to lead it. As paid media faces growing scepticism and AI systems prioritize earned sources for credibility, PR’s influence will expand exponentially. Our bilingual, multicultural landscape demands nuanced approaches that larger markets often miss. This complexity is our competitive advantage, fostering creativity and cultural fluency that resonates worldwide.
Purpose and profit will become inseparable. The next generation demands authentic action, not just messaging. Practitioners who can navigate this complexity, connecting brand purpose to business outcomes while maintaining credibility, will thrive.
The most successful PR professionals will be those who can orchestrate complex ecosystems of human creativity, AI capabilities, cultural understanding, and business acumen. It’s not about choosing between technology and humanity. It’s about amplifying what makes us uniquely human through intelligent use of technology.
What is your biggest piece of advice for PR practitioners moving forward?
Become obsessed with continuous learning, but never lose sight of the fundamentals of PR.
Yes, you need to understand how AI works, why Reddit threads influence ChatGPT responses, and how to optimize content for machine learning. But technology amplifies skill. It doesn’t replace it. The practitioners who will thrive are those who combine cutting-edge capabilities with timeless expertise in storytelling, relationship building, and strategic thinking.
Dedicate time every week to experimenting with new tools and platforms. Join AI workshops, test emerging channels, analyze what’s working in other markets. But equally important, invest in deepening your core competencies. Can you distill complex ideas into compelling narratives? Do you understand the business dynamics driving your clients’ industries? Can you build authentic relationships in an increasingly digital world?
At Golin Canada, we’ve proven that success comes from creating an environment where people feel empowered to think beyond what’s in front of them, supported to grow professionally, and celebrated for their unique contributions. Encourage “working in beta.” Share knowledge generously. When you build a culture of curiosity, collaboration, and courage, exceptional work follows.
As Golin Canada nears its 10th anniversary in 2026, what excites you most about the future of communications?
As Golin Canada approaches our 10th anniversary in 2026, I’ve never been more energized about what’s possible for brands today. We’re living through the most exciting transformation in modern marketing. AI is opening entirely new ways for people to discover and connect with brands, audiences are looking for authenticity and genuine impact, and the brands winning today are those bold enough to lead culture rather than follow it.
Technology and humanity shouldn’t compete. Combined, they create experiences we couldn’t have imagined a decade ago. The brands thriving in this moment understand that business growth and social impact fuel each other, and that transparency and speed matter more than perfection.
I feel like we’ve spent ten years building our business for exactly this moment. Where some may see chaos, we see the most exciting opportunity in modern communications, and we’re looking for the brands and people ready to seize it with us.
About CPRS Toronto’s In Conversation With blog series
Once a month, the In Conversation With series spotlights voices from across the communications field, featuring leaders and rising professionals who share their perspectives on industry trends, the future of the profession, and their own career journeys. These conversations aim to inspire, inform, and highlight the diverse experiences shaping the future of public relations.
If you would like to share your story or nominate a colleague, please contact us at communications@cprstoronto.com.