What is your AI strategy?

The Chicago Skyline rising above low clouds one morning along the Magnificent Mile and Lake Michigan. — The Chicago Skyline rises above early morning clouds along Lake Michigan. Like a futuristic city in the clouds, Chicago always has been at the leading edge of innovation in architecture, brand, and business. Chicago’s “Third Coast thinking” will undoubtedly help pioneer innovations in the new era of AI-powered business, creativity, and strategy. Photo by Skip Hidlay.

Every communications and marketing leader in America is being asked the same question: what is our AI strategy?

William “Skip” Hidlay offers help developing your AI strategy based on his experience. From 2024-2026, he led his 135-member team at Ohio State’s academic medical center through a comprehensive generative AI transformation, from upskilling and pilot testing through adoption and workflow redesign. Not as a consultant brought in to assess. As the CCMO who built it from the inside.

The W. Clair AI Operating Model

Skip Hidlay doesn’t just advise on AI transformation. He practices it.

W. Clair Communications is powered by an ecosystem of AI agents, each optimized for a specific function. Skip provides the strategic direction, creative leadership, client consulting, brand positioning and editorial judgment. His AI team helps with research, competitive intelligence, analytics, and project operations that would otherwise require a full staff.

This model allows W. Clair to deliver enterprise-quality work at boutique speed and cost.

A lone lifeguard stand on Oak Street beach in Chicago as the sun rises over Lake Michigan. — The sunrise over Lake Michigan touches Oak Street Beach in downtown Chicago, bringing the promise of a new day using AI to accelerate momentum and innovation. *Photo by Skip Hidlay*.

AI Advisory Services

For healthcare systems, enterprise organizations, and founder-led companies navigating AI adoption, W. Clair offers a range of engagements — from rapid readiness assessments to full transformation programs.

AI Readiness Assessment

A structured evaluation of your communications and marketing department’s current AI capabilities, workflow vulnerabilities, and transformation opportunities. Delivered as an executive-ready report with a prioritized strategic action plan.

AI Adoption & Change Management

The technology is rarely the hard part. The people are. Skip brings deep experience in leading teams through the cultural shift that real AI adoption requires — addressing fear, building fluency, and redesigning workflows that become your new standard operating procedures.

AI Workflow Design & Team Upskilling

Hands-on design of AI-augmented strategic thought partnership, content production, research, and analytics workflows. Paired with a structured upskilling program so your people build capability, not dependency.

AI-powered Content Strategy

Building content systems that use AI for research speed and scale with humans managing the process to safeguard brand voice and editorial judgment. A particular W. Clair specialty: combining journalism instinct with AI production capability.

AI Agent Ecosystem Development

For organizations ready to build their own AI-powered operating model: Skip provides guidance on agent development, workflow integration, governance, and the organizational design that makes an AI-augmented team function well.

A rooftop garden on top of the refurbished Post Office building in Chicago looks out upon the Willis Tower and the skyline. — In a sustainable testament to its “Third Coast Thinking,” Chicago has integrated more than 500 green roofs into its skyscraper landscape, cooling the urban core, helping purify the air, and providing critical wildlife habitat. This rooftop deck on the refurbished Post Office building embodies Chicago’s commitment to continuous improvement and innovation, a spirit that marks the new AI era of progress. *Photo by Skip Hidlay*.

“Organizations winning with AI use it to enhance their teams’ strategic thinking, creativity, and efficiency — not to generate slop content and reduce head count.”

What could AI strategy look like for your organization?

Skip’s perspective on AI is shaped by three things: a journalist’s belief in the irreplaceable value of human judgment, an executive’s hard-won experience with organizational change, and a builder’s firsthand knowledge of what AI can and can’t do.

He positions himself not as a technology vendor but as a strategic guide — one who has made the journey and can help others navigate the path forward with less fear and more confidence.

Start with a conversation. Skip will tell you, honestly, what he thinks is possible — and what isn’t.

Let’s Talk