Margery Kraus, Founder and Executive Chairman of APCO Worldwide, has spent four decades shaping one of the world’s most influential advisory and advocacy firms. Founded in 1984 with a single employee– herself, APCO has grown into a global organisation of more than 1,200 professionals advising corporations, governments and institutions navigating reputation, geopolitics and regulatory complexity.
In an era where communications, policy, technology and global power structures increasingly overlap, Kraus remains a defining voice on leadership, influence and institutional trust. In this wide-ranging conversation, she reflects on building a global firm, managing reputation in turbulent times, the real role of artificial intelligence, India’s rise on the world stage and the human principles that continue to anchor advisory work.
Excerpts
You built APCO Worldwide from scratch into a global advisory firm. Looking back, what leadership choices defined that journey?
When I started, APCO was just me. Today there are more than 1,200 people across the world and that transformation took 40 years. It was very much a step-by-step journey, not an overnight success.
The most important lesson I learned is that businesses like ours are fundamentally built on trusted relationships. You must earn trust through consistent delivery and integrity. Good work leads to more work, that’s the foundation.
Equally important is people. You have to recruit the best talent, but they also have to be people who enjoy collaboration and teamwork. Culture is not incidental; it is central to sustainability.
I often describe our model as a three-legged stool: happy clients, fulfilled staff and a profitable company. Without happy clients, you don’t have a business. Without fulfilled staff, you cannot have happy clients. Without profitability, the organisation cannot survive. Remove any one of those legs and the structure collapses.
Today, communications, geopolitics and regulation are deeply interconnected. How should CEOs rethink reputation in this environment?
From the beginning, we believed these elements were intertwined, which is why APCO was built as an integrated advisory firm.
What has changed is that many CEOs were trained primarily in finance and operational management, not in reputation leadership. Yet reputation increasingly defines corporate resilience.
Leaders today must articulate a clear vision and align stakeholders around it, not only externally but internally. Post-COVID, internal alignment has become even more critical because organisations operate in far more complex and uncertain environments.
Some CEOs naturally excel at this. Others are discovering that reputation management is now a core leadership competency rather than a communications function.
APCO has invested heavily in proprietary AI capabilities. In your view, what should AI never be allowed to decide?
AI should never make decisions. There is a great deal of anxiety around AI, people worry about losing jobs or losing control. Our perspective is very clear: AI is an assistant. It helps analyse information, stress-test decisions and anticipate future risks. But it must never replace human judgment.
AI cannot be the purveyor of culture or values. It cannot understand human nuance or responsibility. I like to say: AI is your servant, not your leader. And when people ask whether AI will replace jobs, I believe the real risk is different, people will lose jobs to those who know how to use AI effectively.
Many agencies are rapidly launching AI solutions. Is the industry overselling AI?
There is certainly a lot of enthusiasm, perhaps sometimes ahead of capability. You must be careful to deliver what you promise. Not every organisation fully understands what AI can actually do or how clients can use it meaningfully.
At APCO, we began investing nearly nine years ago, well before the current AI wave. Our focus has been practical application: predictive intelligence, regulatory monitoring and real-time global insight within secure proprietary environments.
Clients will not share sensitive information if tools are generic or insecure. AI must protect data and be tailored to specific client needs. The greatest value comes when solutions are co-created with clients rather than imposed as universal platforms.
In advisory work, where does data end and human intuition begin?
Data is essential, but it is only one input. It helps you understand possible outcomes, what might happen if you act, or even if you do nothing. But data cannot tell you what decision to make.
There is a danger today, particularly with large language models, that people accept generated answers as definitive truth. That is a mistake.
Decision-making requires both IQ and EQ. IQ interprets data; EQ understands perception, relationships and human reaction. AI cannot replicate human empathy or contextual understanding. That human layer remains indispensable.
What do global clients most often misunderstand about managing reputation across markets?
A common mistake is believing one global directive works everywhere. It does not.
Each market has unique characteristics, and strategies must be locally endorsed and executed even if they are globally aligned.
At the same time, inconsistency across markets damages credibility. In a digitally connected world, actions in one country are instantly visible everywhere. Organisations must align strategies with shared values while tailoring execution locally.
I describe this as globally relevant but locally executed.
APCO has operated in India for two decades. How has your view of the country evolved?
When we entered India 20 years ago, we saw it largely as a frontier market, large and promising.
Today, India has clearly emerged as a major global player. Its economic scale, technological innovation and global diaspora have significantly elevated its influence.
At Davos recently, the most striking theme for me was the rise of the Global South, countries seeking to shape independent relationships rather than relying solely on traditional power blocs.
India sits at the centre of that shift. Its innovation ecosystem, growth trajectory and global leadership presence make it increasingly pivotal.
For APCO, India is not just a destination market but a connector, linking global regions such as Africa and the Middle East through new channels of interdependence.
Looking ahead, what will fundamentally change in strategic communications and what will remain constant?
Technology and delivery will change dramatically. When we opened our Moscow office in 1988, still during the Soviet Union, I carried a fax machine in my suitcase just so communication would be possible after I left.
Today communication is instantaneous. Forty years from now, business will look entirely different again. But one thing will not change: trusted relationships. Without trust, advisory work has no foundation.
After four decades, what still surprises you about power, influence and trust?
In today’s world, everything surprises me and nothing does. We still deal with human beings, and human beings are imperfect. Those imperfections sometimes shape global events, even conflicts. Technology evolves, but human nature remains constant. Ultimately, influence and trust depend on people, their judgment, their values and their relationships.
And that, I believe, will never change. |
