How Pittsburgh Magazine created AI workflows their teams are now regularly using

When Pittsburgh Magazine began exploring AI, their leadership team wanted to do more than just test new technology. The team wanted to build practical, repeatable systems that could create consistency across departments, improve efficiency throughout the organization and make AI tools easy for staff to adopt and use in their daily workflows across editorial, creative, digital and sales operations.

To help guide that process, the city regional magazine partnered with David Arkin Consulting for a customized AI workflow and implementation project built specifically for media organizations.

“I was familiar with David through various panel sessions hosted by the City Regional Magazine Association,” said Publisher Betsy Benson. “Then I heard from several fellow CRMA publishers about his willingness to visit individual markets for customized AI help.”

Starting with workflow

The process with David Arkin Consulting began with conversations across departments to better understand how teams were already using AI, where inefficiencies existed and how staff members felt about AI culturally within the organization. 

“Prior to the working sessions, we had 2 to 3 calls with David to determine how our key departmental staff was currently using AI and what our workflow consisted of,” Benson said.

Using those discussions, David conducted a workflow audit across departments to identify repetitive tasks, production bottlenecks and areas where AI could improve efficiency without disrupting existing editorial and business operations.

The process focused on understanding how teams already worked before introducing any tools or workflows.

Building customized AI tools

Based on the conversations and workflow reviews with staff, the next step was developing tools that reflected how the magazine actually operated day to day. Rather than introducing generic AI products, the focus was on building systems tailored to the publication’s existing processes, staff needs and departmental structure.

“David applied his knowledge and the tools that he had developed for other city/regional magazines to show us how we could address some of our workflows and challenges during our session with him,” Benson said. 

The result was nearly 10 custom GPTs now used regularly across multiple departments.

Here’s a breakdown of what the team now uses AI for based on the custom GPTs that were created:

• Editorial staff now use AI tools for copyediting, fact-checking, SEO headlines and print-to-digital workflows.

• The creative department uses AI to generate promotional blurbs, create concepts and extract sidebars and factoids from stories.

• Digital marketing staff use AI daily for social captions, emails, subject lines and sponsored content support.

• The advertising department uses the tools for prospecting, proposals, new product ideas and creative brainstorming.

“After our session, David updated and refined the GPTs for our process and delivered them very quickly, within a couple of days,” Benson said.

A few weeks later, David conducted a follow-up call to hear how the team was using the tools and to address any further adjustments to the GPTs that were needed.

Helping teams become comfortable with AI

One of the biggest takeaways from the project was how the approach helped teams become more comfortable with AI over time.

“The editor and creative director were very leery at first, but now they are using the tools regularly,” Benson said.

Alongside the workflow tools, David also provided a draft AI policy to help guide internal discussions around responsible AI use and implementation. That policy was routed among staff and soon will be finalized as an official AI policy document.

How David Arkin Consulting works with publishers

David Arkin Consulting works directly with publishers, media executives, editorial teams and revenue departments to build practical AI workflows tailored to how each organization already operates.

Typical engagements include:

• AI workflow and efficiency audits
• Department-by-department AI strategy
• Custom GPT development
• AI policy development
• Editorial and sales workflow integration
• Team training and implementation support
• Ongoing revisions and workflow refinement

To learn more about David Arkin Consulting’s AI program, click here.