Nancy Maloney AI Philosophy & Disclosure
Nancy Maloney, Principal, NM Communications LLC
Communications leader: owned channels, editorial operations, and governance
Published September 30, 2026 | Next review: December 28, 2026
Introduction
Before AI tools existed, I built and ran digital editorial operations within corporate communications at global companies. I've since learned AI's fundamentals, tools, and trends. I see AI as an enabler and a multiplier for communications teams. My experience provides the judgment and context companies need as AI reshapes corporate reputation and brand equity.
What I am here to do
I build the channels, editorial systems, and governance that strengthen brand equity, protect reputation, and make the comms function measurable infrastructure, not overhead.
At The Estée Lauder Companies, I was business lead for enterprise platforms with embedded AI, including ATS, translation, and editorial tools. In 2026, I learned how that AI works and started building with it. This document sets out how I use it.
My top of the pyramid
I give the context. I read the room, translate between internal and external stakeholder voices, and connect the macro strategy to the micro detail.
- Owned channels strategy and leadership. I decide the role each corporate site, newsroom, and intranet plays for employees, media, investors, and AI engines.
- Channel and editorial governance. I write the style guides, publishing workflows, and brand standards that keep a decentralized organization consistent.
- Multi-channel campaign design. I tie a story to a business milestone, such as a corporate strategy launch coordinated with an earnings call or a global town hall.
- Engagement measurement. I decide what to measure and translate what the numbers mean for leadership.
My channel verdicts come from building and running channels at The Estée Lauder Companies and Condé Nast. The judgment is mine.
What I never use AI for
- I do not use AI to make channel audit verdicts. Deciding which channels to cut, merge, or fund is the judgment I'm hired for.
- I do not use AI to write the first draft of anything.
- I do not put confidential client or employer data, including budgets and people costs, into any AI tool the organization has not approved.
Where AI assists
- Copyediting. AI tightens my drafts and flags facts to check. I verify each flag at its source.
- Vendor selection. I use AI to research vendors and compare features, and never to select one.
- Prototypes and reports. I use AI tools such as Lovable to build prototypes and reports, and I tell clients when I do. For AI visibility baseline reports, AI runs the queries. I choose what to test and read the results. I give the context.
- LinkedIn. I write my posts. AI helps shape the format and style. I cut anything it adds that doesn't sound like me.
- My site. I built nancymaloney.com in Lovable and update it myself, using Claude to help write my Lovable prompts.
How I start every engagement
I start with a Channel and Content Map. AI inventories each channel, internal and external, including email: owner, audience, cadence, traffic, and last update. It then tags the content by topic, format, audience, and performance.
The taxonomy is mine, built from the governance frameworks and style guides I write and adapt to each client. I verify the map, then decide what stays, what merges, and what I recommend for funding.
My standards
- Before anything goes live or is sent, I proofread, look up every number at its source, edit, rewrite, and repeat until it holds.
- After AI tightens or styles a draft, I cut what it adds: rhetorical closers, paired contrasts, and stacked phrases.
- When AI builds a client deliverable, I tell the client up front and name the tool.
- Confidential data goes only into tools the client or employer has approved.
How to read my work
Anything with my name on it, I wrote. Where AI built a deliverable, such as a prototype or a report, I say so and name the tool.
When someone asks
When a hiring manager asks whether AI wrote my work: "I wrote it. I draft everything myself, then use AI to tighten it and flag facts to check. I verify every number at its source. My full standard is on my site, and it's the model I'd use to set standards for your team."
When a client asks about a report I built with AI: "I built it in Lovable, and I told you that up front. AI ran the queries. I chose what to test and read the results. I give the context."
When a prospect raises AI in a pitch: "Every engagement starts with a Channel and Content Map. AI inventories your channels and tags your content against a taxonomy shaped by running The Estée Lauder Companies' newsroom. I verify it, then I decide what stays, what merges, and what I recommend for funding. You get the speed of the system and the judgment of someone who has built and run these channels."
When I join a new team: "Here's my written AI standard. It protects channel decisions and keeps confidential data in approved tools. The team needs one too. Can we take time at our next 1:1 to scope a team version?"
If you want to know where AI was involved in something I've written or built, let's talk: nancy@nancymaloney.com.
Next review: December 28, 2026