An Interview with Tommy Moore, Senior Creative & Strategy Director at DRPGroup  

How would you describe emotional intelligence (EI) in communications, given the current technological context? 

For me, emotional intelligence is rooted in three core sciences: biology, behaviour, and motivation. You need to understand how humans react physically, what gets them engaged, and most importantly: what motivates them to act. 

The fascinating thing is that our ‘human software’ hasn’t been updated for thousands of years. That’s why stories and their reasonings matter so much. One of my favourite examples is the Latané coin experiment. A homeless man asked for money on the streets, and about 34% of people gave the money. But when he added a reason, like I’ve lost my wallet and I am in a rush to get home, a startling 72% of people gave it. Simply adding a ‘why’ doubled the chances of success. That’s the return on investment of a good story, and that’s emotional intelligence in action. 

When you apply this practice to communications, it means understanding that people don’t respond to logic alone. They respond to stories, strong reasons, and motivation.  

How do you see Artificial Intelligence fitting into strategic communication and integrating with Emotional Intelligence? 

AI is rarely the product, it’s the process. It’s like a faster car or plane: it won’t change the holiday destination, but it will get you there more quickly. 

One idea could be to use interactive video avatars, and to feed in all knowledge that exists in the company. There’s a great African proverb: when an old man dies, a library burns. With AI, we can preserve those ‘libraries’ by capturing the wisdom of brilliant people before it disappears. I can feed in everything I know, and everything my colleagues know, about a type of customer, their learnings from years of experience, etc. This would be an amazing starter pack for someone just entering the organisation or before taking decisions. 

However, balance is key. AI can give us all the information in the world, but it is us humans who make the decisions. I like to think of AI as a trusted advisor at the medieval court, but you’re still the king, taking control of the kingdom’s decisions. 

The danger appears only when AI becomes the default canvas for all thinking. If young professionals grow up using AI as their first tool, there is a risk of losing some of the deeper reasoning, storytelling, and emotional nuances. Right now, the best balance is good education on AI’s strengths and drawbacks, complemented by human-to-human training. 

How do you see this education evolving in the age of Artificial Intelligence? 

I think learning needs to go back to being contextual and practical. If you think about how humans originally learned, it was by doing things themselves—like cavemen learning to hunt. You didn’t sit in a cave being lectured about wild animals. You went out, followed the elders, tried small tasks, and gradually took on more until you were leading the hunt. That’s how humans naturally learn: by doing things together. 

Modern workplace learning, by contrast, has become too structured. It’s endless e-learning modules, and onboarding programmes that dump a ‘master’s degree’ worth of information in three weeks. That creates cognitive overload. 

One of my favourite examples comes from Spartak Tennis Club in Moscow. The facilities there were awful, with concrete floors and roof, but it produced world-class players like Anna Kournikova. Their secret? Slow, deliberate imitation practice. Kids would swing their racquets at Tai Chi speed, to feel every muscle and movement before ever hitting a real ball. Deep learning takes time, and humans are slow creatures by design. 

The same lesson applies to AI. If you unleash too much information at once, it’s like blasting water from a fire hose. The smartest communicators will be the ones who control the flow: using AI to support learning, but making space for slow, deliberate, human development. 

Can you share examples of how AI insights have influenced brand communication strategies? 

Dove’s ‘Real Beauty’ campaign is a fantastic example…

This interview was published in the Autumn-Winter 2025 issue of CODI, EACD’s magazine shaped by experts in the field and dedicated entirely to communication professionals. In a world where everything moves fast, CODI creates a moment to step back and explore key issues in real depth. Twice a year, it gives communicators the perspective they need beyond the noise of the news cycle.

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