Frequently asked questions

Who is Elif Güvençer?

Elif Güvençer is a strategic advisor to communications leaders on AI, and the founder of The Two Clocks, a UK-based practice working internationally with in-house teams and agencies on what AI is changing in their work and how they need to reposition.

She has more than 16 years of experience in corporate reputation and strategic communications across agency, in-house and advisory. She began her career at Ogilvy and Edelman. Then she moved in-house to pladis, the multibillion-pound global snacking company, where, during the company's formation, she led its global launch and built the corporate communications function. At RepTrak, the reputation intelligence company, she advised CCOs and boards on reputation and risk, and was lead advisor on AI as a Stakeholder™, RepTrak's AI reputation solution.

She created the Two Clocks Framework™ for communications in the age of AI. She speaks at industry conferences on AI for communications, writes the newsletter AI: The Reputation Signal, and has been published in PRWeek and Strategic Magazine, which recognised her in #WeLeadComms, its programme for communication leaders.

Elif Güvençer also runs AI masterclasses for PR graduates at the Taylor Bennett Foundation, built on the Two Clocks Framework, on how to enter and progress in the profession now that AI is automating most entry-level tasks.

What is the Two Clocks Framework?

The Two Clocks Framework is a framework for communications in the age of AI, created by Elif Güvençer and published in April 2026. It starts from what AI is changing in how people find information, perceive companies and make decisions, and works out what in-house communications functions and agencies need to become in response, before any question of tools or adoption.

What are the two clocks?

Every communications function and agency is running two clocks. The immediate clock is outward-facing: the work in front of the team. The structural clock is inward-facing: what the function or agency needs to become. Almost everyone runs the immediate clock. Few run the structural one.

For in-house teams, the immediate clock is monitoring, content and reputation in a world where AI now sits between the organisation and anyone who wants to know about it. That is where the visible risk lives. The structural clock is where the function's mandate is redesigned. Running only the immediate clock leads to a gradual loss of role and influence.

For agencies, the immediate clock is the client asking how the agency uses AI: where the client conversation happens. The structural clock is where the offer is redesigned: the agency's value proposition, and how it charges when hours no longer hold the value. Both clocks run faster for agencies, because AI is automating the work they have productised and sold by the hour.

What has been the industry's view on the Two Clocks Framework?

Senior figures in communications and public relations endorsed the framework within days of its publication in April 2026, including Antony Mayfield, Ben Verinder, David Gallagher and Stephen Waddington. Endorsements are published on the Two Clocks website.

What does the Two Clocks Framework include?

The framework is built on five dimensions: three on the structural clock and two on the immediate clock. The dimensions are the same for in-house teams and agencies, but the questions they focus on differ.

For in-house communications functions:

1. 01From Production Identity to Strategic Intent: Is the function valued for its judgement or its output?
2. 02Redesigning From Intent, Not Pressure: Where does the time AI saves go?
3. 03The New Capability Base: What does the team need to know now that it did not before?
4. 04Signal Architecture: How do AI systems describe the organisation, and who shapes that?
5. 05The Trust Consequence: Where can AI damage trust before anyone notices?

For agencies:

1. 01From Production Identity to Strategic Intent: Is the agency bought for its judgement or its output?
2. 02Redesigning From Intent, Not Pressure: Does the time AI saves become a fee cut, or new work?
3. 03The New Capability Base: What must the team know to advise clients on AI?
4. 04Signal Architecture: Does AI put the agency on the pitch list?
5. 05The Trust Consequence: Could an AI slip cost the agency a client?

How is the Two Clocks Framework different from other AI advice for communications?

Enterprise frameworks on how organisations should think about AI exist, but none were built for communications. Most AI guidance for communications is tactical: tools, prompts, workflows and adoption. Useful, but not enough on its own. The Two Clocks Framework takes a strategic view. It starts with what AI is changing, and what communications needs to become in response. Adoption decisions follow from that, rather than leading it.

How does The Two Clocks help in-house communications teams?

AI is not just a new technology. It is changing how people find information, perceive companies and make decisions. Bolting it onto how communications works today will not hold, because the environment that work was built for is changing. The Two Clocks works with in-house communications leaders on how the function needs to reposition. Services include:

• Board Narrative: an AI direction aligned with leadership expectations, in a board-ready pack.
• Comms AI Roadmap: where the function's role, influence and budget need to land, with a plan the team can act on immediately.
• Signal Architecture: how AI engines put together a view of the organisation, and an operating model for governing the signals they draw on.
• AI Reputation Exposure Review: the AI the organisation deploys and the AI coming at it, in a risk register the team can run.
• Agent Briefing: the rules the organisation's AI agents speak by, written and tested by communications.

How does The Two Clocks help PR and communications agencies?

AI is automating the work agencies have productised and sold by the hour, which puts fees and value propositions under pressure. The Two Clocks helps agency leaders redefine their offer before the client's procurement team defines it for them. Services include:

• Offer Repositioning: the agency's offer, repositioned around what clients now buy, with a plan the agency can act on immediately.
• Client Answer: the agency's position on AI and fees, and how to frame it client by client.
• AI Reputation Exposure Review: the AI the agency deploys and the AI coming at it, in a risk register the agency can run.
• Signal Architecture: how AI engines put together a view of the agency, and how to govern the signals they draw on.

Elif Güvençer also joins agency teams on the bench, as the named practitioner on client engagements.

Is The Two Clocks AI training or tool implementation?

No. The Two Clocks works on the question that comes first: what AI is changing in communications work, and what the function or agency needs to become. From there, Elif Güvençer advises on the training, tools and capabilities the team needs, and in what order, so they serve that direction rather than set it. The practice complements AI training providers rather than competing with them.

How do engagements with The Two Clocks work?

Every Two Clocks service uses the framework as its backbone and is offered at three depths. Orient: the team leaves knowing where it stands. Decide: the team leaves with a clear plan of what to do. Build: the team leaves with something built together that runs without Elif Güvençer.

Ongoing support is available to in-house teams and agencies as a standing day: a day a month or a fortnight, spent on whatever the team is working on. In-house teams can also engage her in a fractional role. She also gives talks to boards and leadership teams.

Where is The Two Clocks based?

The Two Clocks is based in the UK and works with clients internationally, in person and remotely.

How do I start working with The Two Clocks?

Most engagements start with a conversation with Elif Güvençer. For in-house and agency teams that want to work through what AI means for them before committing to a bigger piece of work, there is also the Two Clocks Clinic. She spends half a day with the leadership team to define the direction of travel and next steps.