MIAMI—David May, chief marketing officer for financial services giant AIG, has joined the roster of speakers for #PRovoke16, the fifth Global Public Relations Summit, which will take place in Miami at the end of October.

May will be participating in a session, sponsored by Hill+Knowlton Strategies and moderated by the firm’s global vice chairman Peter Zandan, focused on “The Data Divide.”

According to Zandan, “Data is not just a metric. It’s the next big medium for communications and influence. And a new breed of influencer—one whose power comes from data—has the potential for more power than any previous generation of influencers.

“We’re not talking only about people like Mark Zuckerberg or Nate Silver. We’re talking about data influencers who might be your neighbors, people who are redesigning data in health, adding analytics to the music industry, and programming biology. They think in data and know how to use it, and organizations must reach them through the language they speak.”

At the same time, Zandan says, “two in three Americans can't even read a bar chart.” So the panel discussion will examine how to communicate in an age when everyone is persuaded by data, yet very few people actually understand it?

May, who is responsible for AIG’s digital and content marketing, market research, brand strategy and design, advertising and sports sponsorship programs, and corporate social responsibility, was previously managing director responsible for marketing and communications for private wealth management at Goldman Sachs and previously worked at Young & Rubicam with clients such as AT&T, Andersen Consulting, Kraft, Pirelli and the US Army.

Zandan leads Research+Data Insights, the research practice at Hill+Knowlton Strategies. He also founded market research consultancy IntelliQuest and served as its chairman and CEO for 15 years.

They join a line-up of speakers that also includes Frontline executive producer Raney Aronson-Rath; Teresa Younger, president and CEO, the Ms. Foundation for Women; and Dr Philippa Malmgren, author of Signals: The Breakdown of the Social Contract and the Rise of Geopolitics and founder of economic advisory firm DPRM Group.

PRovoke16: the fifth annual Global Public Relations Summit will take place once again at the St Regis Bal Harbour hotel in Miami, starting with the Independent PR Firm Summit on Monday October 24 and continuing with two days of provocative content on October 25 and 26.

Tickets are on sale now. Attendees can also book their rooms at the St Regis Bal Harbour at our special rate. Further details of the Summit content will be announced over the next few weeks.