The person you meet is the person who pitches
At a 250-person firm, senior leaders shape the plan and account staff run the outreach. With Shilika, every pitch to Forbes, AI Magazine or Benzinga is written and followed up by her.
Compare/AI & tech PR
Shilika Jain vs Highwire PR: which one gets your AI startup covered beyond the US?
Highwire is one of the most decorated B2B tech PR firms in the US, with 250+ people and clients like IBM and CrowdStrike. Shilika Jain is a senior fractional operator who pitches every story herself and covers the US plus China, Korea, Japan, the Middle East and Southeast Asia. This page compares them for an AI startup deciding where its PR budget should go.
The short version
Pick Highwire if you are a later-stage company that needs a large US team for corporate reputation, analyst relations and executive visibility. Pick Shilika if you are an AI startup that wants a senior operator on every pitch, tier-1 coverage in the US and Asia, and a monthly bill closer to $5K than $25K.
At a glance
Who pitches
- Highwire
- A practice team: senior leads on strategy, account staff on daily outreach
- Shilika Jain
- Shilika, on every pitch
Monthly cost
- Highwire
- Not published (est. $15K–$25K+/mo)
- Shilika Jain
- $3K–$7K retainer
Native markets
- Highwire
- 1 of 8 we track
- Shilika Jain
- 7 of 8 we track
Firms to manage
- Highwire
- 1, plus regional agencies for gaps
- Shilika Jain
- 1 operator, 1 plan
The difference
What Shilika handles that Highwire leaves to you
Asia and the Gulf without a second agency
Highwire has no teams outside North America. If your AI product sells into Korea, Japan, China, Singapore or the UAE, you would hire another firm. Shilika covers those desks herself, from the same narrative.
Senior work at a startup price
An agency of Highwire’s scale is priced for later-stage companies. Shilika’s $3K–$7K retainer gives a seed or Series A AI startup senior strategy and tier-1 pitching without paying for an account team.
Side by side
Highwire PR vs Shilika Jain, line by line
Filter by what matters most to you. On mobile, each row stacks.
Highwire PRShilika Jain
Who does the work
Who pitches the journalistSenior leaders set strategy. Daily pitching typically sits with account staff on a practice team.Shilika, personally. The person on the intro call is the person writing the pitch and following up with the editor.
Senior time on your accountPartial. Senior time is shared across a large client roster, which is normal for a 250-person firm.100%. Six years running Web3 and AI PR, including building CoinMarketCap’s APAC PR function and leading PR at Myosin.
What you getBroad: communications, corporate reputation, creative, analytics and AI-search tools from specialist teams.Narrative, tier-1 pitching, embargo strategy, founder profiling, op-eds, KOL waves and APAC localisation from one operator.
Media reach
Journalist networkStrong US tech, business and cybersecurity press relationships.400+ working journalists across the US, China, Korea, Japan, the Middle East and Southeast Asia, plus 200+ vetted Web3 KOLs.
Where they are strongestUnited States and North America.Global by design: US crypto and tech press plus native-language desks across North Asia, Southeast Asia, India and the Gulf.
China, Korea, Japan, Middle EastNo in-house presence. Asian or Gulf coverage would need a partner agency.Direct, in-language relationships: BloomingBit and TokenPost (Korea), CoinPost and CryptoTimes (Japan), ChainCatcher (China), Gulf business press.
Cost & contract
Typical monthly costNot published. Comparable US tech programs run $15K–$25K+ a month.$3K–$7K a month retainer, or a $15K–$40K launch sprint for a TGE, mainnet or raise.
Where the fee goesA multi-person team: account leadership, managers, executives, specialists and agency overhead.Senior strategy and execution. No account-management layer, no agency markup on junior hours.
ContractCustom retainers. Minimum term not published; 6 months is common in the industry.Bounded engagements tied to named outlets and dates. Month-to-month after the first cycle.
Strategy & speed
Cross-market strategyStrong US strategy. International markets would be run by another firm with its own plan.One narrative, sequenced across every market from a single plan, so the Korean story and the CoinDesk story reinforce each other.
Speed to first pitchStandard agency onboarding: team assembly, discovery and planning before outreach starts.Pitching inside the first week. No onboarding team, no internal hand-offs.
Interactive
Your markets, your budget, your call
Pick the markets your launch needs. The tool shows where Highwire has in-house reach, where you would need a second firm, and what each route costs over the engagement.
01 Pick the markets your launch needs
02 See who can actually reach them
MarketHighwireShilika
United StatesNativeNative
South KoreaGapNative
JapanGapNative
Southeast AsiaGapNative
To reach South Korea, Japan and Southeast Asia, you would likely add 2 more agencies next to Highwire, plus the time it takes to keep their messaging in sync. With Shilika it is one operator and one plan.
03 Compare what it costs
$162K
kept in your runway over 6 months
84%
lower spend, with a senior operator on every pitch
Agency figures use the public or reported range for Highwire ($15K–$25K/mo) and are estimates. Move the sliders to match the proposal in front of you.
Agencies already hire Shilika. You can skip the middle.
When an agency wins a client that needs Korean, Japanese, Chinese or Gulf coverage and it has no desk there, it subcontracts the work. Shilika is regularly that subcontractor. Hiring her directly means the same relationships and the same pitches, without an agency margin on top or a strategy that gets relayed second-hand.
Fair is fair
What Highwire does well
- Website
- teamhighwire.com
- Headquarters
- San Francisco
- Founded
- 2008
- Team
- 250+ people, North America only (after acquiring The Bliss Group in 2026)
- Pricing
- Not published (est. $15K–$25K+/mo). Highwire does not publish fees. The estimate uses 2026 industry benchmarks for multi-practice US tech agencies.
- Services
- Communications and media relations, Corporate reputation, Executive visibility, Creative and marketing, Insights and analytics, AI search tracking (AcroAnswers)
- Named clients
- IBM, CrowdStrike, Zocdoc, Splunk, Twilio, Appian, Akamai
Strengths
- Deep US B2B tech and cybersecurity media relationships built since 2008
- Scale: 250+ people across six industry practices after the 2026 Bliss Group acquisition
- Strong award record, including PRovoke Digital Agency of the Year 2023 and PRovoke Best Agencies in the US 2025
- Its own AI tools, including AcroAnswers for tracking how brands show up in ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity
Where founders hit limits
- No offices or in-house teams in Asia, Europe or the Middle East, so non-US launches need another firm
- Pricing is not published. US tech programs at this scale typically run $15K–$25K+ a month
- Employee reviews on Glassdoor (about 3.5/5) mention 2026 layoffs and senior managers pushing work to junior staff
- Recent case studies lean to enterprise brands, with few named early-stage AI startups
Decision
When Highwire is enough, and when you need Shilika
Choose Highwire if
- You are a later-stage or public company with a US-focused story
- You need corporate reputation, analyst relations and crisis capacity under one roof
- Your budget comfortably covers $15K+ a month for 6+ months
- You want specialist teams for creative, data and AI-search tracking
Choose Shilika if
- You are a seed to Series B AI startup and runway matters
- You need the US plus Asia or the Gulf, run from one plan
- You want the senior person writing your pitches, not supervising them
- You want pitching to start in week one
- You build at the AI and crypto overlap, where Shilika has placed agent, DePIN and infra founders
50+Web3 & AI protocols placed
400+journalists across 6 regions
11tier-1 placements in 24h (RARI Chain)
6 yrssenior Web3 & AI PR
“Her network is outstanding. Outlets that once felt out of reach became regular coverage, both in crypto and mainstream tech media.”
Gafoor Khan, Web3 & AI founder, advisor and angel investor
FAQ
Common questions about Highwire and Shilika
Is Highwire PR good for AI startups?
Highwire is a strong choice for later-stage B2B tech, cybersecurity and enterprise AI companies running large US programs. Its public case studies lean towards established brands such as IBM, CrowdStrike and Splunk. Early-stage AI startups often find the budget and team model built for bigger clients, and get more from a senior operator who pitches personally.
How much does Highwire PR cost?
Highwire does not publish pricing. 2026 industry guides put comprehensive US tech PR at $10K–$25K+ a month, with large multi-practice programs above that. Shilika Jain charges $3K–$7K a month, or $15K–$40K for a single launch sprint.
Does Highwire cover Asia or the Middle East?
Highwire’s offices are in North America. For China, Korea, Japan, Southeast Asia or the Gulf you would typically need a partner agency. Shilika has direct relationships with journalists in all of those markets.
Who would actually work on my account?
At Highwire, a practice team with senior oversight and account staff handling daily work, which is the standard agency model. With Shilika, she does the strategy, writing and pitching herself.
Can I use Highwire and Shilika together?
Yes. Some companies keep a US agency for corporate work and bring Shilika in for Asian markets or crypto and AI-native media. Most early-stage teams find one senior operator covers what they need.
Skip the account team. Work with the operator.
Send your launch date and target markets. You get a reply within 24 hours with the outlets Shilika would go after first, in which order, and what it costs. Retainers run $3K–$7K a month; launch sprints run $15K–$40K.
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