Communications Professionals See Shift To Strategic Thinking
The communications industry is changing with AI presenting new opportunities, according to PR Daily. Professionals must adapt to reinvent themselves.
Original reporting · prdaily.com
Original: “From doers to thinkers: How the Comms Week Advisory Board sees the profession changing”
Read “From doers to thinkers: How the Comms Week Advisory Board sees the profession changing” at PR Daily →
How this was written. The 5:45 wrote this article with a language model from PR Daily’s reporting (model: @cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast); it describes that reporting rather than adding to it. The original, linked above, is the full story.
Key points from PR Daily’s report
- The communications industry is undergoing a significant transformation driven by AI.
- Professionals must be willing to reinvent themselves to remain relevant.
- AI will demonstrate the value of communicators' work and change the way reputation work is done.
- The role of crisis playbooks and chief communications officer will evolve.
- Internal communications must play a more strategic role in helping employees navigate change.
The communications industry is undergoing a significant transformation, driven by the increasing use of artificial intelligence, PR Daily reported. As the industry evolves, professionals must be willing to reinvent themselves to remain relevant.
According to Tiffany Guarnaccia, founder and CEO of Kite Hill PR, professionals who are not afraid to reinvent themselves will be the ones who succeed in the future. This requires a shift from being just doers to becoming thinkers, able to adapt to new technologies and strategies.
The future of public relations is expected to be impacted by AI, with some predicting that it will demonstrate the value of communicators' work. Kristie Vainikos Stegen, chief brand and communications officer at Cotality, believes that AI will show how the work of communicators is a powerful input for AI tools, making it a great time to be a communicator.
AI is also expected to change the way reputation work is done, with a strong media placement now serving two purposes: reaching human readers and training large language models. This foundational shift in how audiences discover brands will require communicators to think differently about their strategies.
The role of crisis playbooks is also expected to evolve, with some predicting that they will not exist in the same way in five years. However, Bret Werner, president of MikeWorldWide, believes that there will always be a need for frameworks and approaches, even if they become more efficient and sped up with the use of AI.
The position of chief communications officer is also expected to change, with some predicting that it will expand to include more business leadership responsibilities. Nicole Neal, senior director of communications at WellMed Optum Florida, believes that communicators must align themselves with the needs of their executive teams and demonstrate their ability to understand business objectives.
The future of internal communications is also expected to be impacted by AI, with a greater emphasis on strategic thinking and delivering messages in a way that employees can digest and take action on. Stacie Barrett, director of corporate communications at AAA Life Insurance Co., believes that internal communications must play a more strategic role in helping employees navigate change.
Questions and answers
How will AI impact the communications industry?
AI will present new opportunities for communicators and require them to adapt to new technologies and strategies.
What is the future of public relations?
The future of PR is expected to be impacted by AI, with some predicting that it will demonstrate the value of communicators' work.
How will the role of chief communications officer change?
The position of chief communications officer is expected to expand to include more business leadership responsibilities.
