Your predictions about the future of communications

The end of the year brings a scramble to finish strong and put plans in place that allow you to hit the ground running in the new year.

During Ragan’s Future of Communications Conference, we asked attendees to look beyond the next year, future-casting their predictions on what the role of the communicator will look like in 10 years.

Here are our favorites.

Comms will become the AI experts for the organization

It’s no surprise that a majority of predictions looked at the ever-expanding use cases for AI in communications. Couched in the most common prediction, “AI will be more important,” is the idea that the current gap between potential applications and implementation will close.

This will be a reality in 10 years, wrote one attendee, when comms will become the AI experts for the organization.

Another said that the ability of AI to automate basic communication tasks like generating draft copy will elevate the value of career communicators.

“Due to AI, more people will think they’re great communicators and the role of a TRUE professional communicator will be increasingly important!” they wrote.

The comms workflow will become automated, but the human touch will still matter

Attendees also predict that comms will have more time to focus on strategy and counseling with AI working as an assistant throughout the comms workflow.

“AI will become your digital assistant with guidelines in place to ensure security of information,” suggested one attendee, while another wrote that “training new comms staff will be done almost entirely by AI.”

Conversely, responses predicted that audiences will still crave human touch, non-screen experiences and one-on-one communication. Comms teams will be responsible for creating those connections.

While AI can assist the training process and personalize learning pathways to the role and preferences of each employee, the question of where a human instructor, mentor and guide fits into the process is worth asking.

Training our own systems, however, also means we’ll be able to trust them deeply. Another prediction forecasted a cure for the frequent expectation of comms to be in two places at once: “I’ll be sending an AI-generated clone of myself to Zoom meetings while I am at another meeting.”

Purpose commitments will be demonstrated through how we work

Several responses predict that purpose comms will become table stakes, a reasonable forecast considering how much the youngest generation entering the workforce prioritizes authenticity and values.

“Brands will be called to live their mission and values even more so,” wrote one attendee, while another suggested “sustainable-green comms with a smaller carbon footprint.”

That’s far deeper than simply communicating actions taken on behalf of the organization — but committing to a “form follows function” approach that embeds sustainability practices in our daily workflows.

Comms will partner even more closely with legal and the C-suite

The core of Ragan’s stories, training and resources all focus on a similar goal — empowering current and future communications leaders to become strategic advisors to the business. This often includes talk of getting a seat at the mythic table or building your own seat.

We were heartened to read several predictions that forecasted what this will look like in practice.

“Comms & Legal will share an office,” wrote one attendee, suggesting that the reputational guardianship core to both functions will see them collaborating so closely that their work is equally valued and considered.

When you build cross-departmental comms competencies with teams that don’t necessarily consider soft skills or the optics of a message, your judgment demonstrates a communicator’s value in action. While comms is so much more than a mouthpiece for counsel, this idea isn’t all that far off in the present for many corporate comms, public affairs and IR leads.

Another attendee suggested that comms won’t just have a seat at the table, but a primary seat, writing “Comms will be seated next to the CEO at all meetings.”

We’re all for it, and don’t think it will take 10 years to get there.

While the future is unwritten, one response sums up another general theme that carries us into the new year with optimism and focus: “We’re not going anywhere!!”

Justin Joffe is the editorial director and editor-in-chief at Ragan Communications. Follow him on LinkedIn.