Corporate communications has always lived at the intersection of risk, reputation, and executive ego—but 2025 may be the year the ground fully shifts. The 5th Annual HarrisX–Ragan Survey of Communications Leaders, drawing from 400 CEOs and comms executives, captures a profession being reshaped just as fast as the technology powering it.
Artificial intelligence isn’t just assisting communications work anymore. According to the study, AI is now claiming a surprisingly large share of it. And CEOs—often known for their skepticism of new processes—are increasingly trusting AI with tasks they used to hand to their most senior communicators.
In parallel, CEOs are also pulling tighter control over what their companies say publicly, reflecting a landscape where a single miscalibrated statement can ignite political backlash or trigger social media outrage in minutes. Communications leaders, meanwhile, believe companies should speak up more, putting the two camps on a collision course over how corporate voices should evolve.
If 2020–2024 were the years of mandatory brand statements and hyperactive crisis response, 2025 is shaping up to be a recalibration—and AI is accelerating the shift.
AI Adoption in Comms Is Nearly Universal—and CEOs Want More
Let’s start with the headline statistic:
95% of organizations now use AI in communications work, and an overwhelming 96% say it’s been positive.
AI’s rise in comms isn’t new, but the speed of adoption is. Content drafting, sentiment analysis, monitoring, media research, workflow automation—tasks once spread across teams or agencies are now handled in seconds.
But here’s where it gets more interesting:
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30% of companies say more than half of comms work is already done by AI.
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55% expect AI to handle most comms work by 2030.
And the most startling datapoint:
57% of CEOs would choose a custom-trained AI tool over a top comms professional (without AI support) to write an important speech.
That is a trust shift no one in the industry would have predicted even three years ago.
According to Dritan Nesho, CEO of HarrisX, this marks “a fundamental shift in executives’ confidence and their approach to communications.” In other words: this isn’t about efficiency anymore—it’s about changing the power dynamics of the function.
CEOs Believe AI Skills Will Overtake Traditional Comms—but Not Yet
The survey reveals a curious contradiction.
49% of CEOs think traditional communications skills will soon take a back seat to AI prompt engineering and data fluency.
But when asked which skills matter right now, CEOs didn’t pick AI.
Instead, the top traits they value today are:
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Strategic thinking (42%)
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Creative problem-solving (40%)
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Staying calm under pressure (37%)
Only 18% listed AI or tech fluency among the most valuable comms leadership skills today.
This mismatch suggests CEOs see AI dominance as inevitable—but don’t yet see today’s leaders as needing the full toolkit. It’s reminiscent of other transitional phases in corporate history: everyone knew digital transformation was coming, but few required digital-first leadership until years later.
For ambitious communications professionals, the message is clear:
AI fluency may not be a top skill today, but it’s almost certainly a prerequisite tomorrow.
Comms Leaders Aren’t Afraid of AI—They See It as a Partner
While CEOs are embracing AI to take on more responsibility, communications leaders themselves aren’t panicking. In fact, they appear far more optimistic.
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70% say AI enhances their effectiveness.
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Only 13% worry AI will replace their role.
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Only 30% believe AI will negatively impact job numbers.
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68% say AI will increase the value of internal comms teams.
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64% say AI will also increase the value of external agencies.
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63% believe AI will “level the playing field,” enabling smaller brands to punch above their weight.
This isn’t the fear-driven reaction many predicted for creative sectors. Instead, comms leaders view AI as a force multiplier—one that frees them from lower-level tasks so they can focus on strategy, reputation management, and the human nuance that AI can’t replicate.
Ragan CEO Diane Schwartz puts it plainly:
This is the moment for communicators to differentiate themselves through creativity, strategy, and empathy—the irreplaceable skills.
Corporate Voice Is Shifting: CEOs Want to Talk Less, Comms Teams Want to Talk More
In an era of political polarization and instantaneous backlash, the corporate voice has never been riskier to wield. And CEOs are taking notice.
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58% of CEOs say their organizations speak up too often on social or political issues.
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59% of comms leaders, however, believe companies should speak up more.
It’s the sharpest philosophical divide in the entire survey.
Still, both sides agree on one thing:
83% say their organizations usually strike the right balance when deciding whether to comment publicly.
The safest topics remain predictable:
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Hiring announcements
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Community investments
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Environmental initiatives
These “low-risk, high-goodwill” themes continue to anchor corporate storytelling—even as flashpoint issues are increasingly avoided.
In short: the era of corporate activism is not over, but it’s no longer unchallenged. CEOs are reclaiming the microphone.
Trust Is High, But Control Still Belongs to the CEO
Despite tensions, CEOs clearly value their communications teams:
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83% say they highly value them
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98% say comms leaders have sufficient access
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92% of comms leaders agree
But access does not equal authority.
Only:
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56% of CEOs consult comms leaders before major external announcements
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65% do so for important internal announcements
Even more telling:
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74% of CEOs say they personally lead communications
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Yet only 20% of comms leaders say the function reports directly to the CEO
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74% of CEOs think comms should report to them
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Only 31% of comms leaders agree
This disconnect reflects a lingering truth:
Communications is trusted, but still not structurally empowered.
In a world where brand reputation can swing in hours, not days, the friction between executive control and comms expertise is becoming harder to ignore.
The Bigger Picture: AI Isn’t Just Changing the Work—It’s Changing the Power Dynamics
Taken together, the survey paints a picture of an industry at a crossroads:
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AI is becoming a primary contributor, not just a helper.
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CEOs are embracing AI faster than many expected.
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Comms leaders are optimistic—but not naïve.
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Corporate voices are consolidating under tighter executive control.
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Strategy and human nuance remain the must-have skills for the next era.
The communications profession isn’t being replaced.
It’s being redefined—and the shift is less about automation than about authority.
As organizations push deeper into AI-assisted storytelling, reputational risk management, and real-time narrative control, the leaders who thrive will be those who balance two skills:
Mastering AI—and mastering the moments AI can’t handle.
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