Case study: Canada Revenue Agency’s GenAI comms readiness assessment report
Determine where AI can create meaningful value.
The Canada Revenue Agency is one of the largest and most complex public-sector communications engines in North America — responsible for informing, educating and supporting tens of millions of residents, businesses and partners across Canada. As GenAI moved from emerging concept to operational reality, CRA’s Communications Directorate understood that the stakes were high: AI could streamline workflows, elevate service delivery, enable faster content creation and improve citizen experience. But without a structured assessment of risks, capabilities and cultural readiness, the organization risked moving too quickly, too narrowly — or not at all.
To answer that challenge, the Directorate commissioned a comprehensive GenAI communications readiness assessment. The goal was simple: to determine where GenAI could create meaningful value for internal and external communications and what the agency would need — strategically, operationally and culturally — to adopt it responsibly.
This research-driven study examined the full ecosystem of AI readiness: business drivers, mission-critical use cases, brand values, governance requirements, risk tolerance, data protocols, stakeholder expectations and the skills the workforce will need to operate confidently in an AI-enabled environment. It evaluated not only tools and technology but also human factors, training pathways, organizational culture and the policy guardrails required to protect public trust.
The result is a blueprint for how any communication function — public, private or nonprofit — can approach AI adoption with clarity rather than guesswork. CRA’s approach provides a model for leaders who want to move beyond one-off experiments toward a scalable, values-aligned AI strategy.
Use this case study as a guide to evaluate your own brand’s GenAI readiness: Where do you have momentum? Where are the gaps? And what steps will best prepare your team for the next era of communication?
