From tool to teammate: How leaders need to reshape the comms playbook for 2026

At a recent Center for AI Strategy member roundtable, communications leaders explored how AI is redefining roles, governance, trust and visibility — and what comms teams must do now to stay credible and competitive.

If 2025 was the year communications teams experimented with AI, 2026 is the year they’re evaluated on how well they manage it.

Across the conversation, a clear consensus emerged: AI is moving from a productivity enhancer to an embedded collaborator — drafting, monitoring, analyzing and recommending in real time. The communicator’s role, in turn, is shifting upstream, toward orchestration, judgment and accountability.

From AI tool to AI colleague

Ms. Behiiv News’ Meiko Patton framed the shift plainly: AI is no longer something communicators “use,” but something they increasingly direct. She pointed to the Disney–OpenAI deal — significant investment paired with just one year of exclusivity — as a signal that large organizations aren’t betting on a single platform. They’re testing partners.

For comms professionals, that signals a change in value. As AI systems begin flagging crises, drafting materials and queuing approvals, humans move into oversight — deciding what ships, what doesn’t and what aligns with brand and values. “It’s exciting and terrifying,” Patton said, “but it’s a great time to be a comms professional.”

Building the content factory

Cargill manager of comms technology Kris Huson extended the idea into operating models. Rather than simply producing content, comms teams are becoming architects of “content factories” — systems that combine workflows, tools and governance. In this model, communicators act as conductors, coordinating traditional creatives, technologists and emerging AI specialists.

Huson also urged teams not to overlook more deterministic AI systems — tools designed for predictability and reliability. As generative AI expands, she argued, there will be renewed demand for systems that don’t guess, especially when reputation is at stake.

Enablement beats central control

Brian Snyder, Axicom’s chief innovation officer, focused on what happens as AI becomes better at following instructions. Agentic workflows can now break complex processes into coordinated steps — but the real risk is who designs them. Snyder warned against leaving AI implementation to centralized or nonexpert teams.

Instead, he argued for enabling subject-matter experts — creative directors, strategists and communicators — to design how AI works in their domain. That approach improves quality and surfaces accountability. “We’re already seeing people get exposed for passing along unreviewed AI output,” he said. “That’s not going away.”

The “missing middle” of AI adoption

AI Center member Jennifer Sosnowski of Merck brought the conversation down to ground level, describing what she called the “missing middle” of AI adoption: workflow-level improvements that don’t rise to enterprise transformation but deliver immediate value.

She shared a town hall reporting use case in which an LLM reduced a multiperson, eight-hour process to seconds. “AI isn’t always the answer,” Sosnowski said, “but it can help you find the answer.” Her point landed: The biggest gains often come from empowering teams to optimize their own workflows.

Enablement at scale — and leadership pressure

Idaho National Laboratory and AI Center member Michael Cousin offered a complementary organizational view, describing an AI transformation enablement team built across IT, communications and change management. The group trains teams, surfaces use cases and helps employees integrate AI into daily work — from facilities management to records tracking.

Notably, Cousin said leadership buy-in wasn’t a hurdle but a push. “We’re not trying to convince leadership,” he said. “We’re being told to use AI or fall behind.” That reality, he noted, makes communications’ role even more critical in explaining intent, setting expectations and building internal trust.

Governance, risk and the return of trust

McDermott Will & Emery privacy and cybersecurity attorney Katelyn Ringrose grounded the conversation in risk. As AI improves, she warned, so do threats — from fraud and misinformation to regulatory exposure. With state laws, federal enforcement and the EU AI Act advancing, governance can’t be delegated away from comms.

Her advice was practical: update incident response plans to reflect real employee behavior; monitor global rules even if you operate locally; and take workforce integrity seriously in a remote environment. “A human is always liable,” she said. “The machine never is.”

That idea — human accountability — became the connective tissue of the conversation. As AI-generated content floods channels, trust is resurfacing as a differentiator. Transparency, labeling and ownership aren’t weaknesses; they’re signals of credibility.

Top takeaways for success in 2026

• AI is shifting from tool to teammate — and comms becomes orchestration.
“Our job moves from doing to directing.” — Meiko S. Patton

• Comms teams are building content factories, not just content.
Workflow design, system architecture and governance matter as much as outputs. — Kris Huson

• Enable experts to design AI workflows — or risk low-quality results.
AI exposes who’s reviewing, guiding and taking responsibility. — Brian Snyder

• The biggest wins may live in the “missing middle.”
Workflow-level automation can unlock immediate, meaningful time savings. — Jennifer Sosnowski

• AI enablement works best when leadership pressure is real.
Comms plays a key role in explaining intent and building adoption. — Michael Cousin

• Governance literacy is now table stakes for communicators.
Incident response, global regulation and data risk can’t be outsourced. — Katelyn Ringrose

• If there’s a name on it, a human owns it.
Authenticity and accountability become competitive advantages. — Meiko Patton

• AI commoditizes execution; strategy and judgment create value.
Trust, taste and decision-making will separate professionals from prompts. — Center for AI roundtable consensus

Learn more about the Center for AI Strategy.