Where communicators become strategic power players.
Global instability is reshaping how organizations operate and respond. AI is no longer an experiment. It’s an expectation. Employees increasingly look to their organizations for clarity, protection and guidance.
Communicators like you stand at the epicenter. The opportunity to influence your organization has never been more available. Step into your power by getting ahead of 2027 now.
The Future of Communications Conference brings together internal and external communications, marketing and HR functions to focus on what’s next: guiding organizations through continuous disruption. This is where the conversation moves beyond merely spotting trends to how best to implement for real business impact.
Join global and national leaders in Austin, Tex. for three days of bold keynotes, hands-on workshops, expert panels and peer-driven discussions designed to prepare you for 2027. You’ll learn leadership strategies and best-in-class practices to lead through uncertainty, guide your workforce through change and elevate your brand across stakeholders, all to prove your value in the moments that matter most.
Everything You Need to Lead the Future of Communications
WHAT'S INCLUDED WITH YOUR REGISTRATION
- Learn from 50+ senior communications leaders, executives and industry experts sharing real-world strategies and case studies.
- Build your own agenda with 30+ keynote presentations, hands-on workshops, case studies, fireside chats and peer discussions.
- Access speaker presentation decks and practical communications frameworks you can use long after the conference ends.
- Receive exclusive post-conference resources, bonus guides, templates and AI tools available only to registered attendees.
- Network with hundreds of communications professionals and senior leaders from organizations across every major industry.
- Explore the latest communications technology, AI solutions and innovative tools from trusted industry partners.
- Everything is designed to help you return to work with practical communications strategies, stronger leadership skills and measurable ideas you can immediately put into practice.
NETWORKING & PEER LEARNING EXPERIENCES
- The best conference conversations often happen between sessions. Throughout the Future of Communications Conference, you'll have multiple opportunities to connect with communications leaders, exchange ideas, solve challenges together and build a professional network that extends well beyond Austin.
- Join a Communications Leadership Cohort: Be matched with a small group of fellow communications professionals to share ideas, discuss conference sessions and build lasting professional relationships throughout the event.
- Expand Your Network Through Speed Networking: Meet speakers, senior communications leaders and fellow attendees during structured networking designed to help you build meaningful professional connections.
- Participate in Interactive Roundtable Discussions: Continue the conversation after keynote sessions through facilitated table discussions where you'll exchange ideas, share challenges and learn how peers are solving similar communications issues.
- Connect at Networking Receptions: Build relationships with communications professionals from leading organizations during informal receptions and social events throughout the conference.
- Use the Event App to Network Before, During and After the Conference: Connect with attendees, schedule meetings, exchange ideas and continue conversations long after the event concludes.
- Kick Off the Conference at the Welcome Dinner: Meet fellow attendees over dinner at a local Austin restaurant on November 11 and begin building valuable connections before the conference officially starts. (Nominal fee.)
FUTURE OF COMMUNICATIONS CONFERENCE AGENDA
The Future of Communications Conference agenda is designed for communications leaders navigating artificial intelligence, organizational change and an increasingly complex business environment. Across three days of keynote presentations, hands-on workshops, case studies and peer discussions, you'll learn practical strategies for executive communications, corporate communications, corporate reputation management, crisis communications, Generative Engine Optimization (GEO), communications measurement and the future of the communications profession.
Agenda topics include: Artificial intelligence and AI governance, executive communications, corporate communications, corporate reputation management, crisis communications, Generative Engine Optimization (GEO), Answer Engine Optimization (AEO), communications measurement, employee engagement, organizational change, business continuity, executive visibility, AI search, communications leadership and strategic communications.
PRE-CON OPTIONS — Wednesday, November 11
Conference Workshops
Crisis 3.0 for Comms: Preparing for Deepfakes, Cyber Attacks and Synthetic Media
A fake executive voice memo or leaked emails can now trigger a reputational spiral before legal and IT teams have time to react. In this interactive workshop, you’ll prepare for stacked crises where phishing and data breeches, workforce anxiety and reputational attacks collide across channels simultaneously. You’ll learn:
New Threats: How crisis teams are adapting escalation protocols for deepfakes, impersonation scams and manipulated media.
Cross-Functional Coordination: What legal, IT and communications leaders each need during a modern crisis response operation.
AI Disruption: Why synthetic media changes stakeholder expectations during reputational incidents and executive response moments.
Measurement Strategies: How brands are building crisis dashboards to monitor overlapping operational and reputational threats.
Interactive: Working in small groups, you’ll navigate a simulated multi-channel crisis scenario involving evolving misinformation.
Business Fluency for Internal Comms: Measuring Your Success
To be a true strategic partner to the C-suite, you need to speak their language. Learn how to shift from clicks and open rates to proof points that resonate with leadership so you can position comms as a strategic function. You’ll learn:
C-Suite Speak: The fluency skills that will help you to position comms as a reputational, not a cost center.
Business Alignment: How to map objectives to org-wide priorities that evoke behavior change such as reducing turnover or increasing change adoption.
Seat at the Table: Communication strategies that build trust with leadership and reinforce internal comms as a business driver.
Data Storytelling: How to find the narratives you need within the metrics, plus the best ways to share data and dashboards to execs.
Interactive: Working in small groups, you’ll prepare a short presentation to a fictional c-suite leader to advocate for more investment.
Winning the Algorithm: Narrative Control in AI Search and Social Feeds
Your audience increasingly meets your brand through AI-generated summaries on search engines or directly within LLMs like ChatGPT instead of through your homepage or social feeds. In this AEO- and GEO-centric workshop, you’ll explore how discoverability, reputation and visibility shift when AI systems become a primary layer between brands and audiences. You’ll learn:
LLM Visibility: How brands are auditing visibility inside popular LLMs like ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews.
The New Media Mix: What LLMs prioritize, from earned media to LinkedIn leadership, and where AI-generated summaries surface accurate or distorted brand information.
Executive Thought Leadership: Ways to adapt SEO, PR and thought leadership strategies for AEO and GEO environments.
Brand Reputation Risks: How misinformation, outdated content and low-quality citations spread across AI search ecosystems.
Interactive: Audit a real-world brand and identify where AI-generated summaries succeed, fail or distort context.
Your Comms Channel Command Center: Optimizing the Tech Stack for Employees
From intranets to AI integrations, even the best platforms can fall flat without the right comms, rollout and training. Cut through the noise that accelerating technology can inadvertently create by optimizing your tech stack to align with company’s business goals. Learn about:
Auditing Your Tech Stack: How to assess your tech stack against employee and department workflows.
AI Integrations: Smart, value-driven use cases that include automating tasks to personalizing internal comms.
Central FAQ: How to create a central source of truth that stays relevant without overwhelming employees with white noise.
Systems That Multiply: Tips for scaling as needs evolve, while continuing to support a diverse, distributed workforce.
Interactive: In small groups, you’ll work to reinvent and update a newsletter strategy that makes sense for a modern workplace.
Anti-Workslop in the Agentic Era: How Brands Can Win Back Attention
Every communications team suddenly gained the power to produce content at industrial scale using AI agents and LLMs, which means audiences and platforms now reward authenticity, judgment and recognizable perspective over sheer volume. In this workshop, you’ll build editorial and governance systems that help teams scale AI-assisted content without flattening voice, credibility or brand trust. You’ll learn:
Human In the Loop: How leading brands are building human review checkpoints into AI-assisted and agentic-driven editorial workflows.
AI vs Human: What “human taste” looks like inside content planning, approvals and publishing operations.
Risk Management: Ways to prevent repetitive, generic or low-context AI content from weakening audience trust.
Case Studies: How teams are balancing speed, automation and editorial judgment during high-volume content production. Plus: how to create a custom GPT that captures the company’s brand voice.
Interactive: Rewrite AI-assisted content examples using editorial guardrails, tone standards and approval frameworks.
Building an AI-Fluent Comms Team
The role of the communicator is not just to learn AI, but to help your company adopt and embed these new technologies into employees’ daily workflow. This hands-on workshop guides you through the steps necessary to build internal confidence around the programs and structure for scale. You’ll learn:
Workflow Reviews: How to identify gaps that AI can fix, and why change management techniques are critical to build buy-in.
Adoption-Ready Teams: How to create a scalable AI learning and development curriculum that equips teams and managers and accelerates adoption across functions.
Hackathons: How to roll out short, internal workshops dedicated to specific tools, ending with a hands-on challenge like redesigning a workflow.
ROI Strategies: Ways to measure and monitor adoption, buy-in and the ROI on new technologies.
Interactive: In small groups, you’ll work to build a 5-minute “sprint” exercise—and then participate in someone else’s live.
Mix and Mingle
Kick things off with a casual cash-bar gathering at the hotel. It’s the perfect setting to make your first connections and ease into the conference vibe.
Dine-Arounds
Continue the conversation at dinner with new friends.
Center for AI Strategy Summit
By choosing this option, you'll receive complimentary annual membership in the Center for AI Strategy.
AI Adoption Brain Trust: What’s Working, What’s Stuck, What’s Next
Most comms teams are still struggling to make adoption real, responsible and useful at scale. Join advisors and peers to unpack what’s slowing teams down, from employee resistance and scattered pilots to governance gaps, uncertainty about which AI tools comms teams should prioritize and change fatigue. Discussion prompts:
Where is AI adoption actually gaining traction inside comms teams?
What is still blocking broader use, trust or buy-in?
How are teams moving from experimentation to repeatable workflows?
Show & Tell: AI Workflows Worth Stealing
See how CAIS members are putting AI to work, from practical workflows and prompts to pilots, governance practices and emerging use cases. Via quick, facilitated demos gathered in advance and with room for some spontaneous additions, peers and advisors will show what’s working and what others can borrow. You’ll see examples of:
What members are building: Use cases, pilots, agents and AI-enabled comms processes.
Workflows worth borrowing: Prompt sequences, tool setups guardrails, measurement approaches and team practices others could adapt.
Problems members are solving: Roadblocks, risk questions and scaling challenges, plus the lessons emerging along the way.
Benchmarking Your Comms for 2027
We’ll have frank discussions and peer sharing around the highest-priority gaps to close in the next 12 months, and the next moves to make to ensure you’re a leader in your organization’s AI strategy. Discussion prompts:
How mature is your team’s AI strategy today?
Where are the biggest gaps: policy, skills, workflows, tools or measurement?
Budget planning – people, money, influence
What should your next 90 days of AI progress look like?
Ask the Advisors: AI Risks You Can’t Ignore & Opportunities You Might Be Missing
This Chatham House-style advisor exchange gives members a candid space to raise the harder AI questions facing comms leaders now: legal risk, brand safety, agentic workflows, employee backlash, synthetic content, disclosure, executive pressure and where human judgment still needs to overrule the machine. Advisors will also share what they see coming next as you prepare for 2027. Discussion prompts:
What AI risks are comms teams underestimating right now?
Where do legal, brand, HR and comms need clearer rules of engagement?
What trends, tools and org shifts should you (and your CEO) be preparing for before 2027?
Wrap-Up
As we conclude the member summit, you’ll walk away with dozens of ideas and insights. Plus, you’ll join up with your fellow attendees of the Future of Communications Conference for a networking event at the venue.
Advisor Office Hours — Exclusive to Center for AI Strategy members. Available by appointment during Future of Communications, Nov. 11–13. Request short private or small-group sessions with the Center's advisors.
DAY 1 - Thursday, November 12
Welcome to Austin: Opening Remarks
Join Ragan’s editorial team as they share exclusive data on C-suite perceptions of comms from our collaboration with HarrisX, statistics from Ragan’s Benchmark report, and wrap with the top five trends to watch out for.
KeynoteThink Like a Creator: Thriving at the Intersection of AI, Trust and the Future of Communications
AI is changing how organizations create content, but the bigger shift is cultural. As executives become creators, employees become publishers and brands compete for attention across an entirely new media ecosystem, communications professionals need more than AI tools: they need a creator mindset. Join us as our keynote explores how curiosity, experimentation, authenticity and trust will define the next generation of communications leaders. Drawing from her work at the intersection of creators, technology and digital culture, she'll show why corporate is becoming a creator space, how AI is reshaping the future of work and media, and what communicators must do today to stay relevant tomorrow.
Ragan Remixer and Table Talk
Get ready to mingle with our host-led networking challenge.
Tech Crawl
Discover new tools and tech to accelerate and ease your transformation.
PanelThe Oh No Panel: Are You Ready for What’s Really Next?
The next communications disruption may arrive through synthetic personalities, invisible interfaces or autonomous AI systems talking to each other. Hear how leaders are preparing for emerging technologies that could reshape trust, reputation and audience engagement. You’ll learn:
Robots As Thought Leaders: How brands are preparing for synthetic influencers and employees, agentic bots in the org chart, avatar executives and AI-generated spokespersons.
Writing for the Machines: What “AI as the stakeholder” means for messaging, discoverability and communication strategy.
Message Alteration and Workflow Adoption: Why adaptive messaging and autonomous responses are reshaping content operations and governance planning.
What’s Next: How emerging technologies may alter stakeholder expectations around trust, authenticity, reputation, speed and personalization.
PanelThe New Power Triangle: Comms, People and Technology
As AI adoption, policy shifts and workforce changes collide, old ownership models break down fast. Hear how communications, HR and technology leaders align decisions, manage risk and keep employees informed when expectations shift by the week. You’ll learn:
Cross-Departmental Collaboration: How to partner across your organization to define shared vs owned responsibilities during rapid workplace transformations.
Responsibility Matrixes: How to select the project management model that best works for your team and bridges silos with HR, Legal and Operations.
One Voice: How leading organizations communicate governance changes without creating employee confusion, mistrust or backlash.
Divide and Conquer: Why choosing the right executive to share transformation stories can make all the difference.
Societal Unrest Continues: Keeping Both Your Customers and Your Employees Engaged
Employees and customers alike look to corporations to provide clarity and take a stand during moments of geopolitical instability, public emergencies and workforce disruption. Learn how you can communicate through uncertainty while balancing transparency, operational realities and employee trust across fast-moving situations. You’ll learn:
Scenario Planning: How organizations are preparing crisis communication plans for workforce safety and business continuity.
The Role of the Employer: What customers expect from leadership during geopolitical instability, workplace disruption and public emergencies.
The Reputation Connection: How internal messaging decisions quickly shape external perception, media coverage and stakeholder confidence during crises.
Cross-Functional Response: Ways to coordinate HR, legal, operations and communications during rapidly evolving situations.
Change Fatigue is the New Crisis: Trust Erosion During Continuous Disruption
Flattening org charts, layoffs and nonstop transformation have redefined what work feels like in 2027, and many employees no longer trust that organizational stability is returning. Learn how leaders are rebuilding credibility without losing momentum.
Building Resilience: Ways to reduce change fatigue and trust erosion when organizational priorities, executive messaging and workplace realities stop aligning.
Systems for Change: Comms strategies that work, including how to modernize for hybrid, frontline and deskless teams.
Survivor Guilt Signals: The psychology behind disengagement, and when it surfaces with individual contributors after big change like a layoff.
Managers as Front Lines of Trust: Learn how organizations are rebuilding trust by equipping managers to translate uncertainty into clarity, stability and credible leadership.
Industry SpotlightThe Future of Internal Communications: 2027 Trends, Insights and Opportunities
Discover what internal communicators revealed about the evolving state of the profession in PoliteMail and Ragan’s joint Internal Communications Trends and Opportunities for 2027 survey and report. From AI adoption to measurement maturity, this session uncovers the trends shaping the future of employee communications. Walk away with practical insights, industry benchmarks, and actionable strategies to strengthen your communication programs in 2027 and beyond.
Discover the top priorities, challenges and opportunities shaping internal comms strategies for 2027.
Compare your communication practices against industry trends and emerging best practices from peer organizations.
Learn where communicators are investing in AI, measurement, manager communications and audience segmentation.
Turn research findings into practical actions that increase engagement, demonstrate impact and support organizational success.
Comms in ConversationAfter the Midterms: Navigating the New Public Affairs Reality
The 2026 midterm elections may reshape regulatory priorities, workforce expectations and the pressure companies face to respond publicly on political and social issues. Hear how communications and public affairs leaders are reassessing risk, stakeholder trust and corporate positioning as organizations navigate a more polarized and fast-moving political environment.
Comms in Conversation
Case StudyHow to Keep Brand Loyalty Legendary
Consumers feel inflation every time they open a menu, refill a grocery cart or reconsider discretionary spending. Hear how one consumer brand communicates rising costs, value expectations and brand warmth while navigating pricing pressure and continued business growth. You’ll learn:
Economic Realities: How consumer brands are discussing pricing pressure without sounding evasive or overly corporate.
Reframing Strategies: What messaging approaches help preserve customer trust during inflationary business conditions.
Values First: Ways organizations balance value positioning, operational realities and brand personality.
Ensuring Brand Loyalty: How brands can communicate difficult business realities while maintaining loyalty and long-term credibility.
The New Playbook of Executive Communications and Influence: Video, Podcasts and LinkedIn
Employees increasingly expect leaders to communicate like creators: visible, conversational and present across channels they use every day. Here’s the new strategies that are working for thought leaders to build trust, visibility and credibility. You’ll learn:
Town Halls to External: How organizations are coordinating town halls, podcasts, LinkedIn and short-form video into a single visibility strategy.
Authenticity over AI: The tell-tale signs you want to avoid in LinkedIn posts to ensure authenticity.
New Media Interview Prep: What you need to do differently to train executives for podcasts, blogs and Substacks.
Trust Analytics: How communicators are measuring resonance, credibility and employee alignment with the new media mix. Hint: it’s not just the annual employee survey.
Mis/Disinformation: When Crisis Starts on Social Media
Misinformation, anonymous accounts and viral outrage can escalate local incidents into national reputational crises within hours. Hear how communications teams are responding to social media pile-ons, dark web threats and fast-moving misinformation during high-pressure events. You’ll learn:
Pre-Crisis Drills: How crisis and social media teams can prepare for misinformation campaigns before incidents gain traction publicly.
Internal Frameworks: How social media escalation frameworks help teams respond faster during chaotic online moments.
External Partners: Ways local media relationships can strengthen credibility and counter false narratives during crises.
Tradeoffs: How brands are balancing transparency, speed and legal considerations across volatile social platforms.
The AI-Resilient Comms Team: Leading Through Disruption
When AI natives want to go faster, and governance models are falling behind, it leaves communications teams to manage the fallout in real time. Learn how to make smarter decisions around AI use, accountability and risk before small missteps become larger reputational problems. You’ll learn:
Risk vs. Reward: How to evaluate the risks and operational realities of shadow AI tools already spreading across your organization.
Ghost in the Machine: What to do when AI starts acting on your behalf—and what checkpoints you need to operationalize now.
AI Accountability: Escalation triggers for when AI-generated outputs create legal, reputational or employee risk.
Tech Talks: Way you can influence AI governance conversations before policies and adoption becomes misaligned with reality.
Comms in ConversationBusiness Fluency: What the C-Suite Wants You To Know
Successful communications leaders operate as strategic advisors who partner with executives, anticipating risk, interpreting workforce sentiment and connecting messaging decisions to business outcomes. Hear directly from two C-suite leaders about what earns their trust, the most common misunderstandings and how they see the CCO role evolving as disruption accelerates across every part of the business.
Comms in ConversationBuilding the Plane While Flying It: Inside the First Chief Communications Officer Role
Many organizations created their first Chief Communications Officer role only after growth, crisis or transformation exposed the limits of fragmented communications structures. Hear how first-generation CCOs are defining the role in real time while building executive trust, aligning functions and establishing communications as a strategic business driver rather than a support function.
Rest and Recharge Break
Discover new tools and tech to accelerate and ease your transformation.
Integrated Brand Storytelling: Designing Cross-Channel Narratives That Drive Behavior
Storytelling increasingly shapes audience decisions long before a purchase, policy shift or reputational turning point occurs. Learn why marketing, corp comms and employee messaging strategies can no longer operate separately, and how they are building unified narrative systems that influence customers and employees alike. You’ll learn:
Psych Strategies: What teams can learn from behavioral science, campaign psychology and audience response patterns.
The Drip: Ways to structure multichannel storytelling rollouts so messages build momentum instead of repeating themselves.
Behavior-Changing Techniques: How strategies are evolving beyond narrative arcs into systems that guide audience decision-making.
Case Studies: How leading brands are designing narrative briefs tied to audience behavior and business outcomes.
CFO Stress Test: How to Prove Your Impact and Defend Budget
As communications, culture and reputation become harder to separate, leaders face growing pressure to prove their value in concrete business terms. Learn how to build modern scorecards that help you prioritize investments, anticipate pushback and make a stronger case for budget when they tighten company-wide. You’ll learn:
Boardroom Translation: How to build a CFO-ready dashboard with the help of AI.
Risk Radar: Ways to position communications as an early-warning function that identifies risk before it affects retention, morale or reputation.
Signals Over Vanity: The metrics you need to include, blending reputation, sentiment, employee trust, leadership visibility, and more.
2027 Scenario Planning: The steps you need to take to protect your budget going into the new year, including the business-critical metrics to track.
Autonomy in the Workflow: Building Brand Voice With Agentic AI
Communications teams are rapidly moving from single AI prompts to interconnected systems that can generate content, route approvals, analyze feedback and trigger actions automatically. Learn how you can build agentic AI workflows that improve speed and scale while maintaining quality, governance and brand trust. You’ll learn:
Process Planning: How teams are designing AI-assisted workflows for content creation, approvals and campaign execution.
Human Vs Machine: What quality-control frameworks help prevent inaccurate, off-brand or low-context AI outputs.
Human + Machine: Ways communications leaders are combining automation with human review across high-volume publishing operations.
What’s Next: How emerging agentic systems are reshaping editorial planning, production workflows and communications strategy.
Comms as the Operating System for Workplace Adaptation
Learn how effective internal comms leaders are building AI-powered planning, coordination and measurement tools to align teams around a central messaging system. This is the framework for helping organizations adapt faster without creating confusion, mistrust or message fatigue. You’ll learn:
The Organizational Flywheel: What shared planning systems help teams respond faster when operational, reputational and workforce changes overlap.
Trust Infrastructure: Why shared measurement systems are becoming critical for tracking trust, readiness, reputation and workplace alignment together.
Narrative Layer: How to align internal comms, PR, marketing and social teams around one coordinated narrative.
2027 Case Study: How one company rebuilt its communications ecosystem using AI-assisted coordination to adapt faster than its competitors during a period of rapid change.
Networking Reception
Wind down with drinks, bites, and big ideas. Our end-of-day reception is your chance to meet new faces and reconnect with peers in a laid-back setting that makes networking feel effortless.
DAY 2 - Friday, November 13
KeynoteBeing Real: The Human Voice in an AI World
AI can write your emails, draft thought leadership and mimic your tone. But as more communication becomes automated, your audience notices what feels generic. Learn how you can preserve authenticity while still adopting AI tools across your organization. You’ll learn:
The Authenticity Gap: Why audiences quickly detect messaging that lacks originality or human perspective – and what brands lose when efficiency replaces empathy.
Put On Your Editorial Hat: How you can apply newsroom instincts to AI-assisted content and executive messaging.
Rethinking Metrics: How the smartest communicators are measuring trust, resonance and influence in a world flooded with AI content.
Tech Crawl
Discover new tools and tech to accelerate and ease your transformation.
Case StudyThe New Reputation Economy: Why GEO Discoverability Now Matters More Than Reach
SEO drove clicks; GEO drives opinions. How your brand is viewed is increasingly informed by interpretations of LLMs. Learn how one company audited and then pivoted their company’s thought leadership strategy to target GEO’s search ecosystems. You’ll learn:
Issues Management: How AI-generated answers are reshaping reputation management across industries and platforms.
AI for AI: The custom and bespoke tools that can keep your brand ranked high—and why it isn’t just press releases.
Planning for 2027: Easy ways to adapt your content strategies for GEO visibility—and how you can still control the message.
Measuring Impact: What signals influence whether your brand appears credible, authoritative or absent inside AI summaries.
Case StudyRe-imagining Brand Loyalty: Employees as Influencers
Employees now drive more trust and engagement with a brand than corporate channels. Learn how a leading brand builds their employee ambassador program that increases visibility for their products while strengthening employer brand. You’ll learn:
Ambassador Frameworks: How employee influencer programs are structured, including training, certification, incentives and content support.
Content That Connects: What employees are willing and should share, how to control the message with employer guidelines and how personal perspective increases engagement.
It’s Not Just Intranets: Why employee voices now outperform polished corporate channels. Track how they build credibility both externally and internally.
Measuring Influence: KPIs that matter beyond click-through or engagement rates, and how to amplify across channel (eg. earned media).
Ragan Remixer
In small groups, you’ll brainstorm on a facilitator-provided prompt.
Ragan Remixer
In small groups, you’ll brainstorm on a facilitator-provided prompt.
PanelThe New Top Tier Media: How Influence Actually Works Now
Earned media make up the vast majority of AI citations. Yet the media is shrinking, and the internet’s most influential conversations rarely begin on cable news. Here’s how PR leaders identify where narratives incubate and more importantly: how to engage credibly across those fragmented media ecosystems. You’ll learn:
Influencers: How creators, trade publications and Substacks influence reputation long before major media coverage appears — and the data metrics PR teams need to track to catch these microscopic trends early.
Language That Works: Building community trust with new approaches to executive messaging, branded content and media outreach.
Machine Learning: What AI systems absorb from public conversations, how LLMs index earned media versus social chatter and how that shapes discoverability and perception.
The New Media Mix: How brands are redefining media strategy across niche communities, creator ecosystems and independent platforms.
Measuring the Fragmented Mix: How PR leaders are moving beyond potential reach and impressions to measure impact across niche communities, independent platforms and AI search.
Narrative Agility: How closer alignment with product, sales and marketing teams helps executive messaging resonate authentically across niche trade spaces.
PanelGen Z vs. AI: What the NexGen Workforce is Looking For
Don’t let your internal comms become: AI; DR. This Gen Z panel of AI natives will discuss the tell-tale signs that deter from clicking, and then they’ll dish on the secret formula that will get them enthused. Hint: it’s not because it’s written by AI, it’s the intention behind it. You’ll learn:
The Instant Ick: Why younger employees disengage from messaging that feels overly cringe, performative or AI-generated, and the cues you can easily eliminate.
Feed Mentality: How Gen Z workers consume information across workplace channels, video, Reddit and AI-powered search (and how you can connect with them better).
Face Time Over Screen Time: Why casual video, “unscripted” leadership updates and creator-style comms are outperforming traditional exec messaging.
Humans Are Imperfect: What Gen Z gets right about tone and trust.
Comms in ConversationInside Today's Media Ecosystem: A CCO's Perspective
The rules of media influence have fundamentally changed. Consumer outlets, trade publications, newsletters, podcasts and AI-powered search now shape reputation in different ways—and traditional media relations is only one part of the equation. Join us for a candid conversation on how communications leaders should rethink media strategy, executive visibility and audience trust as the information landscape continues to evolve.
FUTURE OF COMMUNICATIONS CONFERENCE SPEAKERS
Meet the communications leaders driving innovation across corporate communications, executive communications, internal communications, public relations and corporate affairs. Through keynote presentations, case studies and candid conversations, you'll gain practical strategies and leadership insights you can immediately apply within your organization. Additional speakers are announced regularly.
INTERESTED IN SPEAKING?
Please reach out to Director of Event Programming
Alyssa Smith.
SKILLS YOU'LL GAIN AT THE FUTURE OF COMMUNICATIONS CONFERENCE
- Address the Tensions Defining Modern Communications: Navigate the tradeoffs shaping today's communications strategy, from human judgment versus AI automation, visibility versus credibility, executive confidence versus employee uncertainty and speed versus accuracy. Learn how communications leaders make better decisions when every choice carries competing risks.
- AI, Governance and the New Communications Operating Model: Learn how to implement artificial intelligence, agentic AI and AI governance across your communications team to improve productivity, strengthen decision-making and create measurable business impact.
- Business Continuity Through Crisis and Risk: Strengthen crisis communications and business continuity planning while navigating geopolitical instability, cyber threats, misinformation, employee uncertainty and organizational risk with practical communications strategies.
- Change Leadership and Workplace Alignment: Lead organizational change by aligning communications, HR and IT to strengthen employee engagement, stakeholder communications and successful change management initiatives.
- Value in the Boardroom: Connect communications strategy to measurable business outcomes including revenue, reputation, employee retention and organizational readiness while building the business fluency needed to influence executive leadership and defend communications budgets.
- Influence, Discoverability and AI Search: Master AI search optimization, Generative Engine Optimization (GEO), Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) and modern digital communications strategies to improve discoverability while understanding how platforms like Reddit, LinkedIn and emerging online communities influence reputation and trust.
- Activate Mixternal Comms Inter-Departmentally: Break down silos by aligning internal communications, public relations, social media, marketing and executive communications to deliver consistent messaging across employees, customers, stakeholders and the media.
- Measure Communications ROI: Strengthen communications measurement, business fluency and executive reporting to demonstrate communications impact, justify investment and secure future communications budgets with confidence.
PRICING
Join us for the Future of Communications Conference.
All registrations include conference sessions, speaker presentation decks, networking and notes taken by the Ragan editorial team.
| PRIORITY Until July 10 |
ADVANCED Until August 7 |
EARLY BIRD Until September 4 |
VIP Until October 9 |
REGULAR RATE | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conference All-Access Pass(includes the pre-conference workshops and the conference recording) | |||||
| Standard | $3,495 | $3,595 | $3,695 | $3,795 | $3,895 |
| Nonprofit/Gov/Edu | $3,395 | $3,495 | $3,595 | $3,695 | $3,795 |
| Ragan Insider | $3,345 | $3,445 | $3,545 | $3,645 | $3,745 |
| Conference Registration - Individual | |||||
| Standard | $3,095 | $3,195 | $3,295 | $3,395 | $3,495 |
| Nonprofit/Gov/Edu | $2,995 | $3,095 | $3,195 | $3,295 | $3,395 |
| Ragan Insider | $2,945 | $3,045 | $3,145 | $3,245 | $3,345 |
| Conference Recording On Demand | |||||
| Includes pre-conference workshops and conference sessions | $1,999 | $1,999 | $1,999 | $1,999 | $1,999 |
| Vendor Registration | |||||
| $4,999 | $4,999 | $4,999 | $4,999 | $4,999 | |
Bring your team! Discounted group pricing for 3 or more is available. Contact customer service for more information.
Lawrence Ragan Communications, Inc is recognized by SHRM to offer Professional Development Credits (PDCs) for SHRM-CP® or SHRM-SCP® recertification activities.
This program is valid for 16 PDCs when using Activity ID: 26-WAQPW.
The Future of Communications Conference delivers forward-looking strategies, practical frameworks and real-world case studies you can apply immediately. From AI integration and emerging technology to crisis readiness, executive communications and employee engagement, you’ll gain tools that sharpen strategy, increase efficiency and future-proof your communications function.
Download this letter to show your manager how attending the Future of Communications Conference, Nov. 11–13 in Austin, Texas, will help you drive measurable impact for your team and organization.
Group Discounts
Would you and your team like to attend? Group pricing for 3 or more is available when going through the registration process!
RAGAN COUNCIL MEMBER DISCOUNTS
Membership includes free registration passes. Contact Shallon Blackburn for more information on becoming a member.
RAGAN INSIDER DISCOUNTS
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Hyatt Regency Austin
208 Barton Springs,
Austin, Texas, 78704
(512) 477-1234
Visitor Info
Austin is calling, and we've made it easier than ever to be part of the conversation with a special attendee room rate of just $275 per night at the Hyatt Regency Austin. Lock in your stay before the discounted rate expires on October 19. Once you register, you'll receive the exclusive booking link reserved for conference attendees.
The Hyatt Regency Austin sits along the shores of Lady Bird Lake, offering stunning skyline views and easy access to the city's vibrant downtown. Just minutes from South Congress, Sixth Street and Austin's renowned restaurants, live music venues and outdoor spaces, you'll be perfectly positioned to experience everything the city has to offer while staying close to all the conference action.
TOP 8 THINGS TO DO IN AUSTIN:
- Listen to Live Music.
- Eat Barbecue and Tex-Mex.
- Enjoy a Cocktail with Local Spirits, Hill Country Wine or Craft Beer.
- Get Outdoors.
- Experience the Famous Bat Bridge.
- Visit a Film Location.
- Explore Texas History.
- Take A City Tour.
SPONSORS & PARTNERS
Titanium
Premium
Want to become a sponsor? Get in touch with our team to discuss sponsorship opportunities.
WHO ATTENDS
Professionals from these organizations have attended the Future of Communications Conference:
WHO SHOULD ATTEND
Ragan's Future of Communications Conference is designed for communications professionals who spend at least a quarter of their time leading, supporting or advising in one or more of these areas:
COMMUNICATION FUNCTIONS
- Corporate Communications
- Internal Communications
- Executive Communications
- Public Relations
- Corporate Affairs
- Public Affairs
- Crisis Communications
- Reputation Management
- Brand Management
- Issues Management
- Media Relations
- Employee Communications
- Social Media Strategy
- Storytelling and Content Strategy
- AI Communications and AI Integration
JOB TITLES
- Chief Communications Officers (CCOs)
- Chief Marketing Officers (CMOs)
- Vice Presidents of Communications
- Corporate Communications Directors
- Internal Communications Directors
- Executive Communications Leaders
- Public Relations Directors
- Corporate Affairs Leaders
- Brand and Reputation Leaders
- Marketing Leaders
- Communications Managers
- Digital Communications Managers
- AI Communications Strategists
- Communications Business Partners
INDUSTRIES REPRESENTED
Each year, the Future of Communications Conference brings together communications professionals from Fortune 500 companies, nonprofit organizations, government agencies, higher education, healthcare organizations, financial services, technology companies, manufacturing, retail, consumer brands and professional services firms.
Whether you're leading communications for a global enterprise or building a growing communications function, you'll leave with practical communications strategies, peer insights and leadership frameworks you can immediately apply within your organization.
WONDERING IF YOU SHOULD ATTEND?
Here’s what past attendees are saying about Ragan and PR Daily Events!
Ragan's Future of Communications Conference was a refreshing and insightful learning experience with great networking opportunities.
It was inspiring to attend the Ragan Conference in Austin, Texas, where I had an opportunity to network with communicators from around the world. The program was designed for both internal and external communicators with cutting edge information about trends in our industry.
No matter how long you've been in comms, the Future of Communications Conference is an investment in yourself as a communications professional. I've been doing comms for nearly four decades and I left this conference energized, motivated, and full of ideas to implement into our comms strategy.
Ragan's Future of Communications Conference prepared me for an ever-evolving landscape where communication and technology will be vital partners in shaping the future of how we convey information.
The Ragan Future of Communications Conference was a truly eye-opening experience. The caliber of speakers and attendees was exceptional, providing valuable insights into the latest trends and innovations shaping the communications landscape. The conference struck the perfect balance between thought-provoking keynotes, actionable workshops, and networking opportunities.
The Future of Communications Conference was an exciting look into the latest tools and techniques for communications and branding. I was able to engage directly with leading experts and learned takeaways that I'll be implementing for a long time to come.
HAVE ANY QUESTIONS?
What is the Future of Communications Conference?
Ragan's Future of Communications Conference is the premier communications professionals conference for corporate communications, internal communications, public relations, executive communications, communications leadership and marketing leaders responsible for shaping the future of communications. Held November 11-13, 2026, in Austin, Texas during Communications Week, the conference explores the biggest trends shaping the profession, including artificial intelligence, AI governance, corporate reputation management, executive communications, misinformation, organizational change, employee communications and the future of corporate communications. Attendees leave with practical communications strategies, peer case studies and frameworks they can immediately apply inside their organizations.
What makes the Future of Communications Conference different from other communications conferences?
Many communications conferences focus on broad leadership topics or industry news. Ragan's Future of Communications Conference is designed specifically for communications leaders preparing for what's next. Sessions focus on the biggest issues shaping the profession, including artificial intelligence, executive communications, corporate reputation management, crisis communications, misinformation, Generative Engine Optimization (GEO), executive visibility, communications measurement and organizational change.
Every session is built around practical implementation, peer case studies and proven frameworks you can immediately apply inside your organization. Rather than focusing on theory, the conference emphasizes real-world communications strategies, executive insights and lessons learned from organizations leading the communications profession forward.
Is the Future of Communications Conference worth attending?
If you're responsible for communications strategy, corporate communications, executive communications, internal communications, public relations or AI adoption, the conference delivers practical strategies you can put to work immediately. You'll hear real-world case studies, participate in candid discussions with industry peers and leave with actionable communications frameworks, templates and strategies for leading through disruption and strengthening your communications leadership for the future.
Who should attend the Future of Communications Conference?
The Future of Communications Conference is designed for communications professionals responsible for corporate communications, internal communications, executive communications, public relations, employee communications, media relations, public affairs, corporate affairs, crisis communications, reputation management, brand strategy and AI implementation.
Typical attendees include:
- Chief Communications Officers
- Vice Presidents of Communications
- Corporate Communications Directors
- Internal Communications Leaders
- Executive Communications Directors
- Public Relations Professionals
- Public Affairs Leaders
- Brand and Reputation Leaders
- Marketing Executives
- AI and Digital Communications Strategists
What communications trends will be covered?
The conference agenda focuses on the trends transforming the communications profession today and preparing leaders for tomorrow. Topics include:
- Artificial intelligence, AI communications and agentic AI
- Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) and AI search
- Executive communications
- Corporate communications strategy
- Corporate reputation management and brand trust
- Crisis communications and misinformation
- Executive visibility
- Internal communications
- Communications measurement and ROI
- Employee advocacy
- Organizational change and change management
- AI governance and responsible AI
- Leadership communication, organizational change and the future of work
Sessions emphasize practical implementation, real-world case studies and measurable business outcomes.
What is the future of communications?
The future of communications is being shaped by artificial intelligence, changing employee expectations, evolving media consumption, executive visibility, corporate reputation management, misinformation and rapidly advancing digital technologies. Today's communications leaders are expected to serve as strategic business advisors who strengthen corporate reputation, lead strategic communications, adopt AI responsibly, build brand trust and communicate through constant change.
Ragan's Future of Communications Conference explores these trends through practical conference sessions, real-world case studies and expert-led discussions that prepare communications professionals to lead what's next.
Is the Future of Communications Conference technical?
No. The conference is designed for communications professionals, not developers or engineers. Sessions focus on practical applications of AI, communications strategy, executive leadership, reputation management and organizational change using language, examples and frameworks communications teams can immediately understand and apply. Whether you're just beginning your AI journey or already leading enterprise initiatives, you'll find sessions appropriate for your experience level.
What’s on the Future of Communications Conference agenda?
The Future of Communications Conference agenda includes three days of keynote presentations, hands-on workshops, peer case studies, networking opportunities and dedicated Internal and External Communications tracks designed for communications professionals.
Pre-Conference (Wednesday, Nov. 11): Workshops on crisis preparedness for deepfakes and cyberattacks, business fluency for internal communicators, winning visibility in AI search through GEO and AEO, building AI-fluent communications teams and establishing editorial governance for AI-generated content.
Day One (Thursday, Nov. 12): Keynote sessions exploring the forces reshaping communications leadership, discussions on synthetic media and the new communications-HR-technology partnership, executive visibility, public affairs, AI governance and managing organizational change.
Day Two (Friday, Nov. 13): Sessions on protecting authentic brand voice in an AI-driven world, improving discoverability in AI search, employee advocacy, emerging influence channels, executive communications and engaging the next generation of employees.
Throughout the conference, attendees can also participate in wellness experiences, executive coaching opportunities and networking events.
Who’s speaking at the Future of Communications Conference?
Future of Communications Conference speakers include senior communications executives, Chief Communications Officers and communications leaders from organizations such as State Farm, Lockheed Martin, IBM, Reddit, Dell Technologies, United Airlines, APCO Worldwide and FUJIFILM Americas, along with Ragan editors and industry experts.
The speaker lineup represents leaders at the forefront of corporate communications, executive communications, public relations, internal communications, AI strategy and corporate reputation, with additional speakers announced throughout the year.
What will I actually walk away with?
You'll return to work with practical communications strategies, AI implementation plans and communications leadership frameworks you can begin using immediately, including:
- Crisis communications plans for deepfakes, cyberattacks and misinformation
- GEO and AI search optimization strategies
- AI workflows with editorial guardrails
- Executive communications frameworks
- Communications measurement and executive-ready dashboards
- Budget justification and business fluency skills
- Executive visibility and thought leadership strategies for LinkedIn, podcasts and video
- Speaker presentation decks
- Ragan editorial session notes
- Bonus communications guides and AI resources
Will I have networking opportunities?
Yes. The Future of Communications Conference is designed to foster meaningful networking among communications professionals alongside educational sessions. You'll connect with hundreds of senior communications leaders through networking receptions, peer roundtable discussions, wellness activities, evening events and exclusive Communications Week experiences. It's an opportunity to build relationships with peers across corporate communications, public relations, internal communications, marketing and executive communications.
Can I attend if I work in internal communications or public relations?
Absolutely. While the conference explores the future of the communications profession as a whole, sessions are designed for professionals working in internal communications, corporate communications, executive communications, public relations, media relations, public affairs, employee communications, marketing and reputation management. The dual-track agenda allows attendees to customize their learning experience based on their role and responsibilities.
Why should I attend during Communications Week?
Future of Communications Conference takes place during Communications Week, when communications professionals from across the country gather in Austin for networking, learning, industry celebrations and special events. Attending during Communications Week gives you access to a broader community of communications leaders while experiencing Ragan's flagship conference alongside networking events, award celebrations and conversations shaping the future of the communications profession.
What is Communications Week?
Communications Week is an annual gathering of communications professionals, organizations and industry leaders featuring conferences, networking events, awards programs and discussions about the future of communications. Ragan's Future of Communications Conference serves as the flagship educational event during Communications Week, bringing together hundreds of senior communications professionals to learn, network and explore the trends transforming communications leadership, corporate communications, executive communications and the future of the communications industry.
When and where is the Future of Communications Conference?
The Future of Communications Conference takes place November 11-13, 2026, at the Hyatt Regency Austin on the shores of Lady Bird Lake in downtown Austin, Texas, during Communications Week. The hotel is within walking distance of Austin's restaurants, live music and entertainment district, making it easy to combine professional development with networking and city experiences.
Attendees can reserve rooms at the Hyatt Regency Austin at the discounted conference rate of $275 per night through October 19, 2026, subject to availability.
Why is Austin a good location for a communications conference?
Austin is one of the fastest-growing business and technology hubs in the United States, home to innovative companies spanning technology, healthcare, consumer brands and startups. During Communications Week, the city becomes a destination for communications professionals exploring artificial intelligence, executive communications, corporate reputation management, strategic communications and the future of the profession.
Beyond the conference, attendees can experience Austin's renowned live music, award-winning restaurants, outdoor activities and vibrant downtown while building meaningful connections with communications leaders from across the country. Austin's unique blend of innovation, business leadership and culture makes it an ideal destination for communications professionals looking to learn, network and prepare for the future of communications.
How much does it cost to attend the Future of Communications Conference?
Registration options include:
- Conference All-Access Pass (includes pre-conference workshops and conference recordings): from $3,345 (Ragan Insider Priority Rate) to $3,895 (Standard Rate)
- Conference Registration: from $2,945 to $3,495
- Conference Recording On Demand: $1,999
- Vendor Registration: $4,999
Discounted pricing is available for nonprofit, government and education professionals, Ragan Insiders, Communications Leadership Council members and groups of three or more. Registration rates increase throughout the year, so registering early provides the greatest savings.
Does the Future of Communications Conference count toward SHRM recertification?
Yes. The Future of Communications Conference has been approved for 16 SHRM Professional Development Credits (PDCs) for SHRM-CP® and SHRM-SCP® recertification (Activity ID: 26-WAQPW).
If you're an HR or employee communications professional, attending the conference allows you to earn continuing education credits while learning practical strategies for leadership communication, organizational change, employee engagement and AI adoption.
Can I bring my team to the Future of Communications Conference?
Yes. The Future of Communications Conference is designed for both individual professionals and communications teams. Discounted group pricing is available for organizations registering three or more attendees, making it easy for teams to learn together, share ideas and return with aligned strategies for corporate communications, internal communications, public relations and executive communications.
How do I convince my manager to approve attendance?
Ragan provides a downloadable manager justification letter on the conference website that outlines the business value of attending, expected learning outcomes and return on investment. You can customize the letter to explain how the Future of Communications Conference will help you strengthen your communications strategy, build AI capabilities, improve executive communications and bring practical ideas back to your team.
What networking and social events are included at the Future of Communications Conference?
The Future of Communications Conference takes place during Communications Week in Austin, giving attendees plenty of opportunities to network and experience the city beyond the communications conference sessions.
Conference experiences include Yappy Hour with therapy dogs, wellness activities, kayaking and paddleboarding on Lady Bird Lake, live music, and after-hours networking events.. Attendees can also extend their stay to experience Austin's restaurants, music scene and the Texas Craft Brewers Festival.
Does my registration support a charitable cause?
Yes. A portion of every Future of Communications Conference registration supports Children's Miracle Network Hospitals, helping fund pediatric medical treatment, research and financial assistance for families across North America.
Who do I contact with questions?
For registration, sponsorship or speaker questions about Ragan's Future of Communications Conference, please contact the appropriate member of our team:
Registration: Contact Shallon Blackburn, Director of Client Services
Sponsorship opportunities: Hannah Lavelle, Executive Director of Sales
Programming and speaking inquiries: Alyssa Smith, Senior Director of Event Programming
How do I register for the Future of Communications Conference?
You can register online through the Future of Communications Conference registration page. Choose the Future of Communications Conference registration option that best fits your needs, including conference attendance, all-access passes or conference recordings.
Registration pricing increases throughout the year, so securing your spot early is the best way to receive the lowest available rate.
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