Nine guests. Nine rapid-fire conversations. More than 90-minutes of distilled wisdom from some of the sharpest minds in communications. As we close out the year, we wanted to share some of the sharpest insights from our new podcast: If I Only Had 10 Minutes.

1. AI Is a Tool. Judgment Is the Job.

No one’s sugarcoating it: AI is here, it’s powerful and it’s nowhere near enough on its own.

IBM’s Jonathan Adashek put it plainly: AI doesn’t drive the bus in a crisis. “I don’t see myself giving that over to AI completely … There are key people I deal with on those sorts of things…AI’s not going to get the final say.”

Jane Hanson, Emmy-winning journalist, sharpened the point further: AI can generate, but it can’t feel. “It can’t make you cry, and it can’t make you laugh.” In an industry built on intuition, vulnerability, and emotional precision, that gap is enormous.

Eleanor Hawkins of Axios noted another looming challenge: companies are adopting AI faster than they’re governing it. “Most companies don’t have a clear policy… and if they do, it is not well understood.” The experimentation is happening. The guardrails aren’t.

From the lens of responsible tech, Rebecca Gonzales, architect of the Responsible AI Comms Lab, offered the most familiar indictment: communicators are still brought in too late, after the code is written, after the tools are deployed, and often right before something breaks.

And then came the bluntest perspective of all: Nancy Elder cut through the debate with six words every communicator should pin above their desk: “Get on board with it… It’s here.”

Bottomline: AI is accelerating everything. But the irreplaceable parts of our work like judgment, timing, empathy, remain squarely human.

2. The Rise of “Fractional” and Why Everyone’s Talking About It

“Fractional” has gone from niche to unavoidable and for good reason. The value proposition is no longer theoretical; it’s proven.

Microsoft’s Frank Shaw highlighted the single biggest advantage: fresh perspective. “When you’re living something day-to-day, your frame is narrow… Having someone who isn’t living it, who’s not carrying the baggage, can reframe the challenge and get to better answers.”

From the CC talent pool, Brad Gorman, who has had full-time and fractional roles, put a finer point on it: “Not every company needs senior counsel in the building every day… but when something big happens… you need someone who’s been around the block… but not forever.”

Fractional isn’t a fad. It’s a structural shift, offering experience without the overhead, objectivity without politics, and expertise without delay. Companies aren’t just hiring fractional talent because it’s flexible. They’re hiring it because it works.

3. The Best Communicators Aren’t Always the Obvious Ones

Ask a room full of communicators to name the best communicator they’ve ever seen, and you’ll get presidents and philosophers, but that’s not where the most interesting answers landed.

Michael Schoenfeld of Brunswick pointed to Prince. Not for his music, but for his mastery of presence: “His ability to compel an audience… to build a whole experience… it was extraordinary.”

Desiree Fish of Roblox, not religious herself, pointed to Jesus. Not the theology, but the storytelling. “He demonstrated things, didn’t just say them… let’s show not just tell.”

Across wildly different examples, one theme cut through:

Great communicators don’t just inform. They transform. They create connection.

They make you feel something and feeling beats messaging every time.

What Tied All Nine Conversations Together? Humanity.

Whether the lesson was “pursue clarity not perfection,” “ask questions before you give answers,” or “be generous with your time,” every guest echoed the same truth:

Tools change. Expectations shift.
But communicators show up.
They ask questions.
They adapt.
They listen.
They make people feel seen.

And that, not the tech, not the titles, is the power of the work.

“If I Only Had 10 Minutes” is a weekly podcast and can be found on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube.