Fractional leadership is no longer an emerging trend. It has become an accepted business strategy. Recent research suggests that approximately one-quarter of U.S. companies now utilize some form of fractional executive leadership, with organizations increasingly engaging experienced CFOs, CMOs, CHROs, CIOs and other C-suite talent on a part-time or project basis. The appeal is clear: access to seasoned executive expertise without the cost or long-term commitment of a full-time hire. Communications is beginning to follow [...]

By Chris Gee, AI Strategist Eighty percent of companies that cut staff to fund AI saw no improvement in returns. That's not a hot take from an AI skeptic, that's Gartner, surveying 350 global executives at companies with more than a billion dollars in revenue. The organizations that got ahead didn't reduce headcount. They gave their people capabilities they didn't have before. Here's why that should matter to everyone reading this newsletter: the same logic [...]

Communications teams are used to being brought in after a strategy is developed. The plan is set, the decisions have been made, and the tools have been selected. Communications’ job is to explain the change. In the AI era, that approach is becoming increasingly risky. As organizations race to deploy AI, many are treating it primarily as a technology initiative. The focus is on models, agents, automation, software licenses, and productivity gains. Yet some of [...]

For years, corporate communications was built around controlled channels. The press release. The CEO statement. The town hall. The website. The carefully approved social media post. Those channels still matter. But they are no longer enough. Today, influence increasingly moves through people, not institutions. Leaders, employees, founders, subject-matter experts, and even customers are becoming the faces of corporate reputation. In many cases, the most trusted company message is no longer coming from the company account. [...]

By Dan Nestle, Co-Founder & Chief Product & Intelligence Officer, Lilypath Someone is going to make a decision about your client this week — maybe to run a story, take a meeting, send an RFP, or buy a product. Until recently, they would have Googled the name; now, they ask an AI. ChatGPT or Claude tells them who your client is in one confident, sourced paragraph, composed and finished before your client has said a [...]

By Monica Talan, Partner, CommsCollectiv Throughout my career, I’ve had the opportunity to help navigate periods of major transformation inside Fortune 500 companies - restructurings, technology shifts, evolving operating models, and changing customer expectations. What I was always grateful for was leadership teams that understood one thing clearly: Communication was not separate from the transformation. Communication was integral to the transformation. Because during moments of uncertainty, employees are not just evaluating the business decision itself. [...]