The communications advisor of the future
Being an excellent communicator is no longer enough. Strong core competencies, business understanding and human judgement are more important than ever. The communications advisor of the future must be able to understand the reality organisations operate in, and that reality has become significantly more complex.
Three forces will shape that reality in the years ahead. Geopolitical tension will keep disrupting supply chains and market access, making political risk a permanent topic in the boardroom. Regulation, from sustainability reporting to AI, will move faster and go deeper into daily operations. And growing polarisation means employees, investors and the public will expect companies to take a stand on issues that used to be none of their business, while every position taken will be challenged by someone.
The role is therefore evolving faster than ever, but the core of good advisory remains the same: strong professional expertise combined with business understanding, curiosity and human judgement. Strategically, communication is moving from the end of the decision-making chain to the start of it. Advisors must be able to help businesses navigate business-critical events that affect how they operate, and their ability to continue doing so.
"Communications advisors must be able to identify and manage crises and emerging issues that pose significant risks to the business. The greatest value is created where professional expertise, data and insights meet human judgement and integrity. That is precisely why trust and strong values are becoming an increasingly important currency."
It is in high-stakes situations, when geopolitics, regulation or public opinion suddenly change the rules for a company, that the difference between a good communicator and a trusted advisor becomes visible.
Four shifts define what that advisor has to master:
Business understanding: from translating strategy to shaping it.
Specialisation: from discipline to issue.
AI-native: from efficiency to judgement.
Curiosity: from understanding what is happening to seeing what is coming.
Business understanding and commercial awareness
From translating strategy → to shaping it
Communication risks failing if it is disconnected from the business – instead, communications advisors must be equipped to support the business targets, ambitions and vision. To succeed as an advisor, you need to understand the business challenges that communication is intended to solve. I particularly look for people who can immerse themselves in complex issues and understand how constant societal change and emerging risks affect a business. Only then can we provide strategic advice and create communication that genuinely supports the organisation and creates value.
Tomorrow, that understanding will be the entry ticket rather than the differentiator: the advisor will be at the table when strategy is set, because the reputational, regulatory and societal dimensions of a decision can no longer be added afterwards.
Specialisation and horizontal thinking
From discipline → to issue
Increasing complexity does not call for communications advisors who can do it all. Quite the opposite. We see a growing demand for advisors with strong core competencies in specific communications disciplines, industries or sectors. At the same time, the best advisors are those who can think across functions and beyond silos. To solve the societal and business-related problems of today and tomorrow, smart collaboration is key because it enables us to bring the right insights to the right forums, make well-informed decisions and execute and implement at high pace.
In the years ahead, specialisation will increasingly follow the issue rather than the discipline – AI regulation, energy transition, supply-chain security – because that is where clients will need depth.
AI-native
From efficiency → to judgement
Artificial intelligence has already transformed the way we work, and that development will only continue to accelerate. The best communication advisors know how to use AI for value creation, innovation and efficiency, ultimately benefiting our clients and strengthening the advisory we deliver. That being said, the human thinking and human judgement – including the ability to understand what is left the unsaid, read the room and build strong relationships – should never be outsourced to machines.
As monitoring, analysis and drafting become fully automated, the advisor’s value will shift almost entirely to judgement: deciding what matters, what to do and what not to say.
Curiosity and perspective
From understanding what is happening → to seeing what is coming
Essentially, curiosity is all about the ability to seek out knowledge, listen and ask the right questions at the right time. This ability is crucial to understanding the changes and mechanisms that can affect a company’s operating environment and overall business model. That is why genuine curiosity and perspective are among the most important qualities I look for when recruiting – and when I advise clients on competences for their communications departments and corporate affairs functions.
Tomorrow, curiosity will be less about understanding what is happening and more about seeing what is coming – turning signals into scenarios before they turn into crises.
Taken together, the four shifts change what we should be recruiting and training for. Not the best writer in the room, but the person who can sit at the table when a decision is taken, go deep on one issue while thinking across all of them, use AI without handing over judgement, and see the next crisis while it is still only a signal. Those are learnable capabilities, and building them is a deliberate choice for advisory firms and in-house communications teams alike.