The 5th Annual HarrisX–Ragan Survey of Communications Leaders reveals insights from 400 CEOs and communications leaders on how the field is evolving and dealing with new challenges and opportunities arising from AI Adoption, shifting corporate voices, and new dynamics in trust and control between CEOs and communications teams.

“The 5th Annual HarrisX–Ragan Survey of CEOs and Communications Leaders shows an industry at an inflection point,” said HarrisX CEO Dritan Nesho. “CEOs still trust their comms leaders, but many are becoming more hands-on and exerting tighter control over the function. This comes as organizations are rethinking when to speak up, with many CEOs opting for fewer, not more, public commentary. And as AI shifts from assistant to doer, a growing number of CEOs say they already trust it more than their top speechwriters. Comms leaders, however, see AI not as a rival, but as a partner that enhances their work and elevates its value.”

The study has already sparked important conversations among industry leaders at CommsWeek 2025. Here are some of the highlights:

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AI Is Already Doing the Work of Communication Teams and Many CEOs Want Even More

• 95% of organizations use AI in communications work and 96% report AI having a positive impact.
• 30% of organizations say more than half of communications work is already done by AI, and 55% expect that to be true by 2030.
• 49% of CEOs say believe traditional communications skills will soon take a back seat to AI for prompt engineering and data fluency.
• 57% of CEOs say they would choose a custom-trained AI tool to write an important speech over a top-tier communications professional with no AI support.
• 31% of CEOs think AI-powered comms platforms will soon add more value than in-house comms teams or external agencies.
  

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Corporate Voice: ‍

Business executives are becoming more cautious about corporate advocacy, while communication leaders still see speaking up as essential to reputation and engagement.

• 58% of CEOs say their organizations speak up too much, while 59% of communication leaders believe they should speak up more.

Comms Leaders See AI as a Trusted Partner, Not a Competitor

Communications leaders are embracing AI as a collaborator that enhances their work while preserving the human strengths of strategic counsel and judgement.

• 70% of comms leaders say AI will enhance their capabilities to do their jobs effectively and efficiently.
• 13% of comms leaders are worried that AI will replace their job someday.

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See the full findings below:

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