Leaders today are confronting multiple industry-defining challenges and summoning strategic courage to face this volatility head on. They’re finding new ways to inspire and engage their teams. They’re forging paths to net zero and managing supply chain disruptions. And they’re fundamentally rewiring their organizations to lead in the era of generative AI.
Our recent report estimates that gen AI could contribute up to $4.4 trillion in additional annual productivity globally. But there are real risks to consider. Organizations will need a baseline level of readiness even to pilot this new technology. In our recent flash survey of more than 100 organizations, each with more than $50 million in annual revenue, 63 percent of respondents characterized gen AI implementation as a “high” or “very high” priority. Yet 91 percent told us they don’t feel “very prepared” to do so in a responsible manner. Such caution is one reason why, according to our latest tech trends research, only 11 percent of companies have adopted gen AI at scale.
Communications and change management will play a central role to attaining broad-scale adoption and enablement. Communications leaders themselves can serve as role models of these changes. In this article, we share four ways high-performing, innovative communications leaders can fundamentally transform their approach to gen AI. We also hear from leaders across McKinsey on their potential value.
Harness technology to enable—not supersede—humans
Harnessed ineptly, gen AI can spread misinformation, create experiences that are blandly transactional, or intrude on privacy. Each can erode stakeholder trust, stripping organizations of their authenticity and credibility—the very attributes that constitute a bedrock for meaningful connection.
Successful practitioners make AI their assistant, not their boss. They don’t overinvest. Gen AI should be an enabler and tool, not a full-scale solution. As our colleagues have written, the organization of the future will be enabled by gen AI but still driven by people, for people.
This is even more important when stakes are high—when, for example, leaders are addressing sensitive issues. Here, their actions and words can directly affect how their critical stakeholders—employees, customers, and communities—live, work, and operate. Gen AI can help inform, collect, and synthesize information, but the message delivered must be one hundred percent authentic, distinctive, and most importantly, human.
Gen AI is best employed in the wings, enabling leaders to bring the best versions of themselves to center stage.
As senior partner Kate Smaje shared with us, “For every tech breakthrough we see on AI, we need a human breakthrough to make sure it’s used to create value.”
Maintain the ‘pulse’ of the organization by leading and learning
Great communicators are adaptive and self-propelled learners. They recognize and embrace gen AI’s potential to support leaps in knowledge and skill acquisition.
Gen AI can now compress hours of work into seconds and has democratized some of the craft of communications. It has evened the playing field and thus the means of competition. Currently, though, most communications professionals are light users, using gen AI to perform fewer than half of the tasks that make up their work. But the best know that what gen AI makes easier for them also helps everyone else. They clearly delineate between the basic mechanics of communication—drafting, writing, and summarizing information, where gen AI can play a significant role—and true mastery, which requires empathy, synthesis, and a holistic strategy.
Communications leaders use gen AI to structure inputs, summarizing how stakeholders are thinking and feeling, to connect more deeply. This sharpens but cannot replace their instinct for tone, inflection, and cadence. And they overlay a cultivated sixth sense for what will resonate and stick. To nurture their expertise, they keep up with best practice, even as it moves ahead by leaps and bounds.
As senior partner Patrick Simon says, “AI isn’t coming to take your job. But someone who knows how to use it is.”
Move fast and make things
Gen AI is new and all-consuming. If you ask 50 people for their perspectives on gen AI, you’re all but guaranteed to get 50 different viewpoints. That’s enough to make many people say, “Let’s wait and see what happens.”
This isn’t necessarily the optimal strategy.
It pays to be proactive and invest in training. In a 2019 survey by USC Annenberg’s Center for Public Relations, only 18 percent of respondents said AI would be an important part of their future business.1 Four years later, that number grew to 80 percent, yet only 16 percent of respondents to the 2023 survey described themselves as “extremely knowledgeable” about AI applications—which implies a lot of people are racing to catch up.
Fully understanding and adopting gen AI is a long-term endeavor. The best leaders make speed itself their strategy, racking up quick, meaningful wins, building confidence and conviction, and staying at the cutting edge.
Communications leaders spearhead pilots to optimize their function and drive adoption while communicating the holistic value of gen AI across businesses. They show and tell. As the copywriting line has it, “Don’t tell me you’re funny. Tell me a joke.”
McKinsey partner Jane Wong says, “With gen AI, it’s important to embrace experimentation. Choose impact over inertia and give yourself the space to test and learn, share findings, and uncover new ways of working. Set a foundation with incremental, forward progress. Over time, you’ll see how seemingly small wins snowball rapidly into bold moves with large-scale impact.”
Unify disparate viewpoints and cocreate the growth agenda
The number of companies with a designated head of AI position has almost tripled globally in the past five years, according to LinkedIn.2 While it’s important to have clarity of ownership, the best organizations create cross-functional teams spanning the entire organization. Communications leaders can bring together disparate, competing viewpoints not only to shape but to accelerate transformational initiatives across the enterprise. They create a compelling narrative to articulate the aspiration and impact potential of gen AI effectively and consistently. By motivating individuals to develop themselves, they build stronger teams and a better-equipped organization.
As senior partner Kabir Ahuja shares with us, “To craft the most effective story around gen AI, you need leaders from across the organization. This means not only technologists but also P&L and communications leaders to cover all angles and put together a holistic narrative. It has to be grounded in business value to galvanize teams and get everyone rowing in the same direction.”
These four practices help communications leaders drive progress. They boldly stand up to and overcome perceived risks by making their work more human, investing in their learning journeys, proudly donning the mantle of change champions, and seamlessly connecting dots across their organizations.
Communications leaders can embrace gen AI while simultaneously relying on their instincts, detecting subtle cues, and effectively connecting with stakeholders on a human and emotional level to win their trust and support.
The convergence of technology and humanity is what will propel the craft of communications forward—and ultimately generate better outcomes for all stakeholders.
1 “2024 USC Annenberg relevance report explores impact of AI on public relations industry,” USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, November 16, 2023.
2 Karin Kimbrough, “AI has arrived at work,” LinkedIn, May 8, 2024.
