NEWS

The current survey in the “Strategy and impact measurement” cluster shows an exciting yet contradictory picture. The 19 participants set clear priorities: KPI frameworks, ROI calculation, AI tools for impact measurement and dashboards in particular are at the top of their agenda. These areas are seen as key levers for demonstrating the impact and value contribution of communication more convincingly in future.

Reputation is increasingly being created in AI responses. Language models bundle public discourse, categorize it and return it as seemingly objective knowledge. For communication managers, this means that they not only have to observe what is said about a company – but also what AI makes of it.

More and more people are no longer using traditional search engines to find information, but are instead relying on the answers provided by AI language models (LLMs). However, these work in a fundamentally different way to Google & Co.: they do not link to individual websites, but summarize information from numerous sources and provide an interpreted answer. This means that an AI answer is not just information, but always also an interpretation, and it is precisely this that is increasingly shaping the perception of companies, brands and topics.

At first glance, things look good in many communications departments: Dashboards have been built, KPIs defined, data warehouses connected. The CommTech Index shows progress, at least technically. And yet conversations on Monday mornings surprisingly often revolve around the same question: can we actually trust these figures?

Are they calculated correctly? Are these the official figures for the Board of Management? Do we need to recalculate them “just to be on the safe side” – perhaps even in Excel? At the latest when marketing and communication present the same key figure and deliver two different results, it becomes clear that the problem is no longer a lack of data. It is the lack of meaning.

An interview with PRCC boss Thomas Lüdecke in the PR Journal gave new impetus to the appointment of managers from outside the profession to the top of communications departments that has been observed in recent months.

The communications industry is undergoing a transformation that focuses on data, automation and AI. The latest CommTech Index Report shows how this process of change is perceived: a full 83% of communications professionals agree with the statement that digital technologies will fundamentally change the way they work in communications. But what about implementation?

There are moments when an industry looks in the mirror – and hardly recognizes itself. The results of the new CommTech Index Report 2025/2026 are just such a moment. Yes, CommTech is changing the industry. Yes, CommTech is changing departments and agencies. But the real revolution is taking place elsewhere: in the minds and everyday working lives of each individual. Never before has the personal impact been as clearly measurable as this year. 76% of communication professionals say that CommTech will significantly change the way they work – an increase of nine percentage points compared to 2024.

Data is increasingly becoming a key intangible resource in corporate communications. Nevertheless, it has often not been used consistently for decision-making – instead, experience and intuition dominate. To change this, we need to understand what constitutes a data-driven culture.

The CommTech Academy offers a wide range of seminars on CommTech topics. I myself offer two of my own seminars, each lasting four hours, which ideally complement each other:

The world of communication is changing rapidly. Artificial intelligence (AI) has long been a reality and is shaping the way we work. At Merck, together with our 200 communicators, we have embarked on a global transformation journey that goes far beyond the introduction of new tools. Our goal: to establish AI expertise as the key to a sustainable communication culture.

Many companies avoid the topic of disinformation. Not because they consider it irrelevant, but simply because it is sensitive. It smells of politics, of polarization, of an irritating topic. And that is exactly what internal communication often wants to avoid.