PR leaders: Rethink AI and rebuild for speed in 2026
Media is fragmented, budgets are tight, and leadership wants proof of impact. That combination is redefining what success looks like for PR teams and agencies in 2026.
Cision's Inside PR 2026 report shows a turning point. Creativity and storytelling still matter, but they're table stakes. Agility, smart tech adoption, and a clean line to outcomes now decide who wins.
Agility starts with structure
Many leaders believe they're moving fast; their teams don't agree. One in three executives describe their organisation as "extremely agile," but only 14% of employees say the same.
The pressure is real: 60% cite the changing media landscape as their top challenge. 58% point to resource strain, rising to 67% for managers closest to delivery. Agencies feel it most, with 71% calling media fragmentation a major obstacle.
The blocker isn't ambition. It's structure. Team size and org design (63%) and slow approvals (53%) create drag. Even with clear opportunities, execution stalls when friction stacks up.
- Clarify decision rights: Who can approve what, within which timeframes. No guesswork.
- Cut approval layers: Tier by risk. Pre-approve low-risk content and responses.
- Ship playbooks: Message kits, pre-built assets, and response trees for recurring scenarios.
- Stand up real-time listening: Alerts and dashboards that trigger action, not just reports.
- Run cross-functional standups: Comms, social, product, and sales aligned daily during key moments.
- Rationalise tools: Fewer platforms, tighter integrations, faster handoffs.
AI is already in your workflow-make it end-to-end
AI use is mainstream: 91% of PR pros use generative AI. The most common use cases are idea generation (72%) and writing or refining content (67%). It's also growing in insight work: 40% use AI-driven monitoring and nearly a third lean on AI-powered reporting.
What hasn't changed is the craft. Storytelling remains the most in-demand skill for 2026 (59%), ahead of media relations and strategic planning. The question isn't whether to use AI-it's how well you embed it.
- Map your workflow: Insert AI from monitoring to analysis to reporting, not as a one-off prompt.
- Create prompt libraries + QA checklists: Standardise quality and tone; keep human review on final outputs.
- Set guardrails: Brand voice rules, data privacy, and bias checks guided by a clear policy. See the NIST AI Risk Management Framework.
- Measure gains: Track time saved, content quality, accuracy, and impact on coverage and conversions.
- Train the team: Regular upskilling beats one-off workshops. Consider role-based paths via Complete AI Training.
Impact is the new scoreboard
Brand awareness remains priority one (36%). But executive leaders (32%) and agencies (33%) are placing more weight on revenue and ROI than in-house teams. The message: show commercial value.
That doesn't sideline reputation. It raises the bar on measurement. Move from counting coverage to informing decisions and proving influence across the funnel. The AMEC Integrated Evaluation Framework is a solid reference.
- Define business outcomes: Pipeline, revenue contribution, retention, pricing power, risk mitigation.
- Set leading and lagging indicators: Intent signals, qualified traffic, assisted conversions, share of voice linked to category demand.
- Instrument attribution: UTM discipline, CRM integration, post-view and post-read surveys for earned.
- Run pre/post analysis: For launches and issues, compare outcomes, not just impressions.
- Publish a monthly readout: What we saw, what it means, what we did, what changed.
Your 90-day plan
- Days 0-30: Audit approvals, decision rights, and tool sprawl. Map AI use across the team. Identify two high-volume workflows to streamline.
- Days 30-60: Pilot an end-to-end AI workflow: monitoring → insight → content → reporting with human QA. Implement tiered approvals.
- Days 60-90: Roll out an impact framework tied to business outcomes. Launch a live dashboard. Hold a quarterly review linking comms activity to pipeline and revenue.
Creativity isn't going away. But the teams that win this year will be structured for speed, embed AI with intention, and prove impact with clarity. Influence will come from showing value-through insight, intent, and outcomes.
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