AI investment climbs but transformation trails, per new report
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Roughly 1 in 4 corporate affairs and communications leaders say they will dedicate more than 10% of their budget to AI tools, but a majority (88%) aren't prepared to lead the AI transformation for their function, according to a new study by BCG.
Why it matters: Finding the money is just the first of many steps for implementing AI.
Zoom in: While those who have integrated GenAI say it has saved time and money, only 8% currently reinvest these time or cost savings into building new team capabilities.
- Instead, 23% say they plan to redeploy their teams, while 12% plan to reduce headcount and 15% plan to freeze hiring in the next 12 months.
Zoom out: More than 80% of comms and corporate affairs work can be augmented or automated by AI, according to BCG, and PR agencies may bear the brunt of this.
- 37% of comms leaders are considering reducing agency spend by more than 5% over the next 12 months, per the report.
- "The sky's not falling," BCG chief communications officer Russell Dubner told Axios. "But there are shifts happening. For agencies, that means they have to get super clear on the value that they're bringing — and make sure it's not overlapping with what GenAI can do pretty readily for an in-house function."
Between the lines: Only 31% of comms chiefs report meaningfully scaling GenAI beyond pilots, while 68% identify as AI laggards.
- "You have CEOs accelerating and CCOs hesitating," says Dubner. "That could result in a mismatch of agenda and expectations."
What to watch: To help with the deployment and integration of AI tools, some communications teams at Yahoo and Anthropic are hiring AI operations leads.
- "The companies hiring for these roles now — or at least carving out significant portions of existing roles to focus on AI transformation— will be leaps ahead of their competitors," says Gab Ferree, founder of Off the Record.
- "Everyone says AI is a priority, [but] very few are actually hiring for it. The gap between talk and action is where competitive advantage is being built right now."
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