Korn Ferry adds seasoned comms operator
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Paula Davis. Photo: Jane Sikorsky
Paula S. Davis has joined executive search firm Korn Ferry as a principal on its global corporate affairs team.
The big picture: As the corporate affairs remit expands, executive talent firms are being asked to find leaders who don't have just comms expertise but also business acumen, experience counseling CEOs and familiarity with emerging tech like AI.
- Davis brings both sides of the CCO search equation to the role, with decades of senior communications and management experience at Colgate-Palmolive, Harman and other major companies.
- Her experience spans CEO transitions, shareholder activism, takeovers and mergers and acquisitions.
Zoom in: "All of our clients ask for a modern communicator," Davis tells Axios.
- Increasingly, she says, that means understanding AI and newer channels like podcasts and creators, alongside public affairs, stakeholder engagement and the executive presence needed to counsel senior leaders.
- "How you talk about AI and the company's broader strategic narrative is something that we'll interrogate as we work through our discussions with candidates," Davis says.
What they're saying: "Paula brings a rare combination of executive search expertise and firsthand leadership experience gained over decades advising and serving some of the world's most respected organizations," said Peter McDermott, head of Korn Ferry's corporate affairs practice.
Between the lines: Companies are also rethinking where communications sits inside the organization as paid, owned and earned media converge.
- "Everybody wants to report to the CEO, but sometimes it makes sense to report to other people," Davis says, adding that helping companies determine the right structure is part of Korn Ferry's counsel.
The bottom line: The broader the CCO job gets, the more valuable it is to have someone who's done the work helping identify who can do it next.
