Working professionals are overwhelmed by AI, and a majority say learning AI skills is like having another job, according to a new LinkedIn report.

Why it matters: Few have figured out how to use the tools to work smarter and faster, which is causing investors to get antsy.

By the numbers: In a July survey of more than 2,000 U.S. workers, LinkedIn found that employees are increasingly expected to know how to use AI.

• However, 47% say they're not using AI to its fullest capability, and 30% say they rarely or never use AI.
• On the flip side, 31% have exaggerated or lied about their AI skills at work.

Zoom in: Over one-third of U.S. execs say they plan to incorporate employees' AI skills into performance reviews or hiring criteria in the year ahead, per the report.

• However, many workers say they lack the training, resources and time to master and incorporate this technology into their work.
• One-third feel embarrassed by how little they understand AI and 35% feel nervous to talk about AI in professional settings because they're worried they'll look uninformed.

The big picture: Slow adoption is impacting companies' returns on investment, according to a recent MIT study.

• 95% of organizations found zero return on investment despite spending $30 billion to $40 billion on GenAI.
• Notably, companies that purchased enterprise AI tools were far more successful than those that built internal pilots, according to the study.

Between the lines: AI talk has seen a massive uptick in corporate earnings transcripts as executives try to signal to investors they are being efficient and navigating this workforce shift.

• Mentions of terms like "agentic AI," "AI workforce," "digital labor" and "AI agents" during earnings calls increased 779% recently, according to recent AlphaSense data.

What to watch: The slow adoption rates are also rattling Wall Street, which is currently being propped up by Big Tech.

• Activist investors are pouncing too. This week, Fivespan Partners took a stake in the New York Times, urging the media company to further embrace AI in support of its subscription business.

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Some communications teams are taking it upon themselves to create AI solutions tailored to their specific workflows.

Why it matters: These tools automate a lot of the comms grunt work, creating more time for the team to focus on tasks and strategies that can drive the business forward.

State of play: Cognizant chief communications officer Jeff DeMarrais recently challenged his team to dedicate a week to building AI tools that solve their stickiest or most annoying tasks. The team used vibe coding software Lovable, which allowed it to develop processes using language, not code.

• The Cognizant comms team developed a tool that measured and monitored online chatter and sentiment about a company and correlated that data with the company's stock price.
• They created an executive dashboard so leaders could see how their internal and external communications were resonating across audiences and they built a message cascade optimizer to ensure they were deploying comms across the right channels.
• The team also created a tool to generate executive briefing documents and another to scan and select specific photos from corporate events or appearances.

Zoom in: Instacart's comms team created an AI-powered tool to automatically pull coverage based on specific parameters it set, summarize each article and draft a coverage report email the team can review.

• This tool has reduced time spent on new clips by more than 75% and costs by 60%, says Instacart chief corporate affairs officer Dani Dudeck.
• "Across the entire team, we're identifying time sinks and turning those tedious tasks into more efficient processes, so we can put our talent toward higher impact and more rewarding work," she says.
• For example, it is using AI to automate administrative workflows like routing speaking requests, managing event attendance, RSVPs and award submission deadlines.
• Instacart's team also built a media response simulator using trained chatbots to test pitches and launch materials, prepare for interviews and generate potential coverage.
• Workday's communications team has created personalized agents that mirror specific reporters or outlets to help spokespeople prepare for interviews. They have also created agents to support and scale executive thought leadership and messaging.
• And Google built an AI-powered agent that has access to all of its internal and external comms — like blog posts, talking points, statements and coverage reports — throughout the company's history, which provides the team with institutional knowledge and record keeping.

What they're saying: "Our CEO [Ravi Kumar S] talks constantly about the future of work and what it's going to take to succeed in the future economies — and he's made it very clear that coders of the future are people who can master large language models [LLMs] and prompt engineering," said DeMarrais.

• "And there is nobody better positioned in the world to do that than professional communicators."

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The in-house comms teams without the resources to create their own internal tools are relying on PR agency partners for support.

State of play: Communications giant Burson has rolled out proprietary AI tools to help measure and monitor the impact of corporate reputation.

• For example, the Reputation Capital tool predicts how corporate reputation efforts could help or hurt stock price, sales and purchase intent, while Burson Decipher predicts the believability, virality and potential impact a message might have with a particular audience. The Burson Sonar tool uses AI to monitor and predict emerging narratives across social media and niche or nontraditional media sources.
• Weber Shandwick is using AI tools to message test, audit how organizations and brands show up across the LLMs and create communication campaigns to capitalize on generative engine optimization.
• PRophet, a Stagwell-owned platform, launched AI-powered monitoring tools that track changes in sentiment, predict shifting narratives and advise how best to respond. It also recently introduced GEO checklists to inform how press releases and pitches are deployed.
• Edelman has created its own proprietary tool to predict and measure the impact of earned media and social sentiment on corporate trust. The agency is also in the process of rolling out a GEO tool.

Zoom in: Challenger firms are leaning on third-party LLMs and AI tools to help them achieve more with smaller teams.

• Strategic comms firm Velocity created custom LLMs to support clients' executive positioning work and test or predict how key regulators might respond to specific policy messaging.
• Boutique PR agency Six Eastern has deployed customized AI models using Claude to brainstorm and draft messaging based on the client's voice and goals.

What to watch: Because AI allows for them to work faster, in-house teams are reevaluating how they rely on agency support and agencies are in turn reevaluating their business models.

• "The solution is moving to deliverable and value-based pricing, so that we can both share in the upside with higher performance, faster time to market, lower cost for the client and put us in a position to retain margin," says Brian Buchwald, global chair of AI and product at Edelman.
• In practice, this is likely to show up as a shift away from the billable hours model in favor of fixed retainers, along with billing based on hitting key milestones or performance metrics.

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Cracker Barrel announced this week it was reversing course and dropping its new logo and returning to the "Old Timer" design.

• The move on Tuesday came just hours after President Trump blasted the restaurant chain's new logo on Truth Social.
• Trump added the company could score "a Billion Dollars worth of free publicity if they play their cards right."

Why it matters: It's the latest brand to be pulled into the culture wars due to a marketing decision.

Catch up quick: On Monday, Cracker Barrel issued a lengthy statement acknowledging it "could've done a better job" handling the rollout of its new logo after MAGA figures labeled the brand refresh as a "woke" gesture.

• Meanwhile, America First Legal — a conservative nonprofit co-founded by White House aide Stephen Miller — requested in July that the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and Tennessee attorney general investigate the chain for "potential violations of federal and state civil rights laws stemming from its diversity, equity, and inclusion policies."
• Its board members have also come under fire for DEI and the company's stock saw a dip following the logo backlash.

The big picture: This is the latest example of Trump inserting himself into corporate America's marketing strategies and business decisions, following Sydney Sweeney's American Eagle ad and the Washington Commanders' name change.

Zoom in: Cracker Barrel's stock rose 7% after-hours Tuesday following the announcement, and Trump congratulated Cracker Barrel for reverting to its original logo.

• "All of your fans very much appreciate it. Good luck into the future," Trump said on Truth Social.

What they're saying: "New PR strategy: Insane "rebrand" that everyone hates and discusses ad nauseam for a week. President even tweets about it. Walk it back. Everyone happy and $2B+ in free media/publicity. More people then ever go into Cracker Barrel to see what the fuss is all about," communications consultant Cristin Culver quipped on X.

What to watch: The rise of outrage marketing strategies.

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Amanda Carl Pratt oversees corporate and strategic communications for Google DeepMind, the tech giant's AI research lab.

Why it matters: Her team is responsible for explaining how Google DeepMind is innovating and competing in the AI race.

What she's saying: "What keeps me up at night is a lot of the hype that I'm seeing in the industry," says Pratt.

• "I think with a technology that's so transformational and has so much potential to do good, we have to get it right. And I don't think overselling or over hyping the technology does anyone any good. So we're incredibly diligent about making sure that anything we talk about is really pragmatic, that we understand both the risks and the benefits."

Catch up quick: Pratt started her career at Tierney, a PR and creative agency. From there, she joined IBM, where she supported communications for the company's research division, including the launch of its commercial quantum computing program

• Pratt joined Google DeepMind in 2022 and helped build the executive and policy communications functions.

State of play: She oversees a global team of 15 who manage external communications across Google DeepMind's AGI, responsibility and policy areas, executive communications, social media and writing.

What to watch: The various new channels for storytelling.

• "The media landscape is transforming every day," Pratt says. "People talk a lot about traditional media versus new media, but I think of it as just channels to tell our story. It's just about finding different ways to get eyeballs on your news."

Go deeper ... read this spotlight in its entirety.

Intel swiftly responded to President Trump calling for CEO Lip-Bu Tan's resignation — turning a potential governance crisis into opportunity.

• Why it matters: This is the new playbook for how to negotiate with Trump 2.0.

Driving the news: On Friday, Intel announced it agreed to sell around a 10% equity stake to the U.S. government.

What they're saying: "It's an unprecedented marriage of politics and private enterprise — difficult to imagine in practice, but important to consider in today's environment," says Paul Argenti, professor of corporate communications at Dartmouth's Tuck School of Business.

🧠 To read the case study in its entirety, become an Axios Communicators Pro member.

A recent Fortune headline read, "In the Age of AI, some tech leaders think communications degrees may actually be more valuable than computer science degrees."

• What they're saying: ServiceNow chief transformation officer Kelley Steven-Waiss told Fortune — and a room full of HR professionals — that "soft skills" like persuasion, conflict resolution and inspirational storytelling are going to "increase in importance in the age of AI."

💭 Eleanor's thought bubble: When will people stop referring to these skills as soft?

Have thoughts on the power of comms in the AI era? Email me.