How to Become a Strategic Internal Comms Advisor in the Age of AI

The ultimate accolade of an Internal Communication professional is to be recognised as a trusted, strategic advisor. However, with the rapid advances in technology, specifically AI, how does one marry the two to navigate and excel in the new world of work?

1. Master the Fundamentals of Internal Comms

It sounds obvious, but mastering and delivering the basics is the foundational minimum standard of any trusted professional. For Internal Communication, it means deeply understanding your audiences and culture, planning and crafting clear and compelling messages, leveraging the right channels, and timing communication effectively.

It’s about knowing how to listen as much as you speak, and being able to measure what’s working, and what isn’t. These fundamentals build credibility. Without them, even the use of the most sophisticated tools or compelling strategic intentions can fall flat.

When you consistently deliver the basics with excellence, you earn the trust of leaders and employees alike, positioning yourself as someone who not only understands the art of effective communication but also how it drives culture, engagement, and performance.

2. Understand the Capabilities and Limitations of AI

Curiosity and a growth mindset are key here. AI isn’t going away, so we’d best embrace it by understanding its capabilities and limitations.

AI can be a powerful ally. It can help streamline content creation, personalise messaging at scale, analyse employee sentiment, and surface insights from large volumes of data. It can free up time - that commodity that many IC professionals say they lack!

But AI, like any good thing, also has limits: it lacks context, emotional intelligence, and the nuanced understanding of culture that only humans can bring.

As a trusted advisor, your role is to harness AI’s strengths while applying critical thinking, empathy, and ethical judgment. This balanced approach ensures communication remains effective, inclusive, and aligned with your organisation’s values, helping you build both trust and add impact in the age of automation.

3. Champion Ethical, Transparent AI use

As a profession, the Institute of Internal Communication states, "we strive to ensure our work is human-centric, optimally enhancing communication between our organisations and internal stakeholders." This implies that trust is integral to the formation of those relations, be that with our employees, or as strategic advisors.

So, if we’re to embrace AI, we need to be champions of using it ethically and with transparency. Why? Because, to be trusted, we must ensure all internal communication continues to be truthful, fair, inclusive, and respectful.

The IOIC’s recent publication of the AI Ethics Charter outlines how Comms professionals can role model the use of AI with integrity and responsibility. It emphasises the importance of aligning AI use with professional standards and organisational values, ensuring all communication remains honest, inclusive, and respectful of both employees, cultures, and situations.

It raises the awareness of being legally compliant and using data safely and responsibly, especially that of employees or the organisation, as well as being transparent about how AI is used to ensure and maintain trust.

Communicators are encouraged to build inclusive and accessible systems, design processes that include human oversight to prevent misinformation and bias, and take accountability for AI outputs. The charter also highlights the need for ongoing learning and development to keep pace with AI advancements.

4. Position Yourself as a Strategic Partner

Positioning yourself as a strategic partner means stepping beyond simply delivering messages and instead influencing decisions, shaping culture, and driving business outcomes. Partnering means working with leaders to help them understand, navigate, and respond to the perpetual and complex changes facing us in the workplace through the lens of the employee and the culture at large.

AI can play a powerful role in supporting this shift. By using AI tools to analyse employee sentiment, predict engagement trends, or identify communication gaps, you can offer powerful data-driven insights that inform leadership decisions.

AI also frees up time by automating routine tasks, allowing you to focus on advising, coaching, and aligning communication with broader strategic goals.

When you bring both evidence and empathy to the table, supported by AI-enabled intelligence, you move from being seen as a service provider to being valued as a trusted advisor who helps the business navigate complexity and change; a partner who co-creates and influences the organisational culture and employee experience to drive sustainable, impactful change.

5. Curate and Coach Human Skills in Others

Today, to be a trusted strategic advisor, internal communication professionals must go beyond crafting messages; they need to champion and coach the human skills that bring communication to life.

In an age where AI can generate content, summarise reports, and even mimic tone, what it can’t replicate is emotional intelligence, empathy, authenticity, and the ability to connect meaningfully. That’s where you, the Internal Comms professional, come in!

Developing and coaching these skills in leaders and teams, like how to have honest conversations, listen deeply, and communicate with care, positions you as a vital enabler of psychological safety and trust.

By helping others develop these uniquely human capabilities, you not only elevate the quality of communication across the organisation but also reinforce your role as someone who shapes how people feel, engage, and perform. Now that’s something no algorithm can do!

6. Unlock your Authentic, Human Potential

If you're ready to move beyond tactical delivery and step confidently into your role as a trusted strategic advisor, the Empowered Communicator coaching programme, run by the Institute of Internal Communication, is designed for you.

Starting on 9 May 2025, for the third year running, this unique coaching and development programme is designed to empower communicators with the mindset, tools, support and practices they need to unlock their inner confidence and natural potential.

Discover more details and previous delegate testimonials here: https://www.ioic.org.uk/learn-develop/training/the-empowered-communicator.html 

• This wouldn’t be a blog on AI if ChatGPT hadn’t been used! For transparency, it was used to help spark ideas, but the actual content was shaped and verified by my professional perspective and human mind, bringing knowledge, insight, and relevance to ensure it is accurate and reflects my expertise and style of writing.