It’s time for chief communications officers to step out of supporting roles and into their place as true business leaders.
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Chief communications officers can become business leaders by responding to trends
As technology alters audience dynamics and organizational complexity, CEOs are coming to expect chief communications officers (CCOs) to solve enterprise challenges and transition into business leaders. Communications’ traditional role as a service provider primarily concerned with responding to requests from and satisfying business partners has broadened to meet CEO expectations.
In 2025, chief communications officers must strengthen communications’ value proposition, champion the responsible use of GenAI within and beyond the function and establish new communications norms to combat information overload.
Top trends influencing chief communications officers in 2025
The following three trends affect the evolving value proposition of corporate communications, the risks and rewards of AI, and information consumption among employees.
Chief communications officer trend No. 1: The growth of business-led communications
The boundary between communications-led and business-led activities is shifting. This evolution is primarily driven by technologies like GenAI, which makes leaders, executives and frontline workers feel capable of owning the expression of their needs.
Chief communications officers must start to address the accelerated democratization of communications in order to get ahead of potential questions about the relevance of corporate communications in a GenAI-supported workplace. CCOs can enhance their value proposition by offering more communications consulting services to business leaders, rather than just creating and delivering messages.
Chief communications officer trend No. 2: AI continues to contribute to business opportunities and risks
Historically, workplace labor productivity rose around 2% annually beginning in 1950. In 2025, CEOs expect a 17.2% increase in workforce productivity. With this perhaps unprecedented opportunity come internal and external legal, ethical and reputational risks.
Chief communications officers can leverage their audience understanding and expertise in reputation management to play a key role in the responsible and ethical adoption of GenAI — both within their teams and across the entire organization.
Chief communications officer trend No. 3: Navigating information overload
Information overload is not only a problem for internal and external audiences; it has also become a significant business expense. Employees now spend 43% of their day consuming information, with 27% reporting feeling somewhat overloaded by the volume. This comes at an estimated cost of $4.6 million per week for every 10,000 employees.
It falls on chief communications officers to reset the organization’s communications norms. CCOs can do this by proactively leading cross-functional efforts to optimize the workforce’s communication habits and streamline the use of communication technologies.
How the 2025 trends will influence chief communications officer priorities
To effectively respond to these trends, focus on: enabling your teams to flex between different value delivery postures; establishing and sharing GenAI usage best practices for the workforce and policies as they evolve; and resetting organizational communication norms.
Learn more about those priorities and the actions CCOs will take to realize them in the 2025 Leadership Vision for Chief Communications Officers.
FAQ on 2025 trends for chief communications officers
What is the Gartner 2025 Leadership Vision for communications leaders?
The Gartner 2025 Leadership Vision for Chief Communications Officers highlights three trends and recommended actions that CCOs must address in 2025 to protect the future value proposition of the communications function. These trends are based on the democratization of communications, the risks and opportunities surrounding GenAI, and the impact of information overload.
How must the role of the communications function evolve to address the 2025 trends for chief communications officers?
The communications function needs to diversify the value delivery postures it adopts to create value for the organization, champion the responsible activation of GenAI inside and beyond the communications team and work cross-functionally to reset the organization’s communications norms.
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