AI tools offer efficiency but ethics and oversight remain crucial, say PR leaders

Medill Executive Education at Northwestern University has released its Medill 2026 CCO Monitor Survey Results, “The Medill CCO Monitor: Defining the Competencies of C-Suite Success.”

Conducted between September and November 2025, the survey features responses and insights from 125 senior communications executives from across industries.

Participants shared insights into the modern chief communications officer role, including the importance of being a business leader first, a comms leader second; developing leadership, judgement, and influence; and maintaining curiosity and learning.

Key survey findings include:

• Respondents ranked strategic business thinking and financial acumen (66 per cent), executive presence and ability to counsel C-suite leaders (66 per cent), and mastery of the communications craft (53 per cent) as the three most important skills for success as a CCO.
• Business and financial acumen (24 per cent) and executive presence(24 per cent) were also selected as the top skills CCOs needed to develop on the job most after becoming a senior communications leader, followed by cross-functional leadership; influencing without authority (19 per cent).
• Respondents ranked the same three qualities as the top skills that the senior leaders on their current team need for the CCO role: business and financial acumen (76 per cent), executive presence (64 per cent), and cross-functional leadership (56 per cent).
• In response to the most important professional development experiences for future CCOs, 91 per cent of participants selected working across comms disciplines as the most critical, followed by managing teams (68 per cent) and crisis management (55 per cent).
• AI and automation (66 per cent), growth of misinformation (38 per cent), and political and social polarisation (30 per cent) topped the list of external forces CCOs expect to shape their role over the next three to five years.

PUMA Malaysia has appointed Mad Hat Asia as its PR agency of record following a competitive pitch.

Effective from February 2026 to January 2027, the 12-month partnership will see the agency serve as the brand’s dedicated PR point-of-contact, overseeing local press office functions and media relations. The scope includes media and influencer engagement, narrative localisation, relationship management, campaign activation coordination and event support.

Commenting on the appointment, Rengeeta Rendava, Founder and Managing Director of Mad Hat Asia (pictured right), said, “PUMA’s focus on growing communities around sport across different skill levels and interests makes this an exciting fit for how we approach communications at Mad Hat Asia. We believe the strongest lifestyle brands are built through community-first storytelling that generates participation and conversation, not just visibility.”

The appointment follows the agency’s renewed partnership with Bel Group for 2026, where it leads integrated communications, brand-building initiatives and consumer engagement. 

Peter Jean has commenced a media and communications role at the Australian National University. In 2025, he wrapped up six and a half years at the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare as Media and Communications Manager and spent several months undertaking freelance communications and editing work. Prior to this, Peter was a journalist at The Advertiser, The Canberra Times, The Herald-Sun and AAP, mainly covering politics and health.