I recently had coffee with a comms leader who said something that stuck with me. “We keep talking about AI transforming the business,” she said. “But nobody’s talking about how it’s already tearing us apart.”

She’s right. And, if you ask me, this tension between AI pulling us together and pushing us apart is the defining challenge for HR and communication professionals right now.

It could determine the future capabilities of our organizations, as well as the future viability of our professions.

The Uncomfortable Truth

Unfortunately, here’s where it gets awkward.

According to BCG, 68% of communication and corporate affairs leaders admit they’re AI laggards. Meanwhile, SHRM Executive Network found that only 39% of organizations have actually implemented AI in HR.

Think about that for a second. We’re supposed to be the people who enable employees, embed change, and keep organizations aligned. Yet we’re falling behind on the very technology that’s reshaping how our organizations work.

How AI is Pulling Us Apart

Let me give you some examples of what’s happening right now.

First, there’s the pace of change. Remember when strategy happened once a year at that off-site retreat? Some organizations are now running quarterly strategy cycles.

The ground is shifting faster than we can map it—and the consequences are real. HR Executive recently reported that 66% of American employees are experiencing some form of burnout. Meanwhile, Gartner research has shown that 54% of managers are suffering from work-induced stress and fatigue.

Second, AI is democratizing activities we used to control, like content creation, training, and even decision-making. Sounds great in theory, right? Except it also has the potential to create chaos—inconsistent messaging, silos everywhere, and so much noise that important messages get lost.

Then there’s this stat that drives me crazy. A 2025 Writer survey found that 42% of C-suite executives believe AI adoption is “tearing their company apart.” We’re seeing power struggles between tech and the rest of the business—conflicts, silos, even sabotage.

AI Can Also Bring us Together

Here’s where it gets interesting. The same AI that’s creating these problems also gives us the tools to not only fix them, but enable alignment to a degree we never thought possible.

We can now:

• Synthesize massive amounts of employee feedback in real time and spot patterns humans would miss
• Monitor issues before they blow up into full crises
• Create personalized experiences that help each employee understand what strategy means for them specifically
• Build digital twins to pressure-test our communications before they go live
• Design training that adapts to each person’s needs—imagine personalized mandatory learning that people actually engage with

AI and Alignment: Why They Matter to HR and Comms

So, why does this matter to HR and comms? Because it speaks directly to the value we create and the future potential of our functions.

AI and alignment have two important things in common.

They are both clear organizational priorities in today’s rapidly changing environment. That’s because they help organizations operate and pivot at pace.

HR and comms play a major role in enabling them. AI and alignment are both primarily about people—how they work and collaborate, their skills and culture, and their ability to navigate change. We’re a vital piece of the puzzle because HR and comms are on the front line when it comes to enabling leaders and employees.

The organizations we support need us to enable alignment and drive AI transformation. What we do from here will help define the future success of our organizations—and the degree to which we are recognized as leaders.

Irrelevance: The Cost of Inaction

Like anything to do with AI, there’s a not-so-pleasant flip side to this story.

If we don’t start transforming our functions and taking more of a leadership role, we run the risk of:

• Missing the opportunity to redefine what we are capable of
• Falling behind our peers across the organization
• Losing the opportunity to drive strategic outcomes (if we ever had it)

Then, to top it all off, we risk slipping into irrelevance as the tactical work we spend our days on is gradually democratized across the organization.

So, what’s next?

Clearly, we need to get our skates on when it comes to AI. On that score, I’ve been developing a document that you might find useful.

It aims to explain why communication, HR, and change management need to be part of the AI conversation—and what they can potentially bring to the table.

It may also help your team think about potential opportunities and the capabilities you need to build.

It’s in presentation format (with speaker notes), so you can use it to start an AI conversation both within your team and with senior leadership.

If you’d like to get a copy, feel free to reach out via wraspland@gmail.com or LinkedIn. I’d love to get your feedback—good, bad, or ugly.

The bottom line

We’re at a fork in the road. We have a choice.

We can let AI erode alignment and watch our relevance fade.

Or we can embrace AI and not only improve our work, but enable alignment at a level we’ve never seen before.

The capability of our organizations—and the future of our professions—hinges on what we decide.

Time to choose.

Further reading:

Wayne Aspland and Zora Artis, co-founders of Clear Leaders, recently published From Groupthink to Governance: Leadership, Alignment and the Courage to Close the Gap, a research paper examining the stubborn distance between where leadership teams think they are and where they actually are.

Download the full paper and Executive Summary Infographic at clearleaders.com.au.

About the authors:

Wayne Aspland, MAICD, FCSCE, is a leadership, strategy, and change communication professional. He helps organizations and teams realize their potential in today’s new world of work—a world where the opportunities created by AI are balanced against the strain of accelerating change and uncertainty.

Zora Artis, GAICD, IABC Fellow, SCMP, ACC, is CEO of Artis Advisory and co-founder of The Alignment People and Clear Leaders. She coaches, advises, and facilitates C-suite and senior teams through change and complexity—turning competing priorities into clear decisions, stronger cohesion, and coordinated action.