Internal comms is heading into 2026 with more uncertainty about its role than at any point in recent memory. AI is changing the work at speed. Trust is slipping. Managers are stretched thin. Employees are tuning out. And the expectations placed on IC keep widening into work that falls well beyond its traditional scope—often without the structure or support to match.

The familiar models aren’t holding, and the function is being pulled into a new order that still isn’t fully defined.

2026 will ask big questions of IC: what it stands for, where it fits, and how it leads through a year marked by uncertainty and shifting expectations.

To understand what this means in practice, we’re bringing together four leaders who are working at the sharp end of these changes:

• Stephanie Cornell, Head of People Communications & Marketing, WPP
• Annabelle Gordon, Director of Employee Communications, Super
• Regine Nelson, Director of Internal Communications, Couchbase
• Stacie Barrett, Former Director of Internal Communications, Domino’s

Moderated by Joss Mathieson of Change Oasis, this 60-minute session, including time for your questions, will get into the real pressures facing IC in 2026 and how teams can work through them.

Expect to Explore:

• The shifting identity of internal comms and what it means to play a deeper role in shaping the employee experience
• Where AI is genuinely changing the work of internal comms, and the risks that emerge when speed increases but understanding doesn’t
• How IC can work alongside leaders and other functions when old command-and-control habits no longer hold up
• How IC can rebuild trust and strengthen resilience by creating communication that feels human, transparent, and genuinely meaningful in a year defined by ambiguity
• The emotional and practical load on IC practitioners, and how to stay steady when you’re communicating through the same uncertainty as everyone else