Coca-Cola Bottlers and Sales Services' Tricia Taylor predicts a comms role that does not yet appear on any org chart: the AI transformation communicator.

"There's going to be something around an AI transformation communicator, or a workforce translator," Taylor, vice president of corporate communications and change management at CCBSS, told Ragan. "Someone who sits at the intersection of all these transformations happening really fast but communicates in a very people-centric way. It's not just explaining the tools. It's helping the organization adapt to the changing way of working while staying empathetic and connected to the person."

The role will not appear from nowhere, Taylor said. It will evolve out of where communicators already sit within their organizations.

"Corporate communications has become increasingly more central to how organizations navigate change, in partnership with HR and IT," she said. "Whether it's AI, return to office, hybrid work, cybersecurity or culture transformation, all of it touches HR and IT and communications. We are the connective tissue between strategy, human behavior and implementation."

Credibility, she added, is built across functions.

"In today's workforce, credibility comes from cross-functional partnerships," Taylor said. "So it's about not just being publishers, but strategic advisors and organizational translators."

Taylor will share her insights on cross-collaboration and comms at Ragan's Future of Communications conference in Austin this November.

A seat at multiple tables

Sharing message-building with HR and IT only works in communicators' favor if they get involved when decisions are being made, not after, while bringing along their unique expertise. That includes:

• Turning technical language from IT into messages people can actually understand.
• Treating two-way employee comms channels as comms work rather than HR work.
• Building conversations with departments like legal and operations to get a fuller perspective on how the organization communicates and how comms can help.

"Strong organizations really embed communicators throughout the company," Taylor said.

Shared ownership of the message does not always stay tidy. When work crosses departments, communicators usually explain it to the rest of the company.

"If there is a change in responsibilities, navigate the rigidity around it by speaking to things that really matter to people — how decisions will be made, how escalations will be handled and how we will continue to collaborate," Taylor said.

She recommended a few ways communicators can do their part when responsibilities shift:

• Explain how decisions get made and who makes them.
• Share how teams that are splitting up or merging can keep vital connections.
• Answer questions out in the open.

Even as roles overlap and shift, Taylor said comms pros need to stay focused on the organization's top resource: its people.

"Change management is owned across the business, but as a communications practitioner, I lean into the people side of change," she said.

Translation also runs upward. Taylor said employees need to hear from the CEO and other top leaders directly during times of change. That leaves comms to prep leaders' priorities, what they model and how messages cascade without losing their meaning.

She said she would tell anyone in the organization asking what happens to their job the exact same thing.

"We are not making promises that there won't be changes to roles," Taylor said. "What we will say is that we're going to help you learn new skills and use this technology, and be very honest about the reality of it. Tasks are becoming automated and roles will evolve, but new roles will emerge that may not exist today."

For communicators themselves, Taylor pointed to a specific mix of skills.

"The future is a combination of technical fluency about AI — not expert, I don't know who's an AI expert — but strong in emotional intelligence, strong in strategic communications, strong in organizational insight," she said. "That will be the role of the future."