FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 22, 2026
PRAGUE, Czech Republic — Responsible AI is no longer simply a technology conversation. For the organizations navigating today’s AI-driven landscape, it has become a reputation conversation, one with material consequences for stakeholder trust, organizational credibility, long-term brand equity, and corporate value. That is the central finding of Reimagining Tomorrow 2026: From Adoption to Accountability, a landmark global report released May 22 at the Global Alliance for Public Relations and Communication Management’s European Summit in Prague, Czech Republic.
Reputation Lighthouse founder and CEO Bonnie Caver is a lead researcher and co-author of the report, along with Adrian Cropley, Co-founder of Centre for Strategic Communication Excellence (CSCE) on the second annual Responsible AI in PR and Communication Management Survey. The survey, the only study on AI governance and accountability in the PR and Communication profession, drew responses from communication professionals across six geographic regions.
AI Governance Has Become a Visible Corporate Behavior
The 2026 report marks a decisive shift in how organizations and their stakeholders are evaluating AI. Where early conversations focused on whether to permit AI use, the question has fundamentally changed. Today, how an organization governs AI, discloses its use, and protects stakeholder trust shapes how that organization is perceived by employees, customers, investors, and the public.
“AI implementation is no longer simply a technology conversation. It is rapidly becoming a reputation conversation,” said Caver, who presented the research’s reputation findings to Global Alliance leaders and members of the Association of Strategic Communication and Public Affairs in Prague. “The organizations that treat responsible AI as a driver of long-term reputation equity, rather than simply a technology deployment exercise, will be the ones that build enduring stakeholder confidence in the years ahead.”
The data support that argument. Respondents saw AI as both a reputation opportunity and a risk. 60.3% now view AI as a significant reputational opportunity for their organizations, while 56.1% report that AI has moderately to significantly increased their organization’s reputational risk exposure. The dual nature of that finding, opportunity and risk simultaneously, underscores why organizations can no longer afford a passive posture toward AI governance.
More than half of respondents saw misinformation and disinformation as a top reputational risk, followed closely by AI-generated content inaccuracies, which directly relates to the responsibility for data integrity.
Governance Gaps Persist Despite Progress
The report’s findings reveal meaningful year-over-year progress alongside persistent structural gaps. The share of organizations with a formal responsible AI framework rose from 39.4% in 2025 to 47.0% in 2026. While this is a significant gain, it means more than half of the surveyed organizations still lack any formal governance infrastructure for AI. One in five organizations has no formally assigned accountability for responsible AI. And one in four organizations uses AI but discloses nothing about that usage.
Organizational preparedness for the human dimensions of AI also lags well behind adoption rates. Only 6.4% of respondents describe their organizations as fully prepared to balance the efficiency gains of AI with employee welfare and job security, while the average readiness rating is 2.81 out of 5.
In addition, organizations are not prepared to discuss the environmental impact of AI resource demands. Only 6.9 percent of respondents say their organizations are working to create tangible solutions and report on progress, while more than 50 percent say it is either not on their organizational agenda or no action is being taken.
For Caver, those gaps represent not just governance and communication failures but reputation risks in waiting. “The way organizations manage and communicate about AI-driven societal issues will have a direct impact on trust and reputation,” she noted. “In the AI transformation era, reputation will not be built solely through what organizations say. Proof points delivered through operational credibility, transparency, accountability, and demonstrated responsible behavior at scale will be essential.”
Communication Professionals Must Become Architects of Trust
A central recommendation of the report, and of Caver’s presentation to the Global Alliance’s European membership, is that communication leaders must move beyond AI adoption and claim active governance roles within their organizations. Currently, IT and technology functions hold primary responsibility for ethical AI in 25.6% of organizations, while PR and communication functions lead in only 10.4% of cases.
The report argues that communication professionals are uniquely positioned to serve as governance translators, trust architects, and reputation risk interpreters within their organizations. Their expertise in stakeholder expectations, narrative management, and transparent communication makes them natural leaders on the governance of responsible AI implementation.
“The organizations that will navigate AI most successfully are those that govern it responsibly, communicate about it authentically, and build the trust that makes both possible,” the report concludes. “That is the profession’s mandate.”
The full Reimagining Tomorrow 2026 report is available at https://globalalliancepr.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Reimagining-Tomorrow-2026.pdf.
About Reputation Lighthouse
Reputation Lighthouse is a global consultancy focused on leading companies to create, accelerate, and protect their corporate value, especially in transformation and disruption. Since 2004, Reputation Lighthouse has worked with leaders to maximize organizational growth and value while mitigating the risks that impede success and erode trust by offering services in change, brand, reputation, communication, and training.
As the name suggests, Reputation Lighthouse is focused on being a beacon for reputation. Through its consulting offerings, the firm focuses on helping organizations prioritize the so-called intangibles and create value that is a genuine differentiator for the organization, creating Reputation CurrencyÔ.
Media Contact:
Bonnie Caver
Reputation Lighthouse
bonnie@replighthouse.com
(512) 832-8588
www.replighthouse.com
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