The Chartered Institute of Public Relations’ (CIPR) Engage podcast returns with a new episode on the future of leadership in communications.
Recorded at the Institute’s Annual Conference, Episode 21 – Leadership & Impact – features interviews with the event’s expert speakers who share their reflections on the topics of their talks, the questions they posed, and how their thinking applies to the day-to-day realities of communications leadership.
Episode 21’s speakers cover topics ranging from the cognitive cost of over-reliance on generative AI and the new expectations of multi-generational workforces, to change management and the case for stepping into independent practice.
Steve Bryant, Co-Chair of the CIPR Podcast Editorial Board, is joined by:
- Karen Blackett CBE on the ingredients of good leadership across a 33-year career.
- Dr Jack Lewis, neuroscientist, on the cognitive cost of leaning too heavily on generative AI.
- James Peach, global marketing leader behind Uber, Coca-Cola, and Innocent, on what modern leadership demands of intergenerational teams.
- Lucy Holliday, Senior Employee Communications Manager at the Financial Times, on the company’s award-winning AI transformation programme.
- Josephine Hansom, who recently represented young people at the House of Lords on building empathy across generations.
- Naomi Goodman, MHP Group, on leading teams through change without absorbing its disruption.
- Sarah Naylor, Co-Chair of CIPR’s Independent Practitioners Network, and Ben Veal, Founder of Second Mountain Comms, on the opportunities and ethical considerations of independent practice in the age of AI.
- The CIPR’s 2025 President Advita Patel, current President Farzana Baduel, and President-elect, Dan Gerrella.
Released as the CIPR confirms its 2026 Annual Conference – Organisation Resilience: Leading Communications in a Changing World – Episode 21 offers a chance to revisit the most useful thinking from 2025’s gathering before the profession turns its attention to what’s next.
The 2025 Annual Conference was a thoughtful and honest look at where communications leadership stands today and where it needs to go. This episode brings the heart of the mainstage sessions to anyone who couldn’t be in the room. It’s also a great reminder for those who were there and want to revisit the content.
Our expert speakers share grounded thinking on the pressures reshaping leadership today. Thank you to Steve for hosting these conversations, and to each of our guests for the time and openness they brought to them.
Amy Jimenez Bedrock, Co-Chair of the CIPR Podcast Editorial Board
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- Find out more about the CIPR’s Engage podcast
- CIPR members can log 5 CPD points for listening to this episode
