Insights

August 27, 2026

As everyone soaks up the final days of summer, we’re rounding up each newsletter we’ve published this year. While one could argue that any of them would make excellent beach reading, be sure to check out our Summer Edit, featuring the best books, movies and podcasts of the moment.

ICYMI: How much AI is too much when it comes to thought leadership? We looked at the growing push to keep the internet human and what communicators should consider as AI becomes a bigger part of the writing process. Read it here.

COMPASS 2026: The year so far

Global Gateway Advisors’ 2026 Summer Edit: For our annual roundup, we tap friends of the firm for their top books, shows, movies and podcasts. The responses never fail to impress and inspire us. This year’s lineup includes steamy tennis romances, a dive into London’s opaque criminal underworld and a literary love letter to Central Park.

Assessing Reddit’s rise: Once a niche forum, Reddit is now shaping what people see in search, trust in online conversations and encounter in AI-generated answers. We look at what its growing influence means for brands and how communicators can engage without sacrificing the authenticity its communities value.

Is corporate activism back?: After a period of relative silence, companies and CEOs are once again confronting pressure to speak out on divisive social and political issues. We look at the range of responses and offer a framework to help communicators decide when to speak, what to say and whether words should be backed by action.

Six ways to sharpen your brand strategy playbook: AI is reshaping discovery, media is consolidating and audiences are forming opinions earlier than ever. We break down six ways communicators can adapt, from doubling down on owned media and LinkedIn to building community credibility and optimizing content for AI and social search.

What it means to lead with trust right now: Trust is no longer built through strong messaging alone. We spoke with trust strategist Tonia Ries about why credibility increasingly depends on how leaders make decisions, use power and align what they say with how their organizations actually operate.

Four AI workforce narratives communicators should be shaping: AI is changing the workforce story faster than it’s changing work itself. We look at the tensions communicators need to navigate, from reskilling and talent pipelines to the credibility risks of blaming layoffs on AI.

Fortune’s Diane Brady on C-suite events: Events are becoming one of the most powerful venues for influence, where relationships form, agendas get set and leaders shape the conversation. We look at what that means for communicators and hear from Brady on why these gatherings matter more than ever.

The corporate newsroom just got a lot more important: The corporate newsroom just got a lot more important: As more people turn to AI for answers, owned content is becoming a critical source of authority. We spoke with Stacker CEO Noah Greenberg about what it takes for companies to create content that AI systems and people actually cite. 

Workplace mental health has a credibility problem: Mental health benefits are everywhere, but employees are increasingly asking whether companies’ commitments are believable. We look at why workplace mental health has become a leadership and reputation issue, and what communicators can do to close the gap between what organizations say and what employees experience.

Are we entering an AI jobs apocalypse?: The debate over AI-driven job loss has gone mainstream, but the bigger challenge for organizations is showing how they plan to navigate the disruption. We look at what communicators should be doing now, from addressing entry-level hiring and reskilling to being clear about when AI will augment work and when it may replace it.

Are you ready for the new reputation imperative?: Corporate reputation is getting harder to earn and easier to lose as trust declines and AI, geopolitics and economic uncertainty reshape stakeholder expectations. We spoke with RepTrak’s Lyndsey Tierney about what’s driving the shift and how organizations can build credibility in a lower-forgiveness environment.

Is Europe asking businesses to pick a side?: The era of strategic neutrality is fading as companies face growing pressure to navigate competing priorities across the U.S., Europe and China. We spoke with Rud Pedersen’s James Stevens about what Europe’s shifting political and economic landscape means for global businesses and why understanding the continent’s many markets is more important than ever.

What does a lettuce recall teach us about crisis comms?: The cyclosporiasis outbreak became a real-time case study in communicating when facts are changing, public trust is fragile and answers are expected immediately. We look at what every organization can learn from the response and the questions communicators should be asking before their next crisis hits.

Key upcoming events

AI + Tech

• WSJ Technology Council Summit (New York City, Sept. 14-15) Enterprise technology leaders gather to discuss how organizations are moving beyond AI experimentation to deployment, with a focus on ROI, cybersecurity, governance and business transformation. Speakers include Raj Subramaniam, CEO of FedEx; Kim Basile, CIO of Kyndryl; and Jared Isaacman, NASA administrator.
• Reuters Momentum AI (Austin, Sept. 24-25) Senior enterprise leaders explore how to move AI from experimentation to execution, with a focus on scaling technology, managing risk, leading organizational change and delivering measurable business results. Speakers include Anthony Moisant, CIO and chief security officer of Indeed; Leigh-Ann Russell, CIO and global head of engineering at BNY; and Jennifer Zmuda, CIO of UnitedHealth Group.

Geopolitics + Global Business

• Fortune Leaders Forum (Macau, China, Sept. 8) Leaders from Asia’s biggest companies gather to explore how geopolitical fragmentation, AI breakthroughs and demographic change are rewriting the rules of business. Speakers include Jane Sun, CEO of Trip.com Group; James Peng, CEO of autonomous driving company Pony.ai; and Christina Zhu, CEO of Walmart China.
• Europe’s Changing Landscape (Virtual, Sept. 16) Join Global Gateway Advisors for a discussion with experts on some of the most pressing issues facing businesses operating or approaching. For a preview, read our newsletter on the topic here and register here.

Leadership + Ideas 

• Fast Company Innovation Festival (New York City, Sept. 14-17) Business leaders and innovators gather for four days of thought-provoking discussions, behind-the-scenes company tours and hands-on experiences exploring the future of business. Speakers include Martha Stewart, entrepreneur and co-founder of Hint; Cristiano Amon, CEO of Qualcomm; and Keily Blair, CEO of OnlyFans.
• The Atlantic Festival (New York City, Sept. 17-19) Leaders across politics, business, media and culture come together for three days of conversations, performances and live events examining the ideas shaping the moment. Speakers include Pete Buttigieg, former U.S. secretary of transportation; Whitney Wolfe Herd, CEO of Bumble; and Malcolm Gladwell, journalist and author.
• Concordia Annual Summit (New York City, Sept. 20-23) Business, government and nonprofit leaders gather during UNGA Week to discuss global challenges and opportunities for public-private collaboration. Speakers include Theresa May, former U.K. prime minister; Ivan Duque, former president of Colombia; and Ryan Gellert, CEO of Patagonia.

• Brandweek by Adweek (Atlanta, Sept. 15-17) Brand and marketing leaders gather for three days of conversations, networking and hands-on learning focused on the strategies and AI skills shaping the industry. Speakers include Manolo Arroyo, EVP and chief marketing and customer commercial officer at The Coca-Cola Company; Tressie Lieberman, EVP and global chief brand officer at Starbucks; and Ben Cohen, co-founder of Ben & Jerry’s.
• Marketing Brew Summit (New York City, Sept. 30) Creators, analysts and marketing innovators explore how human intuition, data and emerging technologies are reshaping strategy, storytelling and growth through strategic sessions and tactical playbooks. Speakers include Radhika Duggal, CMO of Major League Soccer; Magno Herran, VP of brand marketing and partnerships at Netflix; and Sarah Meron, chief communications and brand officer at IBM.

Bookmark Global Gateway Advisors’ event tracker, updated weekly.

Media news

• Brands want in on Reddit, to users’ dismay. As marketers increasingly prioritize showing up on the platform, which is known to heavily feed certain LLMs (though we’re learning how quickly that can change, as Reddit’s share of ChatGPT citations reportedly fell 86% in a matter of days), they’re running into resistance from Reddit’s devoted users and moderators. As one Redditor put it, Reddit may be the “very last place on the internet for genuine company reviews and feedback,” and its users aren’t going to give that up without a fight.
• “Of course I used AI.” That was hedge fund manager Stanley Druckenmiller’s response to questions regarding his recent op-ed in The Wall Street Journal. The Journal’s opinion editor defended the piece, saying that AI is a “fact of modern life.” This comes as a UC Berkeley professor admitted to using AI to edit an op-ed for the San Francisco Standard, while a Harvard professor used AI to condense a column for the Financial Times before submitting it.
• Bloomberg doubles down on India. Bloomberg Media launched a dedicated India website as the country has grown to become Bloomberg.com’s second-largest audience, with more than 50 journalists based there. The site features new podcasts and localized investing and wealth-building content, with expanded coverage planned around the Bloomberg New Economy Forum’s New Delhi debut in October.
• MS NOW rolls out membership for “superfans.” The network will launch its first direct-to-consumer product Sept. 9, a $7.99-a-month membership giving users access to 24/7 live programming, original content, community features and opportunities to interact directly with MS NOW journalists.

Media moves

• Emil Protalinski (formerly VentureBeat) launched a new tech newsletter, Hard Coded.
• Nicholas Florko (formerly The Atlantic) and Margaret Manto (formerly NOTUS) joined STAT as reporters.
• Naomi Nix (formerly The Washington Post) was hired by TIME magazine as a senior technology correspondent.
• Ashley Gould (formerly Axios) joined Semafor as a senior technology correspondent.
• Thibault Spirlet was promoted to tech reporter at Business Insider. Meanwhile, Lara O’Reilly, who writes the weekly CMO Insider newsletter, was promoted to chief correspondent.
• James Paton joined The New York Times as a London-based business correspondent.
• Bryan Walsh (formerly Vox) joined Coefficient Giving as a senior editor and writer with a focus on global catastrophic risks.
• John Simons (formerly the Brunswick Group) was hired as senior director, business and media for CNN.
• Owen Dahlkamp (formerly the Texas Tribune) joined POLITICO as a congress tech reporter.
• Danielle Alberti, the managing editor of data visualization, was among the recent layoffs at Axios.

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