Communications Executives Are Moving Into the C-Suite

Communications professionals are moving from the periphery of the C-suite to the center of it, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis published this week. Nearly half of chief communications officers now report directly to their CEO, up from 37% in 2015, as companies increasingly treat reputation management as a strategic priority rather than a support function.

A combination of factors is driving the shift: the speed at which minor missteps can become corporate crises, the blurring of investor communications, press releases, advertising copy, and AI-generated search results into a single narrative layer, and the growing recognition that managing that layer requires someone with genuine authority.

Accenture, State Farm, and many consumer brands have recently created CCO roles for the first time. Anheuser-Busch InBev created its first CCO position in November 2023, directly following the Bud Light controversy, with the role reporting to the CEO.

The remit has expanded well beyond press and PR. CCOs are now being asked to shape products before they launch, monitor social trends and feed them back to marketing and design teams, manage AI search presence by optimizing owned content for LLM visibility, and lead AI change management programs internally. Some are stepping into larger operational roles: Uber promoted its head of marketing, communications, and policy to a newly created president and chief corporate affairs officer position in May.

Full story: WSJ

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