Who will own the Narrative in 2030: Companies, Leaders, or Communities?

At the 6th edition of the PR & Corp Comm Women Achievers Summit 2025, industry leaders came together for a thought-provoking panel discussion on “Who will own the Narrative in 2030: Companies, Leaders, or Communities?” The session explored how AI, decentralised content creation, communities, and human behaviour are reshaping the future of communication, reputation, and trust.

Moderated by Girish Balachandran, Founder and Managing Director, OnPurpose, the discussion featured Ashwani Singla, Founding Managing Partner, Astrum; Ankush R Chawla, Head-Communications, Kati Patang; Jagruti Kirloskar, Brand & Communications Leader; and Madhurima Bhatia, Head of PR, Media Relations & Partnerships, Ipsos.

Opening the session, Girish Balachandran set the context by saying that by 2030, “the cost of publishing a narrative will be close to zero,” making the challenge not about who gets to speak, but “who gets heard.” He noted that the future of communications will move from earned media to earned trust, with communities on platforms like Discord, Reddit, and WhatsApp shaping and even rejecting narratives before PR teams finalise them.

Responding to this shift, Jagruti Kirloskar highlighted that communicators must stop looking at communities as threats and instead treat them as feedback systems. Speaking about AI and audience engagement, she said, “AI is the first audience,” adding that organisations today must understand what stakeholders are saying in real time rather than fearing narrative hijack. She stressed that many organisations still misunderstand branding and communications, reducing them to logos or campaigns instead of long-term architecture.

Kirloskar strongly advocated for a structured brand plan rooted in consistency. “A strategy should be flexible. If it is not flexible, then it is a script — and scripts are for actors,” she remarked. She explained that true brand architecture ensures that employees, leadership, vendors, and customers all speak the same language. She also emphasised that by 2030, employees will emerge as the most influential voice of brands, making internal communications as important as external reputation management.

Ashwani Singla brought the conversation back to fundamentals, arguing that while platforms and technologies may evolve, the foundations of reputation will remain unchanged. “A narrative is not going to be authored, but audited,” he said, stressing that in an AI-mediated world, the only sustainable differentiator will be “character and conduct.”

Singla argued that communication teams must stop focusing solely on framing narratives and instead concentrate on evidencing organisational behaviour. “Narrative without conduct is easily destroyed, but narrative based on conduct is defendable, preservable, and worth propagation,” he stated. Using examples of Tata Group, Air India, and Byju’s, he explained how years of consistent behaviour shape public trust far more than messaging campaigns.

He also pushed back against excessive hype around AI adoption, sharing that India’s AI usage currently stands at around 6%, compared to Singapore’s 63%. “Let’s not go vomiting about AI all over the world. There’s a long time to go,” he said candidly, while acknowledging that AI will increasingly curate information and influence reputation discovery.

Ankush R Chawla brought a brand and consumer perspective to the discussion, speaking about how younger audiences increasingly trust creators, communities, and experiences over corporate jargon. Referring to the recent “Melodi” moment involving Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Chawla shared how confusion between Parle Products and Parle Industries led to a sudden stock surge, calling it an example of how human intelligence is getting deeply compromised despite the rise of artificial intelligence.

Speaking about Kati Patang’s philosophy, Chawla said the brand consciously avoids top-down communication and instead allows consumers to interpret the brand through experiences and intellectual properties like its music platform Trial Room. He described the platform as a space where artists are encouraged to experiment and even fail. “The core of an experiment is to probably make a mistake but then enjoy that mistake,” he said.

While acknowledging the growing power of communities, Chawla maintained that leadership will continue to play a defining role in shaping narratives. “Leaders will determine the narrative and ensure that it trickles down into communities,” he remarked. He also stressed the importance of reputation-building during stable times, saying, “If you sweat enough in peacetime, you’ll bleed less in wartime.”

Madhurima Bhatia added the research and data perspective to the discussion, explaining how brands must balance social media chatter with actual consumer behaviour and trust metrics. Drawing from Ipsos’ brand tracking and social intelligence work, she said organisations cannot afford to ignore online conversations, but they must also identify whether those conversations are being driven by actual customers or simply by noise.

She explained Ipsos’ “reputation pyramid,” where trust sits at the top after awareness, familiarity, and favourability. “Trust is built on multiple favourable experiences with the brand,” she noted, adding that customer experience and product quality remain central to long-term brand loyalty.

Bhatia also defended the continued relevance of earned media despite the rise of AI and communities. “Earned media will continue to rule the roost because it provides the highest form of credibility,” she said, describing it as the strongest form of third-party endorsement. She added that AI-driven search and recommendation systems themselves rely heavily on earned stories and credible editorial mentions.

As the discussion progressed, the panel collectively agreed that while technology and AI will influence how narratives travel, trust will continue to remain the ultimate currency. Whether through leadership actions, employee advocacy, community engagement, or earned media, the consensus was clear: the future of communications will belong to organisations that consistently align words with conduct.

In one of the concluding moments, Singla summed up the essence of the discussion by stating that communicators of the future would need to understand human psychology more deeply than ever before. “We all arrive at decisions with presupposed perceptions. The role of communications is to understand psychology and create narratives consistent with actions,” he said. 

The session ultimately concluded that while AI, communities, and leaders will all influence narratives in 2030, enduring reputation will still be built on trust, behaviour, credibility, and the consistent alignment between what organisations say and what they do.