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The 2026 state of internal communications
Inside the growing gap between high- & low-performing orgs
What’s going right, what’s going wrong, and what leaders can do to improve internal communication
1. AI adoption is uneven
Only 26% of staff say their organization has clear, enforced AI use policies — and that shortfall of guidance is a top blocker to their own adoption. Privacy issues are high on their list of concerns, too.
That's creating a disconnect
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61% of leaders think their employees are regular or power users of AI.
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Only 40% of employees agree — and 29% saying they rarely touch it.
→ What the high-performers do: 60% made strategic alignment and org-wide awareness initiatives a core responsibility of the Comms team.
2. Comms quality is rising — but so are consequences
Each year, we study five communication markers — its relevance, clarity, timeliness, accessibility, and openness to feedback. The gaps from leaders to employees are the smallest we've seen in a while. One example:
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75% of leaders think their comms are clear and engaging.
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61% of employees agree.
But consequences are growing faster. This year, the number of missed deadlines — from poor communication — doubled what it was last year.
→ What the high-performers do: 54% prioritize sending org-wide comms — from different levels of leadership — multiple times per week.
3. Org-wide misalignment is... still bad
"Are employees entirely aligned with business goals" is a question haunting leaders. This year, the gap between employees and leaders got smaller — partially thanks to leaders getting a little more realistic.
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2025: 27% of leaders thought staff were entirely aligned with goals. 9% of employees agreed.
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2026: 25% of leaders think the same. 16% of employees agree.
→ What the high-performers do: Make communication a team sport. 52% “significantly increased” their investment in structured comms training for employees inside and outside the Comms function.
4. Lost time — and salary — is skyrocketing for execs
Between 10%–30% of every work year is lost — at every level of the organization — due to poor communication. That adds up to a month or more of working days for every single employee.
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That hit 60+ working days per year for folks making $200,000+ — up by 17 days, year over year.
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No surprise when execs say AI has pumped up the volume of comms shared at work — but dialed down clarity and understanding.
Why it matters: Leaders need to crack their strategy on each before they can turn a high-performing team into a high-growth organization.
→ What the high-performers do: 55% “significantly increased” their investment in both AI tools and employee skills training to use them well.
Bonus: Why some Comms teams pull ahead
This year, we also surveyed 171 Comms leaders to get their take on the state of AI, the impact to their role, and where risk and opportunity still exist.
- 96% use AI weekly or more
- 93% are seeing performance gains
- 42% have built one or more assistants, agents, or automated workflows
Their attention is now tightly focused on: "How you operationalize AI — with consistency, trust, and organizational backing?"
