Sophie Simpson, Managing Director of Ruder Finn Atteline – MENAWhen I started my career in communications, the toolkit was simpler. Not easy, never easy, but simpler. You learned how to write, how to pitch, how to build relationships, how to earn trust with journalists and stakeholders, and how to show up prepared. You put the hours in, you got the reps, and you figured out quickly that reputation isn’t built in a day, but it can be damaged in a headline.
Now, the landscape is unrecognisable in the best and most challenging ways. The pace is faster, the channels are endless, and innovation (especially artificial intelligence) is rewriting what “good” looks like across our industry.
At the same time, communicators are increasingly operating in environments shaped by uncertainty: geopolitical instability, economic pressure, social volatility, and crises that don’t follow neat timelines.
The basics of communications still matter
I’m a big believer in tried and tested practices. Structure, planning, and discipline about how you work–it all matters. In my own business, that mindset has always been central, because building properly, thinking long-term, surrounding yourself with people who know more than you, and lifelong learning all go together.
But the industry has expanded. Today’s communications professionals don’t just need the fundamentals, but also a modern layer on top. What does that look like?
It’s platform strategy, content ecosystems, community management, data literacy, reputation preparedness, creator dynamics, stakeholder mapping across a far more complex environment, and increasingly, an understanding of crisis communications and business continuity. Because real‑world communications doesn’t pause when things get difficult. It accelerates.
It’s not enough to be ‘a great writer’ or ‘good with people’ or ‘digital-first’ anymore. The next generation needs to be multi-disciplinary, and they need to be trained that way with intention. Because everyone can take a decent photo on an iPhone, but it doesn’t make everyone a photographer. AI will be the same for the communications sector.
AI needs judgement
Artificial intelligence (AI) is not the enemy. Used well, it’s a competitive advantage. It can accelerate research, sharpen first drafts, help analyse patterns, and free up time for organisations’ teams to focus on higher-value thinking. For a young professional, that’s incredibly powerful.
The risk is when speed replaces judgement, and this seems to be occurring more often nowadays.
According to KPMG, 66 per cent of employees globally report having relied on AI output at work without critically evaluating the information it provides. Moreover, due to the use of AI, 72 per cent put less effort into their work and 50 per cent say they have made mistakes in their work.
Don’t get me wrong. It’s more than okay to use AI (in fact, you should use it every day!), but it’s about using it strategically.
The problem is when you start your career relying on AI to do the heavy lifting, for writing your emails, summarising your insights, drafting your strategies, and so on, because you can end up skipping the uncomfortable part where you build the instinct.
That instinct is what you lean on later, when a crisis hits, when a client calls with an issue that isn’t in the brief, or when business continuity decisions need to be made quickly, calmly, and with incomplete information.
AI can help you move faster. It cannot teach you judgement under pressure.
Human skills still win in communications
One of my biggest concerns for the new generation is not that they won’t be smart enough, they will. It’s that the world is making it easier to avoid the people side of the job.
In communications, people skills are not ‘soft skills’. They are the skill. They are how you read a room, handle a difficult conversation, influence without authority, and build relationships that last beyond a single campaign.
They help you push back with clients (respectfully), lead teams through disruption, handle difficult conversations, and earn trust when the stakes are high.
These skills matter even more during crises, when teams are remote, markets are unstable, emotions are heightened, and leaders are looking for clarity, not noise.
If we let a generation grow up thinking ‘the tool’ is the work, we’ll lose the craft that makes communications effective in the first place.
So, upskilling can’t just mean new tech training. It must include the human layers of presenting, negotiating, listening, storytelling that moves people, and the confidence to make decisions without perfect datasets; while being able to take all of this and input it into AI for even greater results.
Training that works on Monday
Good training should translate into better work straight away, which is why I’m so passionate about connecting education to real practice.
Recently, we concluded our Executive Training Program (ETP) in Riyadh with Prince Sultan University, an intensive program designed to give emerging talent the kind of exposure you can’t get from textbooks alone: strategic storytelling, digital thinking, stakeholder engagement, issues management, and the realities of how modern communications actually works day to day.
For me, programmes such as this are not about creating ‘mini professionals’ overnight. They are about building foundations, while helping early-career talent develop the confidence and curiosity to keep learning long after the program ends. The point isn’t to finish learning, but to build a habit of learning.
If we get this right, we’ll train communicators who understand strategy, use AI with judgment while being up to date on what is available to them, communicate with clarity, build trust across stakeholders, and stay accountable under pressure. That’s the standard the next generation deserves.
Expectations need investment
Upskilling isn’t just for students. It’s for employers, leaders, agencies, and clients. If we want stronger talent, we must invest in developing them with coaching, exposure, and real opportunities to stretch. And yes, it will take time.
The next generation is stepping into an industry that is faster, more volatile. more complex, and more technology-driven than the one I entered. That’s exactly why they deserve better training, not just higher expectations. Because in our industry, hard work still pays off; but only if we give people the tools to do the work properly.
By Sophie Simpson, Managing Director of Ruder Finn Atteline – MENA
