2026 Comms Skills Benchmark: Mapping strengths, gaps and opportunities

The role of the communicator is evolving fast. Are your team’s skills keeping up?

AI, digital transformation, and rapid organisational change are placing new demands on communicators and reshaping the expectations placed upon them. Communicators can no longer operate solely as tacticians and order-takers; they must become adaptability experts, data-driven strategic advisors, and reputation managers.

To understand where the function stands today, Kademy’s 2026 Comms Skills Benchmark draws on proprietary data from our Skills Assessment and GenAI Readiness Survey. The findings reveal a function with strong foundations, but critical gaps that could limit future impact.

Download the report to discover:

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Where communicators excel: Why traditional skills like Planning and Channel Management remain the profession’s top strengths.
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Critical skill gaps: Why Measurement, Change Facilitation, and Business Acumen are lagging behind, and why this prevents communicators from acting as strategic advisors.
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The “Double Gap” in measurement: How the weakest-performing skill is being compounded by a lack of interest in using AI to solve it.
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AI adoption barriers: The top concerns holding teams back, from lack of time to ethical considerations.
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Practical recommendations: Three clear strategies for leaders to close the skills gap, elevate strategic capabilities, and implement effective AI learning and development.

About this research: This benchmark is based on aggregated data from Kademy’s Skills and Competency Assessment (2023-2025) and GenAI Readiness Survey (2024-2025).

GenAI Adoption Guide for Comms Leaders

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What members say about Kademy:

What I find most valuable is being in contact with first-class professionals, highly skilled in my area of interest.
Nutreco

Kademy member

I particularly value their team training…it’s a fantastic way to bring the whole function together and build community.
ISS

Kademy member