The imperative to make communication more sustainable in the AI age

9 December 2025 Reading Time: 6 minutes

Asaf Covo and David Baldwin Friedman:

AI has accelerated the flow of communication to a pace where volume now overwhelms value. Across public and organizational channels alike, messages multiply faster than meaning. The result is fatigue and skepticism: customers, employees, and leaders alike have less patience for the generic and less trust in what feels manufactured.

To truly stand out, influence people, and make a difference amid the noise, we see a more sustainable practice of communication as the antidote. Sustainable communication means anchoring in purpose and longevity, expressing through distinct perspective and shared connection, and grounding in alignment and measurement to build trust, influence, and impact that endure.

Inspired by the Communications Leadership Summit in Brussels on 19 September 2025 and shaped by our two perspectives, we explore why the shift from quantity to quality has become urgent. Built around three pairs of guiding principles, each illustrated with examples and practical reflection checkpoints, we propose a holistic methodology for communication strategy, execution and evaluation.

The blowback of disjointed efforts without substance

Scroll any feed for a few seconds and you’ll see external content blurring together, each demanding a moment you no longer have yet offering little of substance in return. Audiences are quick to detect formulaic patterns that tell them only what they want to hear, and hesitant to engage when substance feels secondary to self-promotion. The data underlines the cost. In 2024, Edelman found fewer than half of decision-makers rated the thought leadership they saw as good, with only 15 percent calling it very good. By 2025, the picture worsened: more than 40 percent of B2B deals stalled in part because weak or misaligned thought leadership failed to build confidence. The message is clear: generic content doesn’t just add noise, it slows business.

Inside organizations, the pattern is similar. Information overload, constant transformation, and overly cautious leadership messaging erode both attention and trust. Edelman’s 2025 research shows employee trust in “my employer” at 75 percent, down three points year on year – the first meaningful dip in a decade. Additionally, Gallagher’s 2025 report lists “change fatigue” among the top five barriers to success, cited by 44 percent of comms and HR leaders. Falling trust and rising fatigue show that alignment can no longer be assumed. It must be intentionally built and sustained.

The common denominator across communication today is that sheer volume without a unifying purpose or voice falls flat faster than ever. Short-sighted, disconnected efforts waste energy and attention, as awareness fades quickly and trust, often taken for granted, is neither consistently nor meaningfully earned. Continuing under a volume-first operating model risks more than diminishing returns – it threatens the credibility and future of communicators themselves, as the model is no longer sustainable.

 

The necessary mindset shift from quantity to quality

Making communication sustainable begins with a change in mindset – one guided by three pairs of principles we propose to help organizations move from short-term output to long-term impact.

First, shift away from overreliance on quantity by anchoring communication in clear purpose and long-term thinking. This means resisting the urge to publish for its own sake and ensuring every message exists for a reason that aligns with lasting goals.

Then, shift toward quality by uniting a distinct perspective with shared connection. Creativity and empathy together ensure communication adds something original and relevant to the conversation.

Finally, make the shift sustainable by aligning on what truly matters and measuring progress over time. This is how quality becomes viable as a long-term strategy that links meaning with measurable outcomes.

 

 

 

Anchor in purpose, build for longevity

Anchoring in purpose gives every communication its necessity, ensuring nothing disconnected is created for its own sake. A clear, enduring purpose links every story, post, and announcement back to the organization’s deeper reason for being. It empowers communicators to move from checking boxes to making an impact with deeper resonance instead of higher volume.

Yet purpose alone must be carried forward to endure. Longevity turns that timeless “why” into a living system, extending its reach beyond moments and individuals so others can inherit, reuse, and evolve the message without losing its essence. This creates a legacy that people will remember and AI will draw from. In this way, purpose anchors communication in the present, and longevity propels it into the future. Together, they transform communication from output into continuity.

Examples from our experience

• Shifting budget from lower-cost, high-volume production to a more expensive format backed by data showing stronger audience resonance
• Implementing an AI-supported process to review all content for alignment with the organization’s values, purpose, and tone of voice before publication
• Building a long-term image bank tailored to the brand for reuse and adaptation across media channels

Reflection checkpoints

• Is this message – and every part of it – necessary?
• What legacy will this content leave?
• Does this piece have a natural place among past and planned communications?

Bring distinct perspective, build shared connection

Bringing a distinct perspective means not merely echoing what’s already been said, but offering something that deepens understanding and sparks new insight. It adds genuine substance to the conversation and calls for human creativity to generate true originality, working with AI as a mirror to synthesize ideas, broaden perspectives, and explore new directions.

Shared connection makes your perspective meaningful to others. It turns communication from performance into participation, not “me” speaking at “you,” but “us” creating meaning together. This begins with seeing through the eyes of others and building common ground between perspectives. When a distinct perspective and shared connection are held in balance, brands can speak with a voice that is unmistakably their own while still resonating with others.

 

Examples from our experience

• Reframing a complex technical message as a story the audience can both learn from and relate to
• Implementing AI criteria to help define a distinct perspective and balance it with maintaining a shared connection
• Co-authoring an article that brings together two complementary perspectives to create a more rounded and enduring narrative than either of us could achieve alone

Reflection checkpoints

• If you were the recipient instead of the sender, would you want to read this?
• Could anyone have written this, or does it carry your brand’s unique voice?
• Are you talking to yourself in public, or genuinely connecting with your audience?

Align on what matters, measure what endures

To make communication sustainable, we must first align on what truly matters – the outcomes that define long-term success for both the organization and its stakeholders. That means moving beyond vanity metrics: not impressions or likes, but influence, trust, and change over time. This alignment depends on agreeing which shifts in understanding or behavior communication should enable. When communicators lead this conversation, they move from reporting activity to shaping strategy.

Measurement then becomes the mirror of that alignment. It captures contribution rather than counting outputs, showing how communication builds clarity, trust, and coherence over time. With direction set through alignment and progress demonstrated through measurement, communication becomes both accountable and strategic – a shared framework for creating value that lasts.

 

Examples from our experience

• Defining communication success through outcomes rather than reach, such as quantifying the impact of lobbying efforts by the number of votes for or against a measure
• Tracking how narratives and ideas reappear in public discussions, internal dialogue, or media coverage long after the initial communication
• Demonstrating how upfront effort on strategy leads to more consistent, effective, and sustainable messaging

Reflection checkpoints

• Are we measuring outcomes that matter to stakeholders, not just to ourselves?
• Have we shown how communication has made an impact, for example by influencing awareness?
• Are we proactively aligning on long-term objectives rather than reactively chasing short-term KPIs?

 

Why these principles go together

Neglecting either side of the principle pairings leads to imbalance: purpose without longevity loses continuity, while longevity without purpose loses meaning. Perspective without connection loses relevance, while connection without perspective dissolves into sameness. Alignment without measurement loses accountability, while measurement without alignment risks tracking the wrong things.

Purpose and longevity make communication coherent, distinct perspective and shared connection make it resonant, and alignment and measurement make it accountable. Together they make communication sustainable, a system of principles that, when applied in balance, keeps communication consistent in meaning, human in tone, and credible in impact.

From noise to legacy

In the AI age, anyone can scale frequency; what defines the difference now is resonance. The strongest messages behave like architecture, not fireworks, built to shelter ideas rather than simply illuminate them for a moment. The measure of communication is not how loudly it lands, but how long it continues to echo – the legacy carried in both human memory and machine logic.

This is the work we share – creating communication that lasts, not through sheer volume or gimmickry, but through the sustainable return it builds in trust, influence, and impact.

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Asaf Covo is an award-winning creative and strategic communication leader with over two decades of experience across EU institutions, NGOs and global firms.

David Baldwin Friedman is a founder and communication/AI strategist who develops and implements AI-based frameworks, drawing on 16 years of independent experience.

Written by: Editor