Tuesday, October 13, 2026
Tuesday, October 13, 2026
As communication leaders prepare to gather in London for Strategic’s first Innovation Sprint, members of the Executive Mentor Panel have shared their perspectives on the challenges at the heart of the day.
Innovation Sprint London, taking place on 17 September at The Trampery, Shoreditch, will bring together senior leaders from communication, business, organisational change and AI to work collaboratively on three strategic challenges:
Unlike a traditional conference, participants will work in multidisciplinary groups through a Discover – Design – Deliver methodology, moving from understanding the challenges to developing practical recommendations.
The Innovation Sprint London Executive Mentor Panel includes Richard Bagnall, Co-founder of CommsClarity Consulting; Orla Graham, Insights and Consulting Director at CARMA; Jonathan Phillips, Co-founder of Lithos Partners; Padraig McKeon, Director of McKeonIreland; and Renna Markson, Founding Partner of Markson Partners.
Demonstrating the value of communication remains one of the profession’s most persistent challenges.
For Richard Bagnall, meaningful measurement must move beyond evidence that communication activity took place.
“Measurement and evaluation must do more than show that communication happened. They must demonstrate what changed as a result, and why that change mattered. The advent of new tools and AI-driven capabilities risks creating a false sense of security that technology alone can answer those questions. Meaningful evaluation still depends on a tailored plan, clear objectives, sound methodology and informed human judgement.”
Orla Graham similarly argues that measurement cannot be separated from strategy.
“Strategy and measurement are two sides of the same coin – you can’t have one without the other. Measurement isn’t a tick box exercise, but rather a clear articulation of what success looks like and whether you’ve achieved it. It’s as big a part of strategy as it gets.”
Padraig McKeon believes communication only has substantive value when it contributes to the purpose of the organisation.
“I don’t think communication has any substantive value unless it has an impact on the purpose of the organisation.”
He sees this contribution operating in two areas: maintaining alignment between an organisation and the stakeholders on whom it depends, and supporting change, challenge or crisis where communication is required to influence behaviour or attitudes.
The second Innovation Sprint challenge will explore organisational trust and the say-do gap.
For McKeon, trust is often discussed in abstract terms when attention should instead be placed on the behaviours through which it is created.
“Trust is revered but too much time is spent eulogising and deifying it when in fact it is created through consistent day to day behaviour that shows competence, benevolence, integrity and reliability.”
He argues that organisations should communicate those behaviours more clearly and in ways that allow stakeholders to see whether actions align with stated values and organisational purpose.
The challenge for communication leaders, therefore, is not simply how to communicate trust, but how to ensure communication reflects what an organisation actually does.
AI implementation will form the third challenge area for Innovation Sprint London.
Jonathan Phillips believes much of the current discussion about AI and communication is focused on the wrong question.
“The anxious conversation about AI eating our profession misses what is actually happening. Communicators work through five distinct stages – planning, creating, publishing, distributing and hosting the discussion that follows – and AI is quietly reshaping every one of them in ways that make us more capable as a function.”
For Phillips, the more important issue is how communication leaders approach implementation.
“Innovation Sprint London matters because it asks the harder and more useful question of how we lead that implementation with confidence and consistency, so the gains show up as better outcomes for the people we communicate with rather than simply more content produced faster.”
McKeon also places the emphasis on leadership rather than technology itself.
“Introducing AI to an organisation is a challenge in building trust and managing expectations and fears – about privacy, autonomy, jobs and decision transparency.”
He argues that confidence comes from demonstrating how technology supports what the organisation is trying to achieve rather than allowing technology to determine the direction of change.
“The technology doesn’t lead. The people and their purpose does.”
For Renna Markson, one of the strengths of the Innovation Sprint format is that it gives leaders the time and environment to step outside their day-to-day responsibilities and work collaboratively on shared challenges.
“Today’s leaders are navigating unprecedented complexity, where communication, leadership and organisational performance are more interconnected than ever. Innovation Sprint London offers a unique opportunity for senior leaders to step away from day-to-day demands, collaborate across disciplines and develop practical solutions to shared challenges.”
That cross-disciplinary approach is central to the design of Innovation Sprint London.
Participants will work alongside leaders with different organisational, sector and professional perspectives, supported by a Facilitator, AI Innovation Partner, Industry Leadership Partner facilitators and members of the Executive Mentor Panel.
The role of the mentors will not be to provide the answers, but to challenge assumptions, share experience and help groups pressure-test the recommendations they develop.
At the end of the day, each group will present its recommendations as part of a Solutions Showcase. The insights developed throughout the Sprint will also contribute to the Strategic Executive Insights Report, extending the work beyond the room.
Innovation Sprint London takes place on Thursday, 17 September 2026, at The Trampery, Shoreditch, London.
For more information and to register by 1200 BST on 7 September, email events@strategic.global.
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