Smart Tech, Smarter Leaders: The Human Edge in AI-Driven Stakeholder Intelligence

If AI can write, speak, and even strategize…what’s left for us to do?

That question was front of mind at the Page Society Exchange in Amsterdam, where I had the chance to attend and reflect on a workshop by Scriptorium Initiative cofounders Marc Cloosterman and Nanne Bos on the future of the communications function.

Their bold predictions — including a provocative reimagining of what AI will enable by 2035 — struck a chord with the many Chief Communications Officers in the room.

The takeaway was clear: AI is no longer just a tool for optimization, it’s fast becoming a strategic force in its own right. But as we discussed in Amsterdam, the challenge isn’t just how to integrate AI. It’s how to lead with it responsibly, creatively, and humanely.

That theme resonated with me, too.

As CEO of stakeholder intelligence firm Caliber, I have a front-row seat to the changing ways companies engage with their stakeholders.

Fueled by real-time data and increasingly powerful AI tools, stakeholder intelligence is shifting from static surveys and annual benchmarks to dynamic, always-on engagement.

Today’s real-time perception data can help leaders engage not just with customers, but regulators, suppliers, media and employees continuously, and with context.

Through tomorrow’s AI-powered analytics, companies will be able not only to identify shifts in stakeholder sentiment but to uncover the drivers behind those shifts and then respond with unprecedented agility.

But amid all the excitement, one truth is becoming clearer: as AI capabilities accelerate, so will the need for human understanding, and the most successful organizations will be those that combine the scale and speed of technology with the judgment, empathy, and insight of real human beings.

I spoke about this on the Page Society podcast, The New CCO, where we touched on the role of the liberal arts mindset in a profession increasingly impacted by AI. Eliot Mizrahi, the host, noted how comms is shifting: “It’s not necessarily about wordsmithing the perfect statement, but about understanding the broader context of the organization.”

That resonated as well. Like many communicators, my journey into this field wasn’t a straight line. As I explained on the pod, I was drawn by an interest in the “psychology of companies”: what motivates how they behave? how do they connect with people?

That multidisciplinary perspective is more valuable than ever. While AI can process data at scale, it can’t empathize with employee anxiety, navigate the nuance in a regulatory shift, or understand the unspoken context behind a public reaction.

After all, stakeholders aren’t just data points, they’re people. And their perceptions are shaped by emotion, contradiction, and context — the very things AI still struggles to understand.

So the future of stakeholder intelligence won’t be defined by who has the most data. It will be defined by who makes the smartest use of it.

At Caliber, we believe in the power of AI to make engagement more responsive, more personalized, and more predictive. But we also believe the human touch is what keeps it credible.

At least, that’s the model we’re building: high-tech, human-led, and always on.