Partner Research : Reputation Capital Report 2026: Conquering Complexity | Sandpiper

Conquering Complexity: Transforming to agile and holistic reputation managementfor the AI era | Sandpiper Reputational Scorecard 2026

Reputation management is entering a new era where speed, agility, and insight-led strategies are no longer optional; they are commercial imperatives.

Launched in partnership at the 2026 World Economic Forum in Davos, this global study by Sandpiper explores the evolution of reputation capital amid market volatility, shifting societal expectations, and the rapid rise of AI. The study looks at organizational investments in reputation management, how this impacts performance, and the future opportunities and challenges reputation leaders face with the growth of AI technologies and geopolitical volatility.

The findings are based on a 360-degree assessment of over 3,000 C-Suite and Corporate Affairs leaders across 27 markets and 11 industries. Prepared in consultation with the Reputation Capital Council, Earned First, and Page, the report introduces the Reputation Capital Scorecard to measure performance across four critical indicators: Insights, Strategy, Relationships & Connectivity, and Resources.

Key Findings

• The AI Preparedness Gap: While 72% of CEOs believe reputation is critical to commercial success, only 40% feel highly prepared for the impact of AI on communications.
• The "Insights" Bottleneck: Insights scored the lowest of all performance indicators (55/100), highlighting a global struggle to convert data into actionable, real-time strategy.
• The CEO-CCO Disconnect: CEOs are nearly twice as likely as CCOs to feel high personal responsibility for reputation, yet they are significantly more likely to overestimate the strength of their organization's stakeholder alignment.
• Commercial Impact: 78% of CEOs report that reputational weaknesses have directly reduced sales and trading activities in the past year.

Go Deeper: Actionable Insights for Page Members

To help you action these findings, we have mapped recent Page thought leadership to the four pillars of the Reputation Capital Scorecard:

1. Insights: Move Beyond Traditional Measurement

The report identifies "research and measurement methods" as the single greatest shortcoming in how organizations use insights.

• Resource: The Pacesetter Journey
• Practical Step: Use the Page Pacesetter framework to shift from "lagging" indicators (clippings, sentiment) to "leading" indicators that use data to influence business outcomes.

2. Strategy: Lead through Radical Complexity

Top-quartile performers are differentiated by clear strategies aligned with commercial objectives.

• Resource: Beyond Communication
• Practical Step: Leverage Page’s research on the expanding remit of the CCO to build a business case for a direct reporting line to the CEO—a structure 16% more common in high-performing organizations.

3. Relationships & Connectivity: The Human Premium

In an AI world, relationship management remains a fundamentally human function.

• Resource: The Human Premium: Connection in the AI Era
• Practical Step: As machine-generated content scales, use the "Human Premium" framework to prioritize authentic, high-trust human interactions that AI cannot replicate.

4. Resources: Building the AI-Enabled Function

While "Resources" is the strongest scoring pillar globally, it requires constant evolution to maintain agility.

• Resource: Practical Applications of AI in Communications (Member Login Required)
• Practical Steps: Tom Armitage, Chief Communications Officer at ASML, led this Page Conversation and shared how ASML is managing communications in a sector under intense geopolitical pressure while also integrating AI into its workflows.

Special Thanks We would like to thank our partners Sandpiper, Earned First, and TCS for their support in launching this research at Davos and for their ongoing commitment to advancing the corporate affairs profession.