The weird future of Internal Comms 2026
You had me at “weird”
Thoughts on Haiilo’s report “Weird Future of Internal Comms in 2026.”
I enjoyed the ten nicely put together bite-sized predictions. Four really stood out to me:
1. The Rise of "Anti-Hype". The report suggests employees are officially done with "exciting news" and corporate fluff. (Honestly, the same could be said for this platform and every post that starts “I’m thrilled etc").
Let’s be real, this is not new. Employees saw through hype and spin years ago. I’m not sure here that the barrier is communicators struggling to write like humans, it’s leaders struggling to show vulnerability. If politicians haven’t mastered admitting that "not everything is perfect," can we really expect business leaders to get there next year? I hope so but I have my doubts!
2. The "State of the Employee report". I’m eager to see the "State of the Employee" reports predicted here, evidence of AI analysing the tone and topics of real internal discussions.
In our book, Leading the Listening Organisation, we highlighted the massive opportunity digital channels offers to hear what people are actually thinking and we can already see that AI has started turning these conversations into decision-grade insights in some pioneering organisations. We are at the early stages here but this will be a great way of demonstrating the power of both employee voice and how AI can increase the value of what communicators are doing.
3. Internal Influencers. I love this concept. If influencers are increasingly effective in the real world, then why aren't we experimenting with them more internally? As the report rightly notes, employees trust the voices they know. Influencers could take us to a different place that our normal channels simply can't reach.
4. The Comeback of the Intranet. Finally, Haiilo predicts the "comeback" of the intranet. (I wasn't aware it had gone away). I’ll admit my bias; I’ve never been a fan as I’ve rarely seen an intranet that truly delivers on its promise. But if the future brings the story-driven, intuitive, and human platform forecasted here...well, that would be a lovely thing indeed.
How ‘weird’ the predictions are I’ll leave to you but it’s worth a look. You can check out all ten forecasts here
