2026 began with the confirmation  that it would be just as or even more uncertain than the preceding year across both capital markets and the world: people and investors are more distrustful of ‘old wives tales’ and adverse to risk and that has generated a great deal of social and stock market agitation; the armed and economic conflicts put pressure on the international business strategies of many companies; very aware citizens demand concrete improvements to their lives from their governments and institutional investors want to see the returns on the investments made in recent years.

However, 2026 also presents a great deal of opportunities with everything from the revolutionary applications of AI to the scope for cutting back on the business obstacles between countries and companies in Europe, extending to a European political and economic affirmation unprecedented in recent decades with the implementation of trade agreements with Mercosul, India and Canada that shall nurture economic poles of attraction.

In order to navigate such uncertainties and volatility, there is no alternative to corporate communication having to shift back to focusing on the essential, seeking to avoid digressions and polarisations without ever giving up on originality, transparency and predictability, factors people need so greatly in these times.

In financial communication, the investors, shareholders and creditors increasingly value solid companies with clear plans underpinning sustainable growth with the capacity to generate cash-flow and track records of allocating capital with an impact on the value of shares. Here, the concerns should concentrate on tailoring the messages to the priorities of the audience: while for creditors the focus in 2026 is on deleveraging and the robustness of the accounts, shareholders want to be assured the companies are not wasting resources, focusing their investments on searching for profit and positioned to capitalise on the opportunities existing.

Such opportunities will essentially require communicating in another way to the stakeholders. Rather than setting out holistic or probably unachievable targets, the focus should return to how past objectives have been achieved and clear goals for implementation and with measurable impacts. Examples would include the replacement of green narratives, without clear results or objectives and the adoption of measures able to produce historical and inter-company comparisons.

The Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive, which shall be fully operational in 2026, will generate business opportunities and the capturing of financing to those truly invested in acting and communicating within these norms as this shall provide differentiation to competitors not taking ESG seriously and that, in turn, will see the risk of litigation and penalties for non-compliance rise sharply.

All of this shall contribute to 2026 seeing the financial and corporate worlds attribute greater value to company and brand reputations. The latter remain, we would note and according to diverse studies, the pillars of public trust in the face of the otherwise rising mistrust in political and social institutions.

In corporate communication, given the currently prevailing context, the objective is for dialogue to be transparent but without any exaggeration, taking advantage of the limitations of regulation; close but not paternalist; permanent but not exhaustive; focused on a realistic and achievable future, signposting that there are imponderables beyond any control; personalised according to the audiences but with shared guidelines; addressing the legitimate concerns of these publics but not the noise; and presenting a coherent and structured vision but that avoids any polarisation.

To achieve this, relationships with the media remain in the spotlight as, despite a sharp downturn in trust in overall terms, Portugal continues to be one of those countries with high levels of trust in the media which, for those able to communicate effectively, endows visibility and reputation.

However, direct communication through the company’s own channels and those of its leaders continues to gain in preponderance. Here, recourse to artificial intelligence tools, especially LLMs, shall continue to grow but still requires surgical usage, with the authenticity verified by a recognised and valued human hand even if with relevant costs in terms of time. This needs to avoid the trap of automating creativity that shall render corporate communication indistinct across different companies.

The truth is that adopting AI will remain an obsession throughout this year. For a technology under implementation and constant innovation, this will never not be relevant to a company and its stakeholders due to both the operational and communicational opportunities and risks. However, we would emphasise that it is essential to correlate the investment in these tools with specific and measurable objectives.

In summary, in 2026, a year of great uncertainties and dichotomies, it is down to each one, each company to communicate their path, demonstrating the solidity of their long term businesses, seeking out the audience and guaranteeing their state of preparation to deal with doubts and attacks.