
AI Now Runs the Deal Room — Trust Will Pick the Winners
AI is now embedded across M&A, but a new Datasite study of 1,000 dealmakers finds trust and governance — not adoption — will separate the winners.

AI is now embedded across M&A, but a new Datasite study of 1,000 dealmakers finds trust and governance — not adoption — will separate the winners.

AI companies face communications challenges unlike those of any previous technology category. The 2026 playbook: four pillars, the open-source vs closed-model debate, the earned media stack, and answer engine optimization — with Ronn Torossian on what most AI companies miss.

Three years ago, a communications team's org chart had no AI-specific role on it. Most still don't — and that absence is the problem, not a sign that the problem doesn't exist. The work has appeared whether or not anyone's name is attached to it. Quick answer. Four responsibilities now need named ownership on a communications team: the AI Communications Lead (owns the operating model), the AI Visibility Director (owns presence in AI answers), the AI Workflow Editor (owns output quality), and the AI Governance Lead (owns the controls).

Twenty-five questions every enterprise AI buyer should put in writing — telemetry, decision layer, enforcement, recourse, change management. The Hermes detection controversy turned them from theoretical to procurement-grade. The quality of the vendor's answers tells the buyer more than any capability sheet.
In 2026, AI is standard infrastructure in PR agencies, embedded across research, media targeting, content creation, monitoring, measurement, and Citation Share tracking inside ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Gemini, Google AI Overviews, and Microsoft Copilot. The full playbook.

The AI tool stack moved faster than enterprise communications kept up. Everything-PR's complete cluster on AI products, AI tool communications, and the governance and reputation story of a category restructuring how work gets done.

The Hermes AI billing incident exposed how platforms observe, decide, and enforce without disclosure. The timeline, the trust test, and the fix.

AI Policy is the communications discipline that shapes how AI gets regulated. Not AI ethics. Not AI governance. Not the same as AI regulation. A definitive guide to the discipline behind AI's most contested decisions.

AI platform detection is reshaping enterprise AI buying: see the six disclosures every RFP needs and where to push back on vendors before you sign the deal.

Originally published October 2009 on the Robert Half Technology survey showing 54% of large companies prohibited workplace social networking. Rebuilt June 2026 as EPR's reference on the seventeen-year evolution from prohibition to sophisticated employee social media governance — and what the trajectory teaches about contemporary AI integration governance.