Future of PR: What agencies are prioritising for 2026

As public relations (PR) heads into 2026, one message rings clear: communicators aren’t just navigating change, they’re being reshaped by it. AI is accelerating expectations, rewriting how audiences discover information, and pushing agencies to prove value in far more tangible ways. Trust, credibility, and reputation are now quantifiable outcomes, not abstract ideals, and PR teams are expected to deliver work that drives business impact as much as narrative influence.

At the same time, the industry is facing a growing “authenticity gap.” As AI-generated everything floods feeds, the role of human judgement, moral clarity, and strategic storytelling becomes even more essential. Agencies are responding by doubling down on upskilling, integrating AI responsibly, and investing in tools that enhance foresight, insight, and measurement. While technology is becoming a powerful accelerator, the real differentiation comes from people, and their ability to interpret nuance, build trust, and create meaning in a noisy, automated world.

With rising expectations, tighter budgets, and a rapidly evolving discovery ecosystem, PR in 2026 is becoming more data-informed, more accountable, and more human than ever before.

Below, A+M spoke with agency leaders in Malaysia to unpack how they’re navigating AI, trust-building, and the next chapter of communications for 2026.

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Justin Then, CEO, Burson Malaysia

Conversations around AI — its impact, how it's used & how it will change the communication landscape — will continue to dominate, if it isn't already.

This presents a great opportunity for practitioners to deliver real value in strategy and counsel aided by AI. It's a win-win for both clients and agencies. Investments in AI tools as well as upskilling the team to be strategic, critical thinking consultants will be crucial.

As businesses navigate through another challenging year ahead, our key focus at Burson will be on leveraging tech and deep insights to help clients enhance their reputation capital as a competitive advantage.

Mazuin Zin, CEO of Malaysia and SEA regional advisor, Edelman

2026 will be the year earned becomes the new performance, when trust, not just traffic, powers brand growth.

As AI reshapes how people discover and engage with brands, success will depend on being trusted enough to be part of the answer. Visibility can no longer be bought; it must be earned through credibility, consistency, and meaningful connection.

The brands that win will be those seen by both people and machines as reliable, transparent, and purpose led. This shift demands more than traditional PR; it calls for an integrated approach that fuses creativity, data, digital, and storytelling to build trust at every touchpoint.

At Edelman Malaysia, we’re partnering with clients to lead this change, helping brands earn their place in conversations, culture, and now, in AI-generated worlds. Because in the new performance era, trust isn’t just a message; it’s a metric.

Peter de Kretser, CEO, GO Communications 

AI’s meteoric rise will undoubtedly continue to enhance agency capability in 2026. However, the big tidal wave for us at GO will be a fundamental focus on the "Human wave!" The human antidote or rather compliment to the algorithmic age. "A"uthenticity + "I"ntegrity, or AI "real-world", as we like to phrase it.

In a world slowly being crafted by AI-made everything, human intent and moral clarity can become advantageous differentiators. Incorporating people vs technology balance for a better environment and culture to become our baseline in achieving seismic results and overall colleague happiness.

We are further excited to be launching a brand-new, game-changing influencer tool to the market that will bridge influencers (at all levels) closer to brands, providing real-time data over sustained time cycles. The launch of CR (name to be disclosed soon) in January 2026 will hopefully become a launchpad for aspiring key opinion leaders (KOLs) to take their brand and business to the next level.

Gogulan Dorairajoo, CEO, Rantau+

The next big wave in PR isn’t just technological, it’s purposeful. As communications become increasingly data-driven, the real shift will come from how the industry applies AI, analytics, and sustainability principles to build trust and accountability. The future of PR will be shaped by “intelligent empathy,” combining data foresight with human understanding, underpinned by ethical AI governance and a stronger commitment to the impact economy.

At Rantau+, this evolution is reflected in our new AI-powered proprietary platform, which integrates media intelligence, stakeholder sentiment, and ESG data into one adaptive, Malaysia-sensitive dashboard. It enables us to forecast narrative shifts, identify emerging risks, and measure not only visibility, but also reputation, credibility, and sustainability impact.

Budgeting in 2026 is focused on smart reallocation, rather than expansion. We are directing resources to AI intelligence, sustainability integration, and talent development, while streamlining traditional overheads. A significant portion goes toward technology and training to ensure our team can interpret data, apply AI responsibly, and make ethical decisions that strengthen stakeholder trust.

Our key focus for 2026 is integration with purpose, aligning data, creativity, and sustainability within a single ecosystem. While AI remains a cornerstone to our growth, our long-term trajectory is sustainability, ensuring every story creates meaningful, measurable impact for businesses, communities, and the planet. We believe the future of communications isn’t just smarter and faster, it must also be responsible and sustainable.

Jonathan Tan, founder and managing director, VoxEureka

In 2026, the PR industry will face a convergence of pressures: relentless demands for productivity, tangible returns, and proof of relevance.

AI is the catalyst, disrupting faster than we can adapt. While it fuels unrealistic turnarounds, its greater impact is forcing a reckoning on value. The intangibles of reputation are no longer enough; stakeholders demand metrics and billing structures that link communications work directly to business outcomes.

Our response is twofold. First, we must make AI an ally to automate tasks that free our people to grow their strategic influence as well as maturing measurement frameworks that showcase value in the boardroom. Second, we must capitalise on the resulting authenticity gap created by an AI-saturated world, where human expertise in building trust and crafting narratives becomes the ultimate differentiator.

We're budgeting cautiously for this duality: investing in tech while upskilling our team. The future belongs to human-first communicators who harness AI as a force multiplier, using it to prove value so we can focus on building authentic connections.

Amanda Leong, managing director, Zeno Malaysia

We’re seeing communications evolve at an incredible pace. PR isn’t just about storytelling anymore, it’s becoming a real driver of narrative shifts and business growth. Zeno’s Clarity 2030 study shows almost 80% of APAC communicators expect their roles to look very different by 2030, with more than 80% anticipating a major shift in required skills. As AI reshapes information discovery and LLM search overtakes traditional search, earned media becomes even more valuable, with communicators playing a critical role in helping brands understand how they appear in generative search. Generative engine optimisation (GEO) is becoming essential for both reputation and growth, marking a shift from story to strategy, intention to impact, and complexity to clarity.

In 2026, AI remains a major focus as Zeno moves toward being fully AI-enabled across creator work, media relations, insights, research, and creative. But the real priority is ensuring people are trained and confident, with redesigned workflows that help teams move faster and think deeper.

Our budgeting will continue to centre on talent, equipping specialists with the tools and skills clients need. But even as technology scales what communicators can do, it’s our humanity that sustains the impact. For us, the real differentiator is creativity powered by AI, using technology to unlock bold, culturally grounded ideas and to collaborate in new ways. We’re building a future-ready communications organisation anchored by five pillars, which will prepare us not only for the future of communications, but for the future of leadership.

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