Jen Prosek Featured in PRWeek's Agency Business Report 2026: Corporate Trends

PR Week
By Chris Daniels
May 5, 2026

Management of multiple pressure points, from reputation to purpose, is propelling the rise in integrated corporate agency work.

Corporate PR is being reshaped by relentless policy shifts, legal challenges and geopolitical moves under the Trump administration, alongside evolving expectations for corporate purpose and AI-driven workforce changes.

This shift is reflected in rising demand for integrated agency work, as clients seek messaging that responds simultaneously to regulatory, reputational and operational pressures — especially on high-stakes issues such as tariffs, the Iran War and M&A scrutiny.

“Our most interesting work links to projects where we deliver multistakeholder, multichannel, integrated solutions to clients navigating these moments of crisis and transformation,” says Mark McCall, global segment leader of FTI’s Strategic Communications segment.

On a company transaction, for example, the firm brings in public affairs experts, crisis specialists and employee comms teams “to manage buy-in and the change management needed.” On an issues management campaign, FTI might use capital markets expertise to understand investor nuances as they relate to political debates.

Prosek Partners is also seeing the shift. “We’re doing a lot more integrated advisory, especially around major inflection points such as M&A, restructurings and leadership changes,” says founder and managing partner Jen Prosek. “These are moments where clients need to align investor messaging, employee communications and public positioning.” 

“That’s where we’re seeing the most value and, frankly, where the work is most intellectually engaging,” she adds. 

Anton Nicholas, CEO of ICR, notes platforms that once reached a single audience demand integrated messaging from companies.

Earnings calls are no longer limited to buy or sell side. “It’s also customers, employees, even competitors on the call. That’s the reality of today’s integrated audience,” he says. “We’re seeing a convergence of corporate PR and IR, which have historically lived in different lanes.”

“We have to consider how every message might impact or be perceived by everybody,” he underscores.

A narrower spotlight on purpose

Attitudes about corporate purpose have also shifted. Initially focused on business purpose — what a company does commercially — it evolved toward value-oriented approaches linking purpose to financial returns, and later toward broader societal commitments.

“We’re seeing a shift from expansive, values-led purpose statements to what I’d call ‘operational and business-oriented purpose,’” says Prosek. “For agencies, it’s critical to connect purpose to operations, investor narratives, employee engagement and risk management.”

“Purpose has come full circle,” agrees Amanda Keating, partner and head of strategy and reputation practice, North America, at FGS Global. “We’re seeing a thoughtful recalibration. Purpose is still being framed around business fundamentals, but with a much more sophisticated understanding of how business objectives intersect with stakeholder expectations.”

AI is quickly becoming a critical corporate issue

“The table stakes for companies were simply talking about AI — signaling awareness of it,” says Nicholas. “Now the focus is on who’s actually implementing it, how and what the costs and returns are to a company. The table stakes are evolving to ‘What’s your 2.0 strategy to AI? Or even 4.0.’”

FGS Global has a dedicated advisory practice to help clients navigate AI.

Keating says the opportunity is threefold because companies have to manage: “internal adoption — using AI to work smarter, faster and more efficiently; reputation management — understanding its impact on the company’s reputation and using it to positively influence content; and business expectations — integrating AI into the company narrative, showing clients and customers how it’s being used and the impact it’s having.”

It’s that third dimension — embedding AI into the business story credibly, humanly and measurably — that Keating says will emerge as a critical focus.

+++

Agency Business Report 2026: Prosek Partners 
Prosek Partners was also featured in PRWeek’s 2026 Agency Business Report ranking 29th globally and 17th in the U.S.

See the full Prosek Partners agency business report at PRWeek.