Ben Trounson

Mixing Board

Invite-only community of communications and marketing leaders, elevating the business impact of the functions, sharing expertise, and providing mentorship.

Member

Daikin U.S. Corporation

VP, Head of Corporate Communications

Verizon

VP, Head of Global Communications, Verizon Business

Bristol Myers Squibb

VP, Head of International Corporate Affairs

Tata Consultancy Services

Head of Global Markets Corporate Communications

Head of North American Corporate Communications

Finn Partners

Partner, Technology Practice

Hill & Knowlton

SVP, Director of NYC Marketing Communications Practice

Ketchum

VP, Client Service Director

Taylor Global

Account Director

Kodora Communications

Media Manager

VP, Global Corporate Communications with 20+ years of experience leading corporate affairs across internal, external, executive, and crisis communications strategies. Deploying diverse global brand plans, thought leadership campaigns, employee culture and change initiatives, product GTMs, and partner programs for Verizon, Bristol Myers Squibb, and Tata Consultancy Services, among others. A team builder and mentor, and C-suite advisor, creating data-led strategies to transform business impact and drive enterprise collaboration, engagement, advocacy, reputation, and revenue.

Vice President of Communications, Verizon Business

Time with family is so important. I spent last week in England visiting my father on the coast of Cornwall near Land's End.  

We all work hard, but need to prioritize some time to make more memories. I enjoyed the basics. Walks across the beach cliffsides, board games, ancient pubs, Cornish pasties (yum), and lots of rain... 

But more than anything, just time talking with my father. I heard stories about his childhood and family history that I had never heard before... after all these years. You don't get these moments until you slow down and disconnect, even for a day or two. 

With Thanksgiving this week, I'm wishing all U.S. friends and colleagues a wonderful time with their families. Try finding some quality 1-1 time with your parents or grandparents and ask about their childhood. You might hear a few amazing stories for the first time, and be able to pass them on!

#family #history #storytelling

VP & Global Head of Corporate Communications | Reputation & Issues Management Expert | Former Verizon, National Grid, TCS | C-Suite Advisor | Driving Trusted Brands & Teams

I had a blast at the Axios Communicators Live NYC event last night. 

A few quick highlights from the main stage sessions:

1. Anthropic's Sasha de Marigny was refreshingly transparent: they’re not entirely “Claudifying” comms; they’re hiring an AI ops role to support strategic humans.

2. Ray Day, APR of Allison Worldwide noted two-thirds of comms leaders work with CEOs on major decisions. As a profession, we need to consistently add value and demonstrate business acumen and impact to increase these numbers! 

3. Meridith Webster of Estée Lauder stated that corporate narrative builds trust, and brand activations make them human. Strong comms blends both.

Cheers to Eleanor Hawkins and Hope King for hosting.  
 
Thanks to Amanda Coffee and Joanie Sanders for such a fun and packed comms happy hour before the Axios event.

And it was lovely to see so many friends and former colleagues: Daniel Méndez Aróstica, MBA, Daniel Nestle, Todd Grossman, Shauna Elkin, Abenaa (Abby) Hayes (she/her/hers), Brooke Kruger, Selena Strandberg, Ben Rose, Leah Katz, Ethan McCarty, Maril Gagen MacDonald.

December kicks off a week of communications events in NYC.

I enjoyed a fun session last night, meeting fellow comms pros and sharing POVs on a host of topics. Thank you Amanda Coffee, APCO NY and Ragan Communications and PR Daily for hosting.

This Wednesday, Edelman has the global launch of its latest Trust Barometer Flash Poll at 11 am EST (AI at an inflection point). 

And on Thursday, Axios is hosting its 4th annual Communicators Live event in NYC. A great line-up of speakers, comms leaders emerging as vital trusted advisors as companies face:
- Siloed audiences
- Political polarization
- Cultural complexities
- Workplace transformation
- And, yes, AI disruption

Looking forward to seeing many former colleagues and friends on Dec 4.

The Chief Communications Officer has become a strategic sense-maker, tasked with navigating a polycrisis of fused geopolitical, societal, and technological risk. 

This was one of several key points that jumped out in the Ipsos Reputation Council Report 2025. It's worth the read. Few other findings of note.

- With non-stop social fragmentation and issue cycles, business leaders are embracing strategic silence more often — not as avoidance, but as a deliberate act of prioritization and navigation of a pragmatic ESG era. 

- Today's communications leaders have been pushed far beyond functional expertise, helping organizations interpret fast-moving risks, look around corners, align internally, and act with clarity in moments that matter.

#communicationsleadership #strategiccommunications #crisiscommunications

Comms leaders are now the shock absorbers of the enterprise. 

I joined hundreds of Mixing Board, powered by Axios members who participated in the new Communicators Report by Axios and Gravity Research. The findings are telling. 

Communicators are now managing the collision of five defining forces:
 → Misinformation and disinformation (71%, cited as the top reputational risk)
 → Hyper-charged geopolitical and regulatory scrutiny
 → Rapid AI disruption
 → A splintered media landscape
 → Workforce anxiety

The role is shifting from chief storyteller to chief stability officer — keeping organizations aligned, focused and credible as external pressure intensifies.

At the same time, employee communications is becoming the backbone of trust, not a secondary channel. 

AI is no longer experimental in comms — it’s operational. And how transparently and responsibly it’s used now directly impacts credibility, inside and out.

Not surprisingly, Fortune 100 CEOs are also taking a more pragmatic stance on societal and political issues.

Thanks Eleanor Hawkins for compiling and sharing your thoughts via Mixing Board.

#CommunicationsLeadership #AIinComms #Reputation #CorporateCommunications

The “17, 70, 0” rule just reframed my view of the jobs vs AI debate.

In the latest Trending Communicator episode, Daniel Nestle’s guest, Chris Gee, reminded us that our economy still runs on people (their work, income and participation). 

Chris cited the 17, 70, 0 rule:
17 → $17T in U.S. consumer spend
70 → 70% of U.S. GDP depends on it
0 → what AI will spend 

What does this mean? The US economy depends upon people having jobs and incomes to buy things. AI and agents won't be these "consumers" of goods.  

My take? We need significant coordination across industries, governments, academia, and NGOs to reskill and upskill at scale. 

Every major tech shift has displaced jobs and created new ones — but the speed and scale of displacement this time really raises the stakes and legit concerns.

And for those just entering the workforce, I feel for them. We owe the next generation more pathways to secure roles, learn and grow. 

Check out the episode (details in comments).

#strategiccommunications #AIincomms #futureofwork #AIjobs

iResearch Services

iResearch Services is a global communications agency. We specialize in creating killer thought leadership programs to elevate your B2B brand. With our unique 4R Framework of Reputation, Revenue, Relationship, and Real-World Impact, backed by our Thought Society model, we bring fresh and relevant ideas to shape your narrative.

Don't miss out on the latest in B2B tech! We've got you covered with TechInformed our technology publication. We write about the latest tech news, analysis, and insights, so you'll always be in the know and one step ahead of the game. 

We're proud to say that our high-quality programs have allowed brands to see a 5x growth in leads and win awards. Plus, our activation campaigns have given you access to millions of views and thousands of downloads. That's millions of dollars in business opportunities and sustained client relationships. 

As CEO, I'm all about the results for our clients. I'm constantly advising clients on the latest marketing trends, helping them grow and develop their businesses. And let's not forget; my team's got your back, turning knowledge and insights into a measurable value and impact.

And when I'm not leading iResearch Services to greatness, I share my expertise on thought leadership, marketing, and current trends through my articles on Forbes and LinkedIn.

Chief Executive Officer

TechInformed

TechInformed is your go-to destination for all things tech! As a research-led and independent online media, we provide the latest tech news, analysis and unique insights that keep you informed and ahead of the curve. Whether you're a tech enthusiast or a B2B brand looking to reach your target audience, we've got you covered. With a focus on shaping the technology narrative for the future, we give you the inside scoop on the latest developments and trends in the tech world. We help you stay ahead of the competition and make informed decisions by keeping you informed. As a CEO,  I am responsible for the overall success and growth of the company. I work closely with my team to develop and execute strategies that drive our vision forward, fostering relationships with clients, partners and other stakeholders to expand our reach and impact. I also play a key role in shaping the company's direction, setting goals and objectives, and driving innovation to stay ahead of the rapidly evolving technology industry. Whether driving new product development, building strong relationships with our customers, or positioning the company as a thought leader, I aim to ensure TechInformed's continued success and growth.

Forbes Agency Council

Giving for Good Foundation

As a founding member of Giving for Good, a not-for-profit foundation, I have the privilege of being part of a fantastic team that makes a real difference in the lives of marginalized students and communities. Our goal is to empower these students through education, empowerment, employability, and the environment, and we've been doing just that by supporting over a dozen programs in the past few years.

With the support from our donors, we can extend a helping hand to those in need and make a tangible impact in the world. Whether supporting education, healthcare, soft-skill development, girl-child empowerment, or environmental initiatives, our mission is to address discrimination and destitution head-on.

My role involves a lot of strategic leadership and decision-making. I work closely with the rest of the leadership team to ensure that our mission is being fulfilled and that we're making a measurable impact.  I also play an essential role in raising awareness about GfG's work and helping to secure funding from partners, donors, and other supporters. Through my leadership and visibility, I aim to inspire others to get involved and support our mission, helping us to reach even more people and make an even greater impact.

Chief Operating Officer - Non Profit

Most people think thought leadership is just putting out content.

A blog here, a whitepaper there – maybe even a webinar.

But, insight-led thought leadership doesn’t just add to the noise. 

It shapes the conversation. 

↳ It influences how people think, make decisions & the action they take.

That’s why I started iResearch Services in 2008, and TechInformed in 2021.

Today, we’ve helped companies like KPMG, Accenture, and Visa create bold B2B Thought Leadership content that blends deep research, data science, and human imagination – turning insights into influence. 

At iResearch Services, our thought leadership follows the 4Rs framework:

✔️ Revenue: Does it drive measurable results?
✔️ Relationships: Are your peers quoting it?
✔️ Reputation: Does it elevate your brand?
✔️ Real-world impact: Does it spark change or action?

Because if your content isn’t doing this, it’s not thought leadership. 

It’s just more noise.

We help our clients generate demand, build influence & enhance credibility. 

Our process simplifies the heavy lifting for B2B leaders & top-tier companies with our five pillars of reporting:

Ideation. Advisory. Insights. Storytelling. And Activation.

—

I’m also the CEO of TechInformed.

↳ TechInformed was born out of a simple idea:

✔️ Tech buyers don’t just need news – they need insights that drive decisions.
✔️ Engagement & lead generation – connecting tech decision-makers with the right solutions.
✔️ Research-driven content – uncovering the latest industry trends.
✔️ Strategic insights – helping brands position themselves with authority.

—

As well as a Founding member of Giving for Good Foundation.

↳ A not-for-profit on a mission to ‘Empower through giving’ by providing equal opportunities to children and women from low-income communities since 2018.

—

📩 Drop me a message if you’re interested in how we can transform your business or want to learn more.

Yogesh Shah

Today, iResearch Services is a thought‑leadership partner to 100+ brands.

17 years ago, I had no clue what thought leadership was.

The industry has also changed a lot since then.
Tools, channels, audiences, they’re all different.

But if I had to go back, these are the 5 basics I would teach myself from day 1:

1/ Ideas before hype

Thought leadership only works when your insight stands on its own. Don’t wrap it in a pitch. Make the idea strong, then let the opportunity follow naturally.

2/ Research > Rhetoric

Trust comes from the data you bring to the table. Original research, experiments, evidence-backed points. That’s what makes people listen. 

3/ Treat it like a platform, not a campaign

One-off posts fade. An operating system lasts. Build frameworks, share learnings consistently, and make your ideas a living, evolving conversation.

4/ Transparency matters

Show your work, your assumptions, your methods. People respect honesty more than perfection. The clearer you are, the more your credibility grows.

5/ Proof in the practice

Ideas are nothing without results. Share examples, case studies, lessons learned. Show what worked, what didn’t, and how it can be applied. That’s how influence scales.

Whether it was 2008 or 2025, the fundamentals remained the same.

Do the work. Share it honestly. Keep showing up.
That’s what thought leadership is really about.

Nemanja says…

JSESSIONID

li_at

Talks about #marketing, #leadership, #technology, #humanitarian, and #thoughtleadership

How industry-leading businesses stay at the forefront of global conversation in Business & Tech | CEO at iResearch & TechInformed | Investor & Humanitarian

After guiding 21+ industries on thought leadership, I’ve found one thing that separates the leaders who last from the ones who fade fast:

→ The compounding effect of thought leadership.

But with time, they realise becoming a thought leader is a marathon, not a sprint.

You can’t:

Launch a single campaign
↳ Be a thought leader

Host a single webinar
↳ Be a thought leader

Publish non-researched insights
↳ Be a thought leader

It doesn’t work like that.

Thought leadership grows over time. Each insight, each piece of research, every time you show up consistently adds up.

And that’s when the real impact starts to show.

My 12-year-old came home last week and told me he used Flint AI to help with his Spanish assignment.

Not to cheat. To make sure he actually understood what he was writing.

He’d write a paragraph in Spanish, ask the AI if the grammar was correct and the ideas made sense, fix it, then move on.

It hit me: if a middle schooler is using AI as a thinking partner, so are our clients.

But something bothered me.

Most aren't using it to think deeper. They're using it to think faster.

They generate ideas, get quick validation, and hand off ‘finished thoughts’ that aren’t actually finished. But it's creating a new problem:

Idea inflation.

Leaders are producing more concepts than their teams can meaningfully execute. Practitioners are scrambling. And somewhere in the flood, the connection between them breaks.

After a decade helping brands like Thomson Reuters, BlackRock, Bloomberg, KPMG, Morgan Stanley, and Accenture shape their thought leadership strategies, I’m seeing the same pattern across the board. AI isn’t just speeding up work. It’s stretching the gap between leaders and the people expected to turn ideas into impact.

So I'm doing something about it.

I’m hosting a live session on December 9 with Francis Hintermann and Brittany Williams, MA, MBA. Francis offers insights from the front lines, and over 150 marketing leaders have already signed up.

This session is for content practitioners trying to make sense of AI’s rapid impact, so both sides can align on what actually works and scale quality in 2026, starting immediately.

You’ll learn how to use AI to deepen thinking, not just speed up output. And how to rebuild the human connection that makes content worth paying attention to.

Join us on Tuesday, December 9, 2025, at 11 AM ET.

Get the governance frameworks, upskilling strategies, and quality controls that separate AI leaders from laggards in 2026.

Link in comments below.

Accenture - Growth & Strategy, Global Managing Director of Accenture Research

SVP Editorial at iResearch Services and TechInformed

Thought leadership has been threatened ever since AI arrived.

Some serious threats people pointed to:

- Automation flooding inboxes
- AI writing blogs faster than humans
- Predictive engines deciding what your audience sees

But thought leadership doesn’t earn credibility with just words.

- It builds over time, through trust and consistency
- Deepens through perspective and reflection
- Grows from lived experiences

The best way to stay ahead is to use AI wisely, without losing the human touch.

Which is why, on December 9, I’m joining Francis Hintermann, GMD at Accenture, for a session on “Age of AI: Reinventing Thought Leadership in 2026.”

We’ll explore how teams are:

- Building governance to protect credibility
- Training humans, not just systems, to use AI responsibly
- Embedding transparency and authenticity in every output

AI is changing how we create and share ideas. But influence, insight, and trust still come from experience and reflection.

If you’d like to join me, register here: https://lnkd.in/dd2xKGre

Your 2026 demand gen funnel is already breaking.

Sales cycles that used to close in 90 days now take 6+ months. Your champion needs sign-off from 8 people instead of 4. And the budget you had locked in January? Gone by July with no warning.

And most demand gen leaders are planning like it's 2023.

I've watched teams scramble when their funnel breaks. They don't see it coming because they never stress-tested for disruption.

That's why this webinar matters.

Liz Wood from MOI Global, Matt Levine from LeadScale, and Madelaine Oppert from TechInformed are breaking down exactly how to protect your pipeline when everything tightens.

You'll learn:

• Where your funnel breaks first and how to spot it early
• What to protect, pause, or pivot when budgets move
• How to diversify channels so one shock doesn't flatten you
• The exact language to use with leadership when defending your spend

This isn't theory. It's a resilience playbook you can use in your 2026 planning right now.

If you're heading into planning season, asking "how do I keep pipeline predictable when nothing else is?" this is your answer.

Registration link in the first comment.

Spots are filling. Don't wait.

VP of GTM / Global VP of Demand & Paid Media Shaping Strategy. Driving Performance. Coaching teams. Leading Innovation.

Commercial President (N. America) | LEADSCALE GROUP

Bridging the gap for B2B brands - build authority, credibility & influence through data-backed thought leadership | SVP of Global Marketing | Global Branding & Communication Strategist

I used to think Google was done.

Every investor I talked to had the same take: ChatGPT will eat search. AI answers everything now. Why would anyone click through anymore?

Then I heard Liz Reid speak at WSJ. She runs Google Search. 20+ years at the company.

Her perspective flipped my thinking completely.

She explained something I'd never considered: when you make it easier to get answers, people don't stop searching. They ask more questions.

Google proved this with their B2B search data. Try this: next time you hit a complex question, note how many follow-up searches you run. You'll see it. One answer sparks three more questions. That's the pattern. Lower friction doesn't kill depth. It creates more of it.

AI works the same way. Lower the barrier, the pie grows.

But here's the lesson that matters for your content strategy:

AI answers the surface stuff fast. But for anything that actually matters, people still want depth. They want the practitioner who ran the experiment. The researcher with new data. The expert who connects dots AI can't see.

They're not delegating business strategy or major decisions to a bot. They want human perspective. Original thinking. Real expertise.

What's changing is where they go. Forums over articles. Short video over long reads. But they still click through when something matters.

Here's what this means for thought leadership:

Anyone can generate content now. But original insights? Proprietary data? Fresh perspectives backed by real work? That's what breaks through.

When you publish original research, you're not competing with ChatGPT. You're creating the source material AI references. You become the authority users click through to find.

Here's how to use this shift:

Stop publishing what AI can answer.
↳ If ChatGPT can generate your take in 10 seconds, it's not worth publishing.

Run original research in your space.
↳ Survey your market. Interview practitioners. Uncover data no one else has.

Share the methodology, not just findings.
↳ Show your work. Let people see how you got there.

Connect insights AI misses.
↳ Use your experience to conclude only a practitioner would see.

Build for depth, not breadth.
↳ You don't need the biggest audience anymore. You need the right fit for someone's exact question.

The companies winning thought leadership now aren't the loudest. They're the ones doing work AI can't replicate. Original research. Proprietary frameworks. Real practitioner insights.

That's the moat.

What's one surface-level topic you've stopped creating content about because AI handles it now?

No alternative text description for this image

A lot of people are trusting AI to make smarter choices.

But they’re ignoring the biggest trap: 

→ Biases hidden deep inside the system.

The data you give AI and the way it’s trained can subtly influence its decisions, often before you even notice.

Because it never questions the data. 

It simply reflects what it’s shown. If the world’s flawed, so is the AI.

So if you’re building, investing, or just using AI, it’s not enough to trust the tech. 

You need to test for bias.
Question the data.
Be deliberate about the outcomes you’re creating.

Because ignoring bias doesn’t make it go away, it amplifies it.

Everyone's racing to automate research. They're making an expensive mistake.

I've been watching the global insights industry (now $153B across 110+ countries) move decisively toward passive methods in market research. Self-service platforms and digital analytics are leading the expansion. Automated tracking. Self-administered surveys. Digital observation that happens without human interaction.

It's faster. It's cheaper. It scales.

But something gets lost when you remove the human element entirely.

Active methods with human interaction still deliver something passive approaches can't replicate. You get context automation misses. You catch the pause before an answer. You ask the follow-up question that changes everything.

Focus groups reveal nuance technology glosses over. In-depth interviews uncover the "why" behind the behavior your analytics spotted. Ethnography shows you what people actually do, not just what they say or what your tracking suggests.

The best research strategies don't pick a side.

Companies winning right now know when to use each approach. They use automated tracking to spot patterns at scale. Then they deploy human interaction to understand what those patterns actually mean.

When you're building research-backed narratives for media, the methodology matters more than you think. Research with transparent methods gets 3x more media pickup than data dumps without clear sourcing.

The transformation isn't making human-mediated research obsolete. It's making strategic research design non-negotiable.

You need to know which tool solves which problem. When automation gives you what you need. When you need a human in the loop.

If your research can't explain why it chose its methods, you're not doing research. You're just collecting data.

The industry moved toward passive methods because they work. But they don't work for everything. Especially when you're trying to build thought leadership that cuts through, earns media coverage, and gives your sales team credible ammunition.

Are you balancing automation with human insight, or betting everything on one approach?

Spotify turned boring tutorials into actual playlists.

They called it Tunetorials. Instead of boring how-to videos, they matched features to songs that teach the same lesson.

Want to learn about collaborative playlists? There's a song for that.

Curious about Spotify's AI DJ? Yep, there's a track.

Here's why this matters for B2B marketers:

Most companies treat education like a chore. Dense PDFs. Long webinars. Feature dumps that nobody reads.

Spotify flipped it. They made learning feel native to their product. Music teaching music.

But there's something deeper happening here.

Tunetorials works because it exploits format shift. When you change the medium, you change the attention contract. People expect to read a tutorial for 2 minutes then bounce. They expect to listen to music for hours.

Spotify didn't ask for more attention. They borrowed it from an activity people already do.

That's the unlock. You're not competing for new time. You're embedding into existing behavior.

Then there's the flow state advantage. Music creates a curated experience that moves you from track to track without friction. Each song teaches one micro-concept. No cognitive overload. No decision fatigue about what to learn next.

The playlist structure does the sequencing work. You just press play and absorb.

Compare that to your standard knowledge base where every click is a choice, every page is a commitment, and every feature lives in isolation.

Spotify also nailed modern brand signaling. Tunetorials doesn't just teach features. It proves Spotify understands culture. It shows they get how people actually want to consume information in 2025.

That cultural fluency builds trust faster than any feature list ever could. That's how you build habit loops around learning.

Three ideas you can steal:

1. Match your medium to your message. If you're a consulting firm selling transformation, publish the actual frameworks you used to fix a supply chain. If you're an audit practice, show your risk assessment model in action. Let the format be the proof of concept. The medium should make your expertise feel inevitable, not effortful.

2. Turn insights into frameworks people can finish in one flow state. Spotify didn't explain features. They created an experience people wanted to complete. Micro-learning isn't about making things shorter. It's about making progress feel frictionless. Each piece should build momentum toward the next.

3. Make your expertise feel like discovery, not a lecture. Thought leadership isn't about showing how smart you are. It's about making complex ideas so clear that people feel smarter after reading them. Design for repeat consumption. Give people a reason to come back that isn't just obligation.

The best thought leadership doesn't feel like marketing. It feels like discovery.

And it lives where your audience already spends their time.

What's your industry's version of Tunetorials?

taplio

The Battle

Ben Trounson

Yogesh Shah

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance ScoreBen Trounson's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreYogesh Shah's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

taplio

The Battle

Ben Trounson

Yogesh Shah

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Ben Trounson's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreYogesh Shah's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Performance ScoreBen Trounson's LinkedIn Performance