The B2B Comms Reset: Be Brave, Be Bold, Be Human

The speed of disruption in the tech sector has forced tech comms professionals into a state of “strategic paralysis.” The rise of AI and geopolitical shifts have meant that the old playbooks no longer apply, and the new rules aren’t yet defined.

So, how do we navigate the new reality of B2B tech comms?

To find a path forward, we sat down with two industry heavyweights during a webinar on 12th February 2026 to discuss how leaders can move past this paralysis to drive strategic advantage.

Our first guest was MK Beck, who leads marketing for Oxford Ionics, a UK leader in quantum computing that was recently acquired for over a billion dollars. Having previously served as Head of Marketing for the Americas at cybersecurity giant Darktrace, she has successfully steered marketing and comms for two of the UK’s most significant technology exits in the last decade.

We were also joined by Alex Voica, who headscorporate affairs and policy for the world’s leading AI video platform, Synthesia. His background spans PR and policy roles at Meta and Ocado, and he is a prominent voice on responsible AI. 

Here are five key shifts defining the B2B comms reset in 2026 and beyond.

1. Navigating content overload

The B2B tech industry is overloaded with mediocre content since AI can now produce generic material in seconds. The true challenge today for B2B tech businesses is not producing enough content, but rather producing content that is worth a reader's attention.

MK Beck explained that this saturation has fundamentally changed how audiences value information:

"I think we’ve really seen over the past year... that there is just content overload in this industry. We have way too much content that we’re putting out there, and it is no longer reasonable to expect people to trade their contact information to read all of this mediocre content.

Moving into Oxford Ionics and quantum computing, we made a conscious decision to put out fewer but higher-quality pieces of content. We leave it all very open and transparent; we don’t gate anything on our website now."

In complex fields like deep tech, trust is built through openness. To act as a "trust custodian" for your brand, you have to stop acting like a gatekeeper and start being transparent.

2. Moving from B2B to P2P (People-to-People)

Modern comms should stop treating businesses as abstract entities and start thinking in terms of P2P (People-to-People) communication. Alex Voica argues that identifying specific individuals to act as spokespeople is far more effective than relying on a nameless corporate brand.

As Alex put it:

"Rather than have this kind of faceless, nameless sort of entity telling you that AI video is the best thing in the world, actually having some individuals at the company – that you could watch and have some level of emotional connection with – is far more effective."

MK Beck noted that this requires a move away from purely centralised corporate channels. She explained that while corporate pages still have a place, there is a distinct shift toward individual influencers within the company sharing their own thought leadership:

"I think absolutely we’re seeing this shift towards individual influencers within the company going out onto social media platforms... and sharing thought leadership. And it’s just a different perspective than just the founder or just the VP of Product. You’re getting the almost grassroots perspective of ‘this is what it’s like to build this technology’.

This "grassroots perspective" – hearing directly from the engineers and researchers building the tech – is seen as a more authentic voice than a polished statement from a founder.

Spokespeople who are true trend-setters and disruptors will often jump the gun and speak out without waiting for official permission. 

To succeed, especially as a startup, comms teams must be agile to this and less risk-averse.

3. Why traditional media matters for AI search

There is a common misconception that traditional PR is losing ground to social media. In reality, traditional media is more important than ever for two reasons: trust and indexing.

Alex emphasised how large language models like ChatGPT and Perplexity get their information from high-quality, Tier 1 news sources. If a major publication covers your innovation, that coverage becomes a key source for AI search results. 

Beyond AI search, Tier 1 publications remain the most effective way to reach the C-suite. Most executives still rely on traditional media to shape their perspectives:

"If you’re an executive and you’re working for a chemical company or a retail company, you still start your morning with the Wall Street Journal, the Financial Times."

Tier 1 media provides essential third-party validation that newer media forms cannot yet replicate. This validation is critical for reaching key stakeholders like investors and C-suite leaders within your customer base.

4. Using AI for efficiency, not storytelling

Both MK and Alex were clear on where to draw the line with AI. Use it for research and efficiency, but keep it away from your storytelling.

Where AI excels:

• Research-based tasks
• Automating administrative work
• Personality prompting as a sceptical reporter to stress test a press release

Where AI fails:

• Generating unique insights
• Creative storytelling.

In a world flooded with generic AI text, human grit and unique perspectives are your only remaining differentiators. 

As MK stated: "I just personally haven’t found AI to be capable of generating unique storytelling."

5. Ditching Vanity Metrics

It’s become increasingly important for comms teams to demonstrate their value through KPIs and metrics. This is particularly true for tech companies, which are typically more data-driven than other industries.

However, unlike sales or marketing metrics, “effective comms” varies wildly depending on who you speak to and the company they work for. 

Alex advocates for separating comms (which he sees as part of Corporate Affairs) from marketing (which he sees as an organisation’s key driver of Growth, primarily through lead generation). This avoids "incentivising bad behaviour," such as putting too much emphasis on the volume of media hits rather than the more subjective value of each of those hits.

Alex framed an example of this bad behaviour: “Instead of getting an article in Bloomberg, I’ll get five articles in Tier 2 or Tier 3 publications, because ‘big number means better’, right? Whereas in reality, that article in Bloomberg is probably going to do a hundred times more for my company than 50 articles in a Tier 3 publication.”

MK added that the value of a high-level piece of media coverage can go further still – it could be shared with your sales team, who can then use it to re-engage prospects if they haven’t reached out in a while.

Instead, successful B2B tech comms teams are always aligning their comms goals to the broader goals of the business. 

As MK noted, “conversations fail when it feels like comms is just in its own world doing its own thing... and not being tied to a specific business outcome."

The Bottom Line: Be Brave, Be Bold, Be Human 

The panel’s final advice for navigating 2026 was clear: To move past strategic paralysis, you must embrace a new, more flexible playbook.

Being brave starts with how you work behind the scenes. As Alex explains:

"I’ve stopped doing planning. But not in the sort of, you know, 'don’t plan at all' way. When I was at Meta, we used to spend... four months a year on planning. It was just such a massive effort to put together a plan. But by the time you finish the plan, often the kind of world around you had changed quite significantly.

Accepting the fact that you’re not going to be able to plan for everything or control the agenda... has been actually quite liberating. It’s allowed us to move a lot faster and in some cases be even ahead of the news, which built an image of the company as very innovative and in tune with the industry."

Being bold means being visible. Both MK and Alex emphasised that comms professionals must step out from behind the scenes and "get into the arena". This means sharing your own industry perspectives - whether through a newsletter, LinkedIn posts, or quick video content - to build your own authority alongside your brand.

Finally, be human. In a world flooded with generic, AI-generated content, genuine authenticity is the only way to cut through the noise.

Our latest whitepaper, Be Brave, Be Bold, Be Human, includes extra insights from MK and Alex, and dives deeper into these shifts with additional data and expanded interviews.

You can also watch the full webinar recording here