Blog post
February 5, 2025

CEOs under the lens: How media and social conversations shape perceptions of business leaders

Corporate leaders have always been a focal point for media and public attention, but recent trends highlight how CEOs and their actions dominate headlines and fuel social media debates. Whether it’s governance scandals, strategic innovations, or personal controversies, these leaders are increasingly seen as the embodiment of their organisations. This phenomenon has significant implications, not only for corporate reputations but also for the way businesses communicate with their stakeholders.


Companies making headlines often have CEOs at the centre of pivotal events. High-profile scandals, like Woolworths’ former CEO Brad Banducci’s reported question avoidance at a senate inquiry, and PwC’s tax leaks, underscore the strong link between leadership and the news cycle.


Qantas faced scrutiny over Alan Joyce’s ties to Prime Minister Albanese amid Qatar Airways’ expansion bid, drawing political coverage from outlets like SBS, ABC, and The Saturday Paper. Mainstream TV focuses on CEO-led product launches, while investigative outlets examine scandals, fundraising, and controversial strategies like Tesla’s ‘walled gardens’. Niche platforms like Renew Economy explore CEOs’ strategic decisions in emerging industries, such as Elon Musk’s push for Tesla’s battery dominance. Local outlets, like Newcastle Weekly, highlight CEOs’ roles in community impact, as seen with NRL’s Andrew Abdo and the Beanie for Brain Cancer Round. These stories reflect how media attention pivots from corporate achievements to the personal and political dimensions of CEO influence.

On social media, controversies can quickly gain traction, often turning CEOs into symbols of broader debates. This was evident in the viral moments surrounding former Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla’s comments, where he likened disinformation on social media to historical persecution. Meanwhile, Coles CEO Leah Weckert found herself at the centre of a storm when a clipped moment from her Four Corners interview spread rapidly on social platforms. The clip reminds corporations of the increasing need to control the narrative in a world where moments of vulnerability can quickly be amplified. While, scrutiny over PM Albanese’s private meetings with CEOs, including BlackRock’s Larry Fink, raises concerns on social media about the growing overlap between corporate influence and government decision-making. CEOs must navigate the power of social platforms where clipped, emotionally charged moments can swiftly reshape reputations and spark widespread debate.

The focus on CEOs as catalysts in an organisation’s successes, with concepts like the ‘glass cliff,’ alongside media coverage of personal aspects—such as the scrutiny over Jane Hrdlicka’s $17 million property portfolio—blurs the line between business leadership and celebrity, highlighting how leadership narratives are shaped by sensationalism and bias.  As such, leaders and organisations are held to an increasingly high standard, requiring a blend of transparency, accountability, and proactive narrative control.

Interested in learning more? Email us at info@isentia.com

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As communications professionals look toward 2026 planning sessions, one question dominates the conversation - How can we use AI in a safe, scalable, and sustainable way?

Behind this question often lies the hope for an "AI easy button"—a one-click solution for complex measurement challenges. However, as discussed in our recent APAC webinar, the real opportunity lies not in automating old metrics, but in architecting a smarter era of measurement.

Hosted by Russ Horell, Isentia’s Chief Revenue Officer for APAC, the session featured deep dives from two industry leaders who've contributed immensely to research and planning: Ngaire Crawford (Director of Insights, ANZ) and Prashant Saxena (VP of Research and Insights, SEA). Together, they unpacked the transition from using insights and converting them into strategic, measurable storytelling.

Here are the key takeaways from the discussion.

1. From experimentation to transparency

If 2024 and 2025 were the years of "playing in the sandbox," 2026 is set to be the year of transparency.

Ngaire Crawford emphasized that while AI is incredible at summarising data and recognising patterns, it does not automatically generate insight. As we integrate these tools, the focus must shift to methodological integrity—understanding the source data, the structure, and the limitations of the models we use.

"Models are really good pattern finders. But they don't necessarily set what good looks like, or understand the consequences of being wrong. And the antidote to that is always going to be good design." – Ngaire Crawford

2. "More data, better insight" is the misconception

A major misconception remains that feeding AI endless amounts of data will naturally result in better answers. In reality, without the right framework, more data often just creates more noise.

Prashant Saxena warns against the "sameness" that AI can generate. If everyone uses the same models on the same big data sets without specific objectives, they will get similar, generic answers. The role of the insights professional is evolving from descriptive reporting to strategic storytelling—using judgment to break through the "echo chamber" of AI validation.

3. Kill, keep, create: redefining our metrics

The panelists played a game of "keep, kill, create" to determine the future of measurement metrics.

  • Kill: The panel was unanimous in moving away from vanity metrics. Ngaire called for the end of Cumulative Reach, noting it is a biased metric that offers no context. Prashant agreed, suggesting that AVEs (Advertising Value Equivalents) need to be finally left behind.
  • Keep: Share of Voice remains useful as a foundational benchmark (a "census" of market presence), provided it is redefined to measure the share of a specific idea or perception rather than just volume
  • Create: The future lies in Authenticity Metrics. Prashant argued that while reputation is a downstream outcome, authenticity is the upstream outcome that drives it.

"Authenticity is more upstream, as reputation and trust are more downstream... That's an authentic ritual on a day-to-day basis, which leads to reputation." – Prashant Saxena

4. The "home field advantage" for communicators

Despite the technical buzz surrounding AI, the panel argued that communications professionals hold a distinct advantage. "Prompt engineering" is, at its core, a language and communication skill.

The future doesn't necessarily belong to the most technical users, but to the most articulate—those who can clearly define an outcome, ask the right questions, and deconstruct language to get the best result from a model.

Trust your judgment

As we move into 2026, the advice from our experts is to not let AI replace your strategic point of view.

  • Have an opinion: Don't wait for metrics to be imposed on you. Go into conversations knowing what you want to measure and why.
  • Pause before you prompt: As Prashant advised, "Paper before a chatbot.". Define your strategy and objectives on paper, using your human experience and judgment, before turning to AI to execute the work.

By combining the speed of AI with the nuance of human strategy, communicators can finally build the sophisticated measurement systems they have always wanted.


Interested in viewing the whole recording? Watch our webinar here.

Alternatively, contact our team to learn more insights into meaningful measurement, KPIs and communicating using the right dataset.

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Key takeaways from the Future of Measurement webinar

Our recent webinar explores what the future of measurement in 2026 looks like and what brands must do to scale in this AI era.

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The media landscape is accelerating. In an era where influence is ephemeral and every angle demands instant comprehension, PR and communications professionals require more than generic technology—they need intelligence engineered for their specific challenges.

Isentia is proud to introduce Lumina, a groundbreaking suite of intelligent AI tools. Lumina has been trained from the ground up on the complex workflows and realities of modern communications and public affairs. It is explicitly designed to shift professionals from passive media monitoring back into the role of strategic leaders and pacesetters. 

“The PR, Comms and Public Affairs sectors have been experimenting with AI, but most tools have not been built with their real challenges in mind.” said Joanna Arnold, CEO of Pulsar Group

“Lumina is different; it is the first intelligence suite designed around how narratives actually form today, combining human credibility signals with machine-level analysis. It helps teams understand how stories evolve, filter out noise and respond with context and confidence to crises and opportunities.”

Setting a new standard for PR intelligence

Lumina is centered on empowering, not replacing, the human element of communications strategy. This suite is purpose-built to help PR, Comms, and Public Affairs professionals significantly improve productivity, enhance message clarity, and facilitate early risk detection.

Lumina enables communicators to:

  • Understand & Interpret: Move beyond basic alerts to strategically map the trajectory and spread of narrative evolution.
  • Focus & Personalise: Achieve the clarity necessary to execute strategic action before critical moments pass.
  • Execute & Monitor: Rapidly deploy strategy firmly rooted in real-time, actionable insight.

Get a demo today: Stories & Perspectives module

We are launching the Lumina suite by making our first module immediately available: Stories & Perspectives.

In the current fragmented, multi-channel media environment, communications professionals need to be able to instantly perceive not just how a story is growing, but also how it is being perceived across different stakeholder groups.

Stories & Perspectives organizes raw media mentions into clustered, cohesive Stories, and the Perspectives that exist within each, reflecting distinct media, audience, and public affairs angles. This unique functionality allows users to:

  • Rise above the noise: Instantly identify which high-level topics are gaining momentum or fading from attention.
  • Get to the detail, fast: Uncover the influential voices, niche communities, and specific channels actively shaping the narrative.
  • Catch the pivot point: Precisely identify the moment a story shifts—from a strategic opportunity to a reputation risk—or when a new key opinion former begins guiding the conversation.

"Media isn’t a stream of mentions," said Kyle Lindsay, Head of Product at Pulsar Group. "But rather a living system of stories shaped by competing perspectives. When you can see those structures clearly, you gain the ability to understand issues as they form, anticipate how they’ll evolve, and act with precision. That’s what we mean when we talk about AI built for communicators, and that's what an off-the-shelf LLM can't give you."

The Lumina Roadmap: AI tools for the future of comms

The launch of Stories & Perspectives is the first release of many. Over the upcoming months, we will systematically roll out the full Lumina roadmap, introducing a comprehensive set of AI tools engineered to handle every phase of the communications lifecycle.

The full Lumina suite will soon incorporate:

  • Curated media summaries: AI-driven daily summaries customized specifically to the priorities of senior leadership, highlighting only the most relevant stories.
  • Reputation analysis: Advanced measurement tracking how critical themes like ethics, innovation, and leadership are statistically shaping corporate perception.
  • Press release & media relations assistant: Tools designed to accelerate content creation and craft hyper-focused, personalized pitches that reach the precise contacts faster.
  • Predictive intelligence layer: Technology engineered to track and anticipate story momentum and strategic change before the window of opportunity closes.
  • Intelligent agents: Background agents continuously scanning all media channels for emerging key spokespeople and previously undetected reputation risks.
  • Enhanced audio, broadcast & crisis detection: Complete, real-time oversight of all channels—including audio and broadcast—enabling rapid context building and optimal crisis response delivery.


Want to harness the power of Lumina AI for your PR, Comms, or Public Affairs team? .

Complete the form below to register your interest.

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Blog
Announcing Lumina: The purpose-built AI suite for PR, Comms, and Public Affairs

An intelligent suite of AI tools trained on the language, workflows, and realities of modern public relations and communications.

Ready to get started?

Get in touch or request a demo.