Human voices: The antidote to information overload

Context is everything

The current business environment is volatile and uncertain, making context essential. And while AI companies claim to help leaders process information faster, 88 per cent of decision-makers say AI increases the risk of missing nuance or context.

Context isn’t just another data point. It comes from experience, an understanding of how an organisation operates, knowledge of an industry or simply knowing which question to ask next. Context may not radically change the message, but it adds a level of depth that makes the final output more grounded in real experience.

For marketers and brands, the implication is clear. Expertise should not just sit behind the content, it should be visible alongside it.

Let your people strengthen your ideas

Brands have traditionally relied on a corporate voice to convey authority. But the truth is that Sixty-five percent of decision-makers favour a more human, less formal tone over an intellectual one. 

When someone encounters an idea on LinkedIn, at an event or in a newsletter, the person delivering it can be as important as the logo behind them. A credible expert brings their experience, personality and point of view with them. Those qualities make an idea easier to interrogate, discuss and respond to.

That doesn’t mean finding the most senior executive available and putting their name on a report.

The right person is the one who has genuine insight on the subject, a perspective worth hearing and a way of communicating that feels natural. They should be able to add something that the brand voice alone cannot.

This can be challenging for marketers, because it means they need to resist the temptation to polish every trace of humanity away. This doesn’t mean unprofessional,  just more approachable.

Perfectly constructed corporate communications can struggle to create the same connection as someone speaking openly about what they have learned, what they disagree with or what still concerns them.

Make your thought leadership worth trusting

For marketers, the answer isn’t simply to create more human content. It’s to build thought leadership that combines rigorous ideas with the people, experiences and conversations that make those ideas meaningful.

As AI makes information easier to produce and harder to navigate, those human signals become more valuable. The brands that earn influence will be those that give decision-makers evidence they can trust, context they can apply, perspectives that challenge their thinking and credible voices they want to hear from. These are the four dimensions our research identifies as shaping how leaders decide what deserves their attention and trust.

And when that trust is established, the impact goes far beyond engagement. Trusted insight helps leaders validate decisions, challenge assumptions, act with greater confidence, share ideas with their networks and bring the strongest thinking into the boardroom.

Explore the full New Dimensions of Influence research to discover what business leaders are looking for from the ideas, brands and voices they trust.