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The AI moment isn't coming — it's already compressing organizations, collapsing the operational layer of comms teams, and forcing leaders to rethink what a communications professional actually is. David (Dave) Karle spent two decades in tech, including a long tenure at Microsoft and a role as VP of Strategic Communications at PAX 8, before turning his attention full-time to what AI means for the future of communications work. He's developed a framework he calls the "check mark shaped future" — a structured way to think through the short-term disruption of AI and robotics alongside the longer-term surge he believes is inevitable. In this episode of The Narrative, Dave and host Brett go deep on how comms leaders should be thinking, communicating, and positioning themselves right now, while everything is still in flux.
This conversation isn't about adapting gracefully. It's about recognizing that the tools, the org structures, the specialist roles, and even the mission of a comms department are all being renegotiated at once — and that leaders who treat this moment as optional are already falling behind.
Topics Discussed
The check mark shaped future: why Dave believes AI will drive a near-term downturn followed by a massive upturn — and what that means for comms strategy right now
The collapse of the operational layer: how companies like Microsoft and Coinbase are flattening mid-career and late-career roles, and why comms sits squarely in the crosshairs
How to communicate a RIF with integrity: the internal and external playbook, from the moment you walk out of the CEO meeting to reassuring customers and partners
The rise of the comms generalist: why the era of narrow specialization is ending and what it looks like to be a utility player in an AI-enabled org
Building AI harnesses for comms: why prompt engineering and agent design are now among the most powerful skills a communicator can develop
Holding two realities at once: the challenge of spinning the existing business flywheel through comms while simultaneously building toward an AI-enabled future
Comms Lessons for Founders and Leaders
Humanity in a RIF is a comms strategy, not an afterthought. Dave points to Starbucks and T-Mobile giving employees 90 days' notice as examples of layoffs that were better received precisely because they led with transparency. The lesson: "The sooner that you can disclose internally, I would always say better." Giving people time to prepare isn't just the right thing to do — it protects relationships with customers and partners who need reassurance that the business is stable.
Specialists are becoming a liability; generalists are becoming the leverage point. For years, comms teams were organized around narrow lanes — writers who don't do slides, video editors who don't write scripts. Dave argues that AI has fundamentally changed this. Because AI raises the floor for every function, a generalist with a good AI workflow can now outperform a narrow specialist. Comms leaders who haven't started cross-training their teams — and themselves — are building toward an organizational model that's already obsolete.
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