Trust is back on the agenda and PR is perfectly placed to lead

Award-winning B2B tech PR agency EC-PR's managing director, Lorraine Emmett, analyses the latest research in her regular column.

This edition explores Forrester's 2026 Predictions: B2B Marketing, Sales and Product report, based on research across B2B marketing, sales and product leaders – examining how trust, human expertise and the adoption of generative AI are reshaping B2B marketing priorities, and the implications for PR and communications.

Key findings:

• Human expertise is expected to rival generative AI in appeal as buyers seek deeper validation
• Predicts 75% of B2B enterprises will increase budgets for influencer relations
• Ungoverned genAI in commercial applications will cost B2B companies more than $10 billion

PRmoment's Ben Smith spoke with Lorraine Emmett to explore the findings.

What does the report reveal about the current state of B2B marketing?

Lorraine Emmett (LE): Forrester's central argument is that B2B leaders raced to adopt generative AI in 2025, often without the guardrails or readiness to realise its full potential. The result, according to the report, was a surge in experimentation in 2025, but also rising risk, buyer scepticism and mounting pressure to prove real business impact. The report is explicit in that 2026 will demand a more disciplined, evidence-driven approach.

For me, that framing sets the tone for everything that follows. When buyers become sceptical and pressure to prove impact intensifies, the organisations that have invested in credibility and reputation have a head start. That is what PR builds. It is not a coincidence that trust is the thread running through every prediction in this report.

The report predicts that proof of success will overtake brand reputation as the leading non-technical driver in purchase decisions. What does that mean for strategic comms & PR?

LE: Forrester is clear on this. As buying groups increasingly rely on external influencers (which the report describes as analysts, subject matter experts and luminaries) for fact-based insights, proof of success is predicted to displace brand reputation as the primary non-technical factor in purchase decisions.

Forrester’s findings raise the strategic value of B2B PR, but changes its job description. Storytelling alone no longer moves buyers. What moves them is evidence, documented outcomes, customer validation, data that demonstrates real word results. PR’s job is to ensure our clients and internal teams are building that body of proof, and that it is included in the places that matter: analyst reports, media coverage and the peer networks buyers use to help with their decision-making.

It pulls proof of success and advocacy into the PR orbit, because the most persuasive proof is co‑created with existing customers, and surfaced in independent environments. PR must focus on real evidence of results (case studies, data, customer quotes, analyst validation) that can be seen and believed in the channels buyers and their influencers use. 

Instead of being judged mainly on “how much coverage we got”, PR should be judged on “how much credible proof was included in the stories we’ve told". Forrester is clear on this. As buying groups increasingly rely on external influencers, analysts, subject matter experts and luminaries for fact-based insights, proof of success is predicted to displace brand reputation as the primary non-technical factor in purchase decisions. Proof of success stops being a sales function and becomes a core PR asset.

Forrester predicts that as buyers grow more reliant on AI-generated information, they will increasingly turn to human experts to validate what they're being told. What does that mean for communications teams?

LE: The data here is striking. Forrester reports that in 2025, 30% of all buyers viewed genAI tools as a meaningful interaction during the final commitment stage of their purchase, compared to just 17% who said the same about interacting with product experts. 

But Forrester expects this to shift. As AI gives buyers more information, and misinformation, they will turn to experts to validate insights and answer complex questions. Forrester highlights that of the interactions business buyers have during the buying process, most cite interactions with product experts as meaningful. Forrester predicts these interactions will move earlier into the buying process, although I remain to be convinced on this point – people like their anonymity. 

For PR professionals, the distrust AI has generated has delivered us with clear direction: the spokespeople we develop, the thought leadership programmes we build, the expert positioning we create, these are the assets that fill the trust gap AI cannot close. Our job is to ensure those human voices are credible, visible and present at the right moments in the buying journey. That means elevating credible spokespeople, arming them with hard proof of outcomes and placing their perspectives in the independent channels your buying groups already use. Then, when buyers sanity-check what AI tells them, they will land on you rather than your competitors.

The report warns that ungoverned AI in commercial applications could cost B2B companies more than $10 billion. What are the implications for communications?

LE: Forrester’s prediction is stark. It finds that: 75% of sales reps already use AI-enabled sales tools, half of B2B marketing decision-makers are experimenting with or using generative AI, and 53% of product leaders are applying it in product development. This surge of powerful but untested capability, combined with weak AI skills, is expected to trigger mistakes that wipe out more than $10 billion through falling stock prices, legal settlements, and regulatory fines. 

Forrester’s prescription is clear: organisations must raise employees’ understanding of how AI works and equip them to spot bad outputs before they are acted on.

For communications teams, this is now a core part of the reputation brief. When AI-generated content is inaccurate or misleading, the reputational damage lands on the organisations we represent – and on us as stewards of their reputation. That’s why we must push for safeguards, training, and governance around every use of AI in communications.