Fake it till you make it? Thought leadership’s got trust issues

There is a strange contradiction at the heart of modern communications. It has never been easier to publish something polished, yet it is becoming harder to prove that the thinking behind it is genuinely yours.

AI can organise ideas, sharpen language and repurpose material at a speed that would have seemed impossible only a few years ago. But it has also filled our feeds with more content than anyone can consume. On self-publishing platforms such as LinkedIn, almost anyone can create a confident-sounding opinion or carefully-crafted personal brand before breakfast.

But with the rise of AI, we have to be aware that audiences now have new reasons to question the origin, authenticity and expertise behind what they consume.

Trust me, I’m a thought leader

The challenge for brands is less about how to share their expertise and more about helping audiences recognise it as trustworthy.

High-quality thought leadership already plays an important role in that process. The 2025 Edelman-LinkedIn B2B Thought Leadership Impact Report found that 65% of target decision-makers trusted thought leadership more than conventional marketing materials when assessing a company’s capabilities. But audiences will increasingly want to get to know the people behind those ideas too. A written perspective can show what an expert thinks; hearing them speak can show how they think.

Put somebody on a conference stage, invite them onto a podcast or ask them a question in a live interview and you see something different. Can they explain a complex issue clearly? Can they respond when the conversation takes an unexpected turn? Can they defend their position or acknowledge nuance?

These moments reveal judgement, experience and conviction, allowing audiences to assess credibility for themselves. Over the next decade, brands that cannot put credible experts into public conversations will struggle to build authority, however polished their content looks.

Can your experts handle the hot seat?

Events are an obvious place for that to happen. Businesses already value them as places to meet prospects, strengthen relationships and generate leads. The IPA’s Q2 2026 Bellwether Report found that events were the leading category for increased marketing investment, recording a net balance of +11.0% of respondents investing more in the sector.

Brands will spend heavily getting their logo into the room, then underinvest in the people whose expertise could give audiences a reason to remember it. The focus stays on meetings booked, badges scanned and conversations held on the stand. Speaking and content can feel like useful additions rather than part of the central strategy, leaving a bigger opportunity untapped.

Events give audiences the chance to encounter a brand and its people first-hand, rather than only through carefully-prepared messaging. That direct interaction can have a powerful effect on trust: Freeman’s 2025 Trust Report found that 95% of working professionals trusted a brand more after attending one of its events.

A keynote or panel is one way to build that trust, but it is not the only one. An executive might join a podcast at the venue. A specialist could offer commentary in a short video interview. A team could use event conversations to shape an article afterwards. The point is not to turn every interaction into content, but to recognise when genuine expertise is being shared and ensure its impact does not end when the room empties.

Don’t let your big moment die in the room

Cannes Lions is perhaps the clearest example. For one week, much of the advertising and media industry gathers in the same place. Alongside the official programme, fringe events, podcasts and interviews are happening everywhere. The brands getting the most from Cannes use that concentration of people and ideas as a catalyst for content.

One strong contribution can become a stage conversation, an interview, several short video clips, a social discussion and a longer article. Each format reaches people differently and adds another layer to the expert’s credibility. And if someone does pick up on the same content in a couple (or more) different formats or places, that’s no bad thing. It merely serves to help drive home the message.

This almost requires a creator mindset: recognising those valuable moments, planning for capture and thinking about distribution before the event begins. The stage appearance should never be the final product; it is the source material for a wider conversation and content amplification.

AI can accelerate content. Only people build credibility.

AI will continue to change how quickly and efficiently brands communicate. But greater technological capability must be matched by a deliberate effort to make the people behind the business more visible.

No single channel can do everything. Editorial coverage can provide reach and independent validation. Articles bring depth. Podcasts reveal nuance and personality. Events and interviews show expertise in action. Social and video help those moments travel further.

The strongest brands will be the ones that connect those opportunities, amplifying credible voices wherever their audiences read, listen, watch and gather. In an age of almost unlimited content, the winners will be those who don’t just communicate their expertise, but rather, demonstrate it.

Originally published on Creativebrief

Katy Reilly is a marketing and communications specialist with more than eight years’ experience working across B2B technology, advertising, media and games. In her role with The Digital Voice, she helps brands and their people build visibility through speaking engagements, awards and content. Her work focuses on turning expertise into compelling stories and creating opportunities for senior leaders and subject matter experts to share their perspectives across the channels that matter to their audiences. Katy is particularly interested in how putting credible people at the heart of communications can build trust and authority for brands, and why elevating those voices is becoming increasingly important to modern brand building and PR.