CHICAGO—Senior communications professionals from companies such as Abbvie, CDW, Mubadala, Shure and Teva Pharmaceuticals, as well as leaders from more than dozen of the world’s leading public relations agencies have joined a stellar lineup of speakers at PRovoke Media’s 2026 Global Summit, which takes place at RPM Events in Chicago on October 26 and 27.
This year’s Summit will address some of the most critical issues facing public relations and corporate communications executives, ranging from the turbulent political environment to corporate change to the opportunities and challenges created by increased use of artificial intelligence.
Highlights of this year’s Summit include discussions of some of the most urgent issues facing the profession:
- The Midterms and What Comes Next:. Two veteran political strategists, one a former House leadership spokesman and the other a former Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission communications director, give their view of what the election could mean for business.
- Leading Change: Burson US CEO Craig Buchholz and CCOs Brian Lott of Mubadala and Kelly Dougherty of Teva Pharmaceuticals discuss the role of communications in changing how organizations operate, engage stakeholders, and create value.
- Artificial Intelligence, Real Stories: Davis+Gilbert brings together experts from Asthenos Consulting, Finn Partners, and Spark Public Relations to discuss how AI is changing the PR business.
- The Chicago Principles: Richard Edelman sits down with Paul Holmes to explain why trust is at the center of Edelman’s strategy and the profession’s future.
- Two Decades of Change in Two Years: GCI Health CEO Kristin Cahill and Abbvie’s head of technology public affairs Shant Salakian on the erosion of trust, geopolitical shifts, and the rise of health misinformation.
- Exploring Trends in Creativity: Paul Holmes and FleishmanHillard’s Jim Joseph discuss the trends that defined this year’s Global SABRE Awards winning work.
In addition, the Summit will feature a number of previously announced presentations, including a discussion with former CCOs Jon Harris and Torod Neptune on the importance of making the role of communications in the C-suite a permanent one, and presentations of Global SABRE Award winning work: 10 of the best campaigns in the world from
The 2026 PRovoke Global Summit is produced in partnership with some of the world’s largest public relations agencies, including Burson, Edelman and Penta Group; Finn Partners, FleishmanHillard, GolinKetchum, MSL, SEC Newgate, The Sway Effect, and Weber Shandwick; We Communications; GCI Health, Zeno; Adfactors PR, Bully Pulpit International, M Booth, Mike Worldwide, Real Chemistry, The Romans, Ruder Finn, and SPRG; and law firm Davis+Gilbert.
Tickets for the Summit and for the Global SABRE Awards dinner celebrating the 40 Best Public Relations Campaigns of the past year and our 15 Global Agencies of the Year are on sale here.
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