Organisational communication in transformation: from the classical school to the era of platformisation and artificial intelligence

Abstract

In recent decades, organisations have undergone profound transformations, driven by the growing digitalisation of society, platformisation, and the development of artificial intelligence (AI). The present study seeks to address two research questions: how is the field of Organisational Communication, from its classical legacy to new organisational forms, being reshaped in the face of platformisation and AI? And what role can the Communicative Constitution of Organisations (CCO) approach play in interpreting these changes? The research is grounded in a theoretical literature review, with the aim of tracing a historical trajectory of the field, identifying alternative organisational formats that emerged from adaptations to the postmodern context, and discussing how the phenomena of platformisation and AI technologies challenge the CCO perspective. The article identifies three central implications: (1) the opening of a research agenda that deepens the understanding of how platformisation and AI technologies integrate into organisational and communicative processes and practices, and examines how these co-produce organisational meaning; (2) the requirement for communication professionals to develop critical, technical, and literacy competencies to operate in digital ecosystems; and (3) the urgency of debates on transparency, accountability, and public policies for AI governance. We argue that the CCO remains fundamental for understanding these communicative issues; however, it requires theoretical updating to more fully account for the inclusion of non-human agents in the production of meaning within organisational contexts, with the sociomaterial perspective offering a promising path forward.