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AI is everywhere. Forbes claimed last year that if “2023 Was The Year Of AI Hype – 2024 Is The Year Of AI Practicality”. Perhaps 2025 is the year that AI became mainstream. But how is AI impacting shareholder communication? What are the risks of making use of artificial intelligence in investor relations, and how can you enjoy AI’s benefits while avoiding the pitfalls?

The role of AI in shareholder communications

How can organisations make the best use of generative AI, automation, and machine learning for their shareholder communication and investor relations? It’s something a growing number of IR teams are considering.

45% of respondents to the most recent Nasdaq Annual Global IR Issuer Pulse have already embedded AI into their processes or have solidified plans to do so. What does this look like in practice?

How can AI enhance investor relations and shareholder communications?

There are a number of areas where AI can be – and is being – used to support investor relations and shareholder communications. Broadly, these can be categorised into one of two buckets:

• Intelligence that informs activity and communications – using AI for insight. This might mean tracking shareholder sentiment, reputation, market changes and other factors that can impact your communication frequency, content or tone.
• Time-saving and efficiency-increasing activity – such as drafting shareholder communications, generating tailored communications strategies or supporting personalised activation of investor relations materials.

In more detail, this might mean:

• Supporting shareholder intelligence. AI-powered sentiment analysis tools can provide early warnings of discontent, picking up on commentary and brand references. AI’s ability to source, analyse and present information on shareholder sentiment is unmatched.
• It can also detect possible reputational issues before they bubble to the surface, enabling companies to proactively tackle what can be one of their biggest threats.
• Speed of insight. AI can help companies deliver shareholder insights faster than ever – analysing huge amounts of data, making real-time realignments to messaging to reflect market changes.
• Making investor call preparation faster and easier. Creating shareholder communications and investor relations materials has traditionally been a very labour intensive process as data is collated, checked and re-checked. Compliance and accuracy are vital. AI can streamline and speed this process.
• By automating some of this basic data-gathering, AI can allow investor relations professionals to spend time on more strategic issues, focusing on the bigger picture of shareholder engagement.
• Helping with investor relations messaging. Generative AI and GPTs can help distil complex financial messages into a clear story for your CEO or CFO to tell on investor calls or in shareholder materials.

And aside from all the ways AI can help you, your corporate use of AI is increasingly likely to feature in your shareholder communications. Evidencing your board’s AI competence is becoming increasingly common, even expected, in shareholder comms.

But in this ever-accelerating merry-go-round of corporate activity and communications, is there a need for caution in AI’s use? Are there potential pitfalls to be considered alongside the benefits? Undoubtedly.

What are the downsides of AI for shareholder communications?

BNY believes that Investment Relations Officers “should adopt the perspective that AI can serve as a supportive tool, augmenting human capabilities” – and we’d be inclined to agree.

In all of the areas above, organisations need to strike a balance between making best use of AI, and ensuring a degree of human oversight. AI can famously suffer “hallucinations”, ranging from overly-optimistic performance predictions to entirely fabricated responses: IROs shouldn’t rely 100% on its accuracy, instead should do some due diligence to sense-check its responses.

Similarly, when it comes to AI’s ability to write shareholder communications, tread carefully. Yes, AI can be a useful “junior copywriter”, saving you time in extracting key information from a variety of sources and compiling a first draft. But, like your most junior team member, it needs a bit of guidance.

AI can deliver incorrect information – those hallucinations again – and clearly, basing your shareholder communications on those can be a big misstep. It has a tendency to write in an overly-generic way, and can churn out unoriginal facts and formulaic phrasing. It often (ironically) lacks the intelligence to join the dots between thoughts, resulting in content that can be a little staccato and missing the “so what?” that a human author would include.

What other tech can support shareholder communications?

It’s clear that AI has a lot of potential for shareholder communications: saving time; enabling your messaging to reflect real-time events; allowing Investor Relations teams to focus on strategic planning; and supporting the delivery of personalised communications.

But to realise these benefits, you need to steer clear of some of the stumbling blocks. If you’re taking a cautious path towards AI use, there are other ways you can embrace the latest technology in your investor relations, and routes you can go to ensure best practice via humans, not machines.

1. Understand the content and communications your shareholders expect. Communicating in the way your investors want is easy when you work with a partner who has in-depth knowledge of the market. Perivan’s team has unrivalled experience of producing professionally designed shareholder communications – annual reports; sustainability reports; IPO documents – that help listed companies connect with investors and stakeholders. We pass this expertise onto clients, ensuring that shareholder communication strategy, content and channel are always on point.
2. Find a shareholder communications partner who can provide GPT-level insight. Our data team speaks with the primary Registrars regularly to ensure we always have accurate data, and can fulfil personalised, timely communications.
3. Harness technology for cost-effective, swift shareholder communications. We use the latest printing technology – alongside the expertise of our specialist typesetting, artwork and design teams – to ensure swift production of highly-professional documentation.
4. Use high-tech channels to engage with shareholders and investors. Online data rooms provide a highly-secure way to share information with stakeholders and investors, powered by leading-edge tech. Perivan’s Engage data room delivers matchless insights and – importantly – is underpinned by real-time human support.

In summary – there’s definitely a case for AI in shareholder communications, in numerous scenarios. But it should be approached with caution, and a firm commitment to continued human oversight.

The good news for any company hesitating to embrace AI fully here, is that there are other routes to advance your investor relations from the past to the future. Working with experienced shareholder communications providers; harnessing digital solutions like online data rooms – these are steps you can take today to enhance your shareholder communications strategy.

If you want to create shareholder communications fit for today’s complex landscape, you can read more about Perivan’s shareholder, investor communications and data room expertise, and contact us to find out more about how we can help you.