The best ideas rarely come from a single discipline. They emerge when we connect the dots between people, technology, leadership and the world around us.
For more than 25 years I’ve worked at the intersection of internal communication, leadership and organisational change, helping leaders at some of the world’s largest and best-known organisations make sense of change — and help others do the same.
These articles are where I try to make sense of things by connecting ideas across disciplines, and explore the questions that don’t fit neatly into meetings or PowerPoint presentations.
Experience
My career has taken me across technology, professional services, automotive, transport, logistics and telecommunications, helping organisations navigate growth, transformation and change in the United Kingdom, and around the world.
Looking back, a thread running through much of that career has been what happens when organisations, technology and people change at the same time. At Virgin Trains, that meant working with some of the earliest forms of corporate social media and digital customer communication. Later senior roles with organisations including Carlsberg, Jaguar Land Rover and Amazon took me deeper into strategic internal communication, employee engagement, leadership and organisational change.
Today I lead internal communication for Audit & Assurance at Deloitte UK. Some of the same questions that have followed me throughout my career are now showing up again in my work on AI and professional judgement: what changes, what remains human, and how people make good decisions when the environment around them is shifting.
Along the way I’ve completed an MBA, served as a Non-Executive Director of the Institute of Internal Communication, and been elected a Fellow of both the Institute of Internal Communication (FIIC) and the Institute of Leadership (FInstLM).
I’ve also worked with organisations including National Grid and the International Red Cross, helping leaders make sense of complexity, build trust and communicate with clarity.
I previously ran the communications consultancy Hiyu. Hiyu is no longer operating as a separate business; my current writing, research and independent work are published here at rich-baker.com
What I work on
My work and writing explore strategic internal communication, organisational change, leadership and the increasingly complicated relationship between people and AI.
I’m particularly interested in professional judgement: what experienced people notice, how they make decisions under uncertainty, and what happens to those capabilities as AI becomes part of everyday work.
Much of that interest comes from internal communication itself. It is a field where context, judgement, influence and an understanding of organisations matter at least as much as producing the communication. As AI becomes increasingly capable of doing the latter, I’m interested in what happens to the former.
Research
Alongside my writing, I lead a founder-led research experiment exploring professional judgement in the age of generative AI.
Corporate communications is the first research domain because it provides a rich setting for examining uncertainty, stakeholder impact, accountability and the limits of automation.
The current study is being conducted through Given Time™, an AI-assisted qualitative research experience I conceived and developed to support thoughtful, participant-led reflection.
The research is exploratory. It is intended to surface real experiences, differences and contradictions — not to prove a predetermined argument about AI.
Professional recognition
Rich Baker is a Fellow of the Institute of Internal Communication and a former Board Director of the organisation, serving from 2015 to 2021.
He also served as an IoIC regional and national awards judge, including as co-director of the IoIC Central and North Awards.
His work and experience have been featured in Communicate magazine, and he has contributed to professional discussion about internal communication, employee engagement and the future of the profession.
Awards and judging
Rich Baker has been recognised by the Institute of Internal Communication, including Internal Communications Manager of the Year — Excellence Award in 2018 and Awards of Excellence for employee magazine and publications work.
He has also served as an IoIC regional and national awards judge, and as a judge for the Communicate magazine Internal Communications and Engagement Awards.
Speaking and collaboration
I’m open to selected speaking engagements, research collaborations, advisory work and partnerships around communication, organisational change, professional judgement and AI. If you have something in mind, get in touch.
Contact
If something you’ve read sparked a thought, challenged your perspective, or you’d like to continue the conversation, I’d love to hear from you.
Whether it’s a question, a speaking opportunity, a collaboration, or an idea worth exploring together, get in touch.