Bennett Golder has built a career at the sharp end of strategic communications, combining deep digital expertise with a clear understanding of how reputational risk is evolving. From political campaigning in Washington DC to senior agency leadership in London and now a freelance advisor, his career path reflects the pace and complexity of modern communications. We spoke to Bennett about how crisis comms has changed in recent years, why synthetic media poses such a serious threat to trust, and what organisations need to do now to prepare for an AI-shaped risk environment.
1. Could you give us a brief overview of your career so far, how did you get to where you are today?
I’ve had a bit of an interesting career trajectory. I started my career as a young idealist – I worked for 4 years in DC and on campaigns for a Democratic Congressman from my home state of Georgia. I came to London to get a Master’s in Political Sociology at LSE and, desperate to stay in the UK, I really had to start from scratch in agency life to find a job that would sponsor me. It was the early days of digital adoption, so I found a niche for myself and spent about 13 years in agency, gradually specialising more and more on using digital as part of integrated campaigns in strategic communications mandates. My most recent full-time stint was 8.5 years at FGS Global (formerly Finsbury) where I was a Managing Director. Now I’m freelance, helping organisations harness digital platforms to deliver on wider comms and business objectives.
2. How would you say the crisis comms industry has changed in the last five years?
So many ways!
AI has obviously meant that the threats that organisations face come in so many different forms: AI deepfake videos, cyber hacks via deepfakes, reputational concerns related to overreliance on gen AI chatbots. And gen AI has completely transformed the risks in online reputation management as well – how an organisation appears in LLMs is now incredibly important and difficult to manage. The risks are greater than ever, and for corporates, it’s a huge challenge to stay on top of it all.
Putting AI aside, the other mega trend in crisis comms is global instability and social movements, and more than ever, corporates are – intentionally or not – becoming sucked into culture wars. Not only is this causing major reputational crises for some, but wars and instability are also making it much harder for businesses to operate, and unfortunately given the political situation, it feels likely to continue. Good news for crisis comms professionals, bad news for the planet.
Because of all this, I think more and more companies are investing heavily in crisis comms preparedness to make sure their teams and protocols are fit for purpose. Reputation might be difficult to measure but your CFO will certainly be aware when it’s been destroyed!
3. We often hear that AI could “kill” PR by outpacing it on speed and scale, but is the bigger threat actually the rise of highly convincing fake content? Which risk worries you more?
The bigger threat is convincing fake content I’d say. PR has already adapted to faster, always-on cycles with the advent of social media. Fake content, however, attacks the very foundation of communications: trust. This confusion between what’s real and what isn’t has the potential to topple governments, elect charlatans and move markets. It’s terrifying.
4. If a deepfake video or AI-generated statement about an organisation goes viral, what does an effective response look like in the first few hours? Can comms teams realistically keep up?
Of course the first few hours are the most important, and this is what often trips organisations up. They’re so busy running around internally, finding out exactly what’s happening, getting statements signed off, etc. By the time they respond, the story has moved on, and the damage is already done.
An effective first response needs to be fast, coordinated and authoritative:
1. Immediate acknowledgement of the issue and clear positioning on what’s false
2. Rapid alignment internally of spokespeople and key decisionmakers
3. Robust monitoring to see how the narrative attack might be evolving or how the response is 4. landing
4. Direct engagement with key media
5. Use of owned channels to push out verified information
From my experience designing C-suite crisis simulations and advising in real-time scenarios, teams can keep up but only if they’re trained, they’ve rehearsed and they have the right protocols in place. Without preparation, the response lags behind the spread.
5. If we don’t establish trusted ways to authenticate content, do you think we risk a wider collapse in public trust online? How should organisations prepare for that scenario?
Yes, there’s definitely a real risk of wider trust erosion.
In my work advising on reputation and stakeholder engagement, consistency and credibility are what sustain trust over time.
Successful organisations will have invested in communicating directly with their audiences and built a track record of reliability before a crisis hits. So for organisations that haven’t done this – they really better start preparing now!
Credibility is a long-term asset that has to be actively managed.
6. Do you think this moment could create an entirely new specialism within PR - focused on authenticity, verification and crisis response to synthetic media? What would that look like in practice?
Yes, and I think this is already happening – if not an entirely new specialism, then at least an expansion of the existing crisis comms and digital practitioners’ required skillset.
To my mind, these new skills would include elements like:
It feels to me like the obvious evolution of crisis comms that’s responding to the new reality, and it’s blending PR, digital intelligence and risk advisory into a more proactive discipline.
7. What is the biggest challenge you have faced in your career so far?
I think it might be the challenge I’m facing right now. When you get to around the midpoint in your career, you start to reflect more on what you’ve done and what you value, and for me, that’s about trying to focus on doing work that makes the world a better place. We spend about 1/3 of our lives working, and I hope when I retire I’m able to look back and feel like I’ve had a net positive impact on the world.
8. What’s the best piece of professional advice you’ve been given along the way and by whom?
It’s hard to pick just one, as I’ve been so fortunate to have had some incredible mentors throughout my career, several of whom are still in my life and still graciously dispense advice (you know who you are!)
One of the best pieces of advice I’ve ever received was from career coach Vicki Marinker who taught me that I need to find my career ‘ikigai’, which is a Japanese term meaning your reason for living or the thing that excites you to wake up in the morning. Your ikigai is the intersection of what you love, what the world needs, what you can get paid for and what you’re good at.
Finally, my dad always told me that if someone is willing to have a coffee and chat, you should always do it. You never know who you’ll meet, maybe one day they’ll be able to help you out, maybe one day you’ll be able to help them out. And conversely, if someone wants to chat and get some advice, you always pay it forward and take the time to meet and give some advice. The world sometimes feels like it has a karmic balance that way!
9. If you hadn’t moved into comms, what would have been your Plan B?
Likely after my Master’s, I would have gone back to the US and done something in political consulting or campaigns. I’ve always had a keen interest in politics and campaigning, and that’s never been far from my mind throughout my career.
10. You are incredibly busy in your professional life, what do you do outside of work to de-stress?
I’m a keen cyclist and love to go de-stress in the gym. I’m also a huge traveller and I love planning my next trip. I also enjoy volunteering at the Hackney Night Shelter and FoodCycle. In my house I’m also the main cook – planning and cooking a meal with a glass of wine really relaxes me at the end of a day.
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