Dr. Abram Anders Delivers Keynote at Association for Business Communication Conference

Dr. Abram Anders, Jonathan Wickert Professor of Innovation and Associate Director of the Student Innovation Center, delivered the keynote address at the 90th Annual Association for Business Communication Conference, which took place this October 15–18 in Long Beach, California. His presentation, “Foundation to Frontier: How Business Communication Research Can Drive Technological Innovation,” examined how business and professional communication expertise positions the field to lead rather than follow AI innovation. He argued that communication professionals are natural “context engineers”—experts in curating situated knowledge, structuring workflows, and orchestrating meaningful collaboration—precisely the capabilities needed to build AI systems that augment rather than automate human work.

Anders’s analysis of nearly 40 recent studies reveals that 43% of business communication research already addresses the “R&D opportunity zone” where workers desire collaborative AI partnerships rather than full automation. His research demonstrates that early-career workers in automation-focused roles are experiencing concentrated employment effects, while demand for augmentation-focused AI applications remains largely underserved. The presentation highlighted strategic directions for the field, including workplace implementation research and interdisciplinary partnerships that position communication professionals as architects of human-AI collaboration. Read the full synthesis of his keynote arguments on his blog newsletter.

This work exemplifies the innovative scholarship emerging from Iowa State’s Rhetoric and Professional Communication (RPC) program, where faculty and graduate students investigate how communication practices evolve with technological change and shape professional contexts.