Jean-Leopold Schuybroek, chair of PROI’s International Development Group, joins the Earned First podcast to reflect on four decades in the consultancy business. The Interel founder and former ICCO chair has spent 20 years building PROI into a network of independent firms that now covers most of the world. In conversation with Earned First’s Arun Sudhaman, the episode explores:

• what he looks for in a firm before it is big
• why clients now build their own rosters of independents
• how public affairs outgrew its cosy lobbying origins
• the silos agencies built for themselves.

Earned First's David Blecken and Arun Sudhaman look at the backlash over Singapore Airlines' stake in Air India, Chinese brands going global, and Mastercard's global PR pitch. They also discuss OpenAI's nine-month CCO search, and why only just over half of CCOs report to the CEO, according to Earned First's PR 2030 research.

GlobeScan CEO Chris Coulter joins the Earned First podcast to break down findings from the latest Oxford-GlobeScan Global Corporate Affairs Survey. Now in its seventh edition, the study draws on nearly 300 senior practitioners across 51 countries, and offers a wealth of insight into the opinions, trends, and challenges facing corporate affairs teams worldwide. In conversation with Earned First's Arun Sudhaman, the episode explores why corporate affairs heads want their functions revised — and why that appetite runs highest in Asia-Pacific — how geoeconomics is reshaping their priorities, the woeful state of corporate affairs measurement, and much more, including the latest on the ESG backlash.