IR Impact webinar examined the role of technology in helping IROs leverage market intelligence strategically
At a time when geopolitical events seem more unpredictable than ever, the capital markets are in a corresponding state of flux in 2026.
For any IRO trying to both parse market events for their own understanding and to keep their investors and other stakeholders well informed, it poses an increasingly complicated challenge – one that requires keeping up with sector peers and macroeconomic events externally as well as keeping internal audiences abreast of developments.
This was the focus of a recent IR Impact briefing, held in partnership with Q4, titled ‘The story behind the story: how IR teams prepare for volatile periods’. Gianna De Palma, senior manager of investor relations at Insmed, Chip Newcom, vice president of investor relations at Rivian, and Jamie Stanton, senior director of investor relations, Q4 discussed best practices for IROs aiming to meet this challenge head-on.
Below, we run down four of the key takeaways from the briefing. To watch a full, on-demand recording of the event, click here.
Making time
The panel agreed that regular – usually daily or weekly – time to review stock behavior, news and research is a crucial part of the IR workflow, giving you a grounded view and working hypotheses.
For De Palma, having a daily check-in plus a weekly review is crucial. ‘I make sure I understand How did the stock trade this week? How is it different from last week? What was new? Was volume up, was volume down?’
Newcom achieves this with a daily Google briefing that pulls in everything written about Rivian in the previous 24 hours. Combining this with any sell-side pings on specific topics or questions gives him a solid foundation from which to base his understanding.
Be the filter and synthesizer
But keeping up is not enough, Stanton argued. Thinking of the myriad of companies that he and the Q4 team work with, ‘the ones that handle volatility the best… they kind of handle it like a fire drill’.
He added: ‘An example of that might be, hey, competitor X missed earnings due to a European supply chain opportunity. Okay, but so what? Well, the ‘so what’ is we don’t have that exposure, so let’s go on the offensive. [You can say] I’ve prepared a couple of points for your next investor meeting and we can go after that. That right there is the strategic difference between just reporting what’s going on and really being a partner with your C‑suite.’
That difference is key, agreed all the panelists. As Stanton summarized it: ‘Be the filter, be the synthesis.’
AI as a ‘force multiplier’
As ever, AI is forming an increasingly core component of the intelligence process. All three panelists agreed that the technology is best employed as a refiner, tone-checker and a way to collate feedback, rather than as a replacement for any part of an IRO’s process.
De Palma said that her main use case around disclosures was ‘passing through a couple paragraphs of text into an AI platform and allowing it to synthesize what it believes are the three or four key takeaways’ to ensure that key messages were being sent successfully.
For Newcom, this extends to earnings scripts, press release and research notes. ‘It’s not a replacement. It’s a force multiplier for the IR team,’ he explained. ‘When you write your earnings script for your CEO and CFO, I pump that every single quarter through Gemini to say, okay, is this actually the tone that I want to have, are these the key takeaways that I want to have?’ He also uses Google’s Notebook LM to take in any research notes after an earnings call to get a quick overview of the Street’s interpretation – a valuable part of the feedback loop to ensure that Rivian’s messaging is on point.
Stanton added that agentic AI – whereby an AI tool sits internally as an interactive platform that can proactively answer questions, unlike a GPT or generative model which requires prompts – can be used to monitor shareholder lists, website traffic or other metrics to flag any abnormalities early, giving IR teams extra time to respond and manage the narrative.
Internal investment
Fundamentally, an organization’s ability to respond to volatility effectively is built on strong, ongoing internal relationships. For IROs, that means they can spot issues early, align messages quickly and act as a ‘ballast’ for management when volatility hits.
‘I would encourage people not to underestimate the power of those internal relationships – especially during volatile times, but even in times of stasis. Building that trusted relationship with your cross-functional partners and your management team will go so far,’ said De Palma. ‘Investor relations often implies that a majority of your time is spent externally, but I would argue so much valuable work happens internally.’
Newcom agreed that ‘water cooler conversations’ are critical to ensure IROs can connect with the right internal experts in a time of need. ‘It doesn’t need to be a formal meeting [with management],’ he added. ‘If anything, it’s more valuable for it not to be. It’s running into them in the hallway… and it’s that informal dialog that then is going to help translate into showing expertise.’
