Cross-functional influence is something assistants have already been doing for years.
So I was excited to see this powerful insight from the new 2026 Global Learning & Skills Trends Report
“As AI weaves through every line of business, organisations must break down silos and encourage learning that spans traditional functional borders.”
In other words, departments can’t afford to work in isolation anymore. With AI touching every part of business, we need to share knowledge and learn across teams.
This is great news for assistants because whilst most roles sit neatly in a box – finance, HR, IT, operations. Assistants never have. You move between all of them, often in the same day. You understand how decisions in one department ripple across another. You see where projects overlap, where communications break down, and where risks are quietly building.
In the AI era, this vantage point becomes critical. AI has the power to accelerate transformation, but it also magnifies silos. One department experiments here, another automates there, and suddenly the organisation is duplicating effort, exposing itself to risk, and missing opportunities for alignment.
Here’s how to own your influence.
📌 Ensure conversations happen between teams who would otherwise never sit at the same table.
📌 Turn technical detail into strategic insight for your executives, and executive vision into concrete actions for your teams.
📌 If you spot duplication, flag risk.
📌 Smooth out communication flow and coordination, to make transformation faster, not slower.
The report is clear.
The organisations that thrive will be those that integrate knowledge and scale learning across every function. That requires people who can influence without authority, who can build trust across silos, and who can make the invisible connections visible.
Which is exactly what assistants have always done.
The challenge now is to own it, name it, and demonstrate it. Stop framing this as “just admin.” Start positioning it as the cross-functional influence that protects organisations from risk, drives adoption, and unlocks ROI.
Because the thing is, too many executives still underestimate just how much of this work you’re already doing. If you don’t claim it, they won’t see it.
Cross-functional influence is suddenly a business-critical capability.
If organisations overlook the assistant’s role in delivering it, they’ll pay for it in silos, stalled projects, and lost ROI.
