Taste Becomes a Superpower

The idea of information overload appeared very early in the history of the internet, as the torrent of websites and conversations quickly surpassed anyone’s ability to keep up. 

Over the years, algorithms, filters, and content consumption habits have made that torrent more manageable: just part of the subtext of our online lives. But an increasingly AI-flavoured internet is now making this subtext of our information environment once again its loudest feature, in two ways. 

First, AI-powered search and answer engines are changing how people discover and navigate information, bringing together material from an ever broader range of sources. And second, of course, AI’s almost-free production of content (though not necessarily good content) threatens to flood the web with exponentially more stuff. 

That means that one of the key things influential people now do is curate the information environment for their audiences. Developing an idiosyncratic view of what’s out there and pointing people towards things actually worth their time can be as valuable as creating new content. 

More broadly: if anyone can make or consume anything, having good taste about what to make or consume is what matters. 

However, ‘taste’ is not simple. It’s not the same thing as preference: even if they like the movies, for example, few would describe being a Marvel fan as ‘good taste’ because the films are so obvious and well-known. It’s also not the same thing as appreciation: if someone tries oysters for the first time and loves them, their choice didn’t come from a place of ‘good taste’ because their motivation wasn’t well-informed. 

Taste comes from selecting something rare, unexpected, or distinctive, and doing so from a place of expertise, insight, and confidence. A Tastemaker puts that judgement to work for others, helping their audience decide what is worth their attention. 

Impactful influence has always involved taste. Journalists judging what makes a story. Academics and technical experts deciding which developments deserve scrutiny. Policymakers determining which issues move up the agenda.  

In an environment that favours taste, business leaders too can help decide what conversation their industry should have next, not just comment on what’s already happening. 

For comms teams, that echoes a familiar problem. If every spokesperson responds to the same news agenda with a polished version of roughly the same opinion, producing more of it is unlikely to create more influence. The task is to identify the areas where a leader has the experience and conviction to say something genuinely useful or unexpected. 

AI can produce and curate content at enormous scale, but without distinctive human input, the output can gravitate towards the middle of the bell curve, reproducing familiar ideasand deploying clichéd language and conventions. In response, brands will need to become braver about empowering their spokespeople and influencers to be outliers. 

That will affect some deep assumptions about brand influence work. It means that catching the big, viral discourse moments of the day needs to be balanced with amplifying new, different, more obscure trends and ideas. And, relatedly, it means that brands and influencers might optimise less for the social media algorithms that enable virality. 

Last year’s Tech 500 highlighted the rise of the ‘multi-hyphenate influencer’: people combining their established professional roles with their own publishing platforms – from CEO-podcasters to journalist-YouTubers. 

This year, we’ve taken a closer look at those personal platforms, focusing on the outlets influential people own and maintain themselves rather than those they contribute to through their professional roles. 

20.2% of the 2026 Tech 500 publish across two or more digital platforms of their own.

What emerges is an interesting counterpoint to the rise of AI-generated content. When creating and repurposing content across multiple platforms has never been easier, influence may increasingly be about knowing where – and when – you have something worth adding, rather than simply trying to be everywhere. 

There will be a sense of liberation for many influencers now emboldened to stray from the centre point of the cultural conversation, applying their discernment to find, make, and share what suits their taste. Brands will have to follow quickly to better understand who their spokespeople are and what they can meaningfully contribute to the edges of the bell curve. 

Up Next: Personality Beats Polish

Good judgement matters, but so does how you express it. Personality gives people something they can recognise and remember.