Email Remains Dominant for Critical Business Communication Despite Rise of IM and AI Tools, Report Finds

Despite the rise of instant messaging, collaboration tools, and AI assistants, almost half of global IT leaders (48%) still rely primarily on email for both internal and external communication. This finding comes from Exclaimer’s State of Business Email 2025 report, which surveyed over 4,000 IT professionals across the US, UK, Germany, and Australia. The report highlights a significant challenge in today's digital workplaces: the communication stack is expanding, yet most tools are siloed and do not achieve widespread adoption. Email stands out as the trusted medium for structured, auditable, and cross-functional communication. One of the key trends identified in the report is that the number of tools used in the digital workplace is increasing. Video conferencing and collaboration tools like Asana, Notion, and monday.com are deemed crucial, with 89% of global IT leaders emphasizing the importance of video conferencing and 86% highlighting collaboration tools. However, these tools are typically adopted by specific teams for task-specific purposes, creating coordination issues for IT teams. To address this, organizations often turn to email as a unifying and reliable channel to ensure communication remains effective and consistent across the entire business. High-stakes communications, which require logging, sharing, and action, predominantly use email. Nearly half of IT leaders (49%) reported using email for IT and security alerts, while 36% use it for internal collaboration and 34% for client communication. This reliance is particularly evident in complex, regulated environments and large enterprises, where employees send over 16 emails daily. Departments like IT (56%), HR and internal communications (37%), customer success (31%), and finance (31%) depend heavily on email due to the need for operational clarity, regulatory adherence, and reputational integrity. While instant messaging (IM) is becoming increasingly essential, with 89% of IT leaders deeming it important, it is not supplanting email. The expansion of the communication stack has led to more intentional use of different platforms. Email remains the go-to channel for formal, record-keeping, and multi-department communications, whereas IM is favored for fast-paced, informal discussions. IT leaders are now focusing on ensuring that each tool serves its distinct purpose securely and without redundancy. Another trend is the concept of "Email Integrity," which Exclaimer introduces. This refers to the strategic management of email to act as a connective layer between various digital tools, teams, and geographical territories. As AI-generated content and real-time platforms become more prevalent, maintaining Email Integrity is crucial for meeting the high standards of modern business communication. This involves policies and practices to ensure that emails are clear, consistent, and auditable, thus supporting the integrity of business operations. The methodology of the report is robust. Fieldwork was conducted online between April 4 and April 16, 2025, with a non-probability sampling approach targeting 4,009 IT professionals responsible for managing email systems, communication policies, or security and compliance infrastructure. The study aimed to understand how IT leaders navigate the evolving landscape of business email and manage the integration of new communication tools. Vicky Wills, Chief Technology Officer at Exclaimer, emphasized the ongoing importance of email. “We’ve never had more ways to connect and collaborate at work, but email remains the backbone of business communication,” she stated. “The challenge for IT leaders is not just in selecting the right platforms but in implementing them strategically to create clear, connected, and future-proof communication environments.” Exclaimer, a leading provider of email signature management solutions, plays a vital role in this landscape. Its scalable cloud-based platform automates and centralizes email signatures, ensuring regulatory compliance, operational efficiency, and brand consistency. Exclaimer manages over 20 billion email signatures from 9 million email accounts across 70,000 organizations annually, with clients ranging from major corporations like Sony, Mattel, and Bank of America to institutions like the Government of Canada, the BBC, and the Academy Awards. In summary, while the digital workplace continues to diversify, email remains a critical communication tool for global IT leaders. The focus is on maintaining Email Integrity to ensure that it serves as a reliable and efficient backbone amidst the proliferation of other communication platforms. Industry experts and IT leaders concur that strategic implementation and management of digital tools are essential for building robust and integrated communication systems.