Data Fluency Becomes the Trust Currency for Communications Leaders

The communications profession has an internal credibility problem that mirrors the external one. Teams know their work drives outcomes, but proving it to leadership in terms that register on a balance sheet remains elusive. The communicators gaining ground treat data not as a reporting obligation but as raw material for both external storytelling and internal proof of value.

Daniela Villa is an Associate Professor at ITESO University and the former Global Head of Communications at Bitso, a crypto and investing platform operating across Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, and the United States. Recently named a 2026 Top Women in Communications honoree by Ragan's PR Daily in the "Data Dynamo" category, Villa spent two years leading multi-market communications and brand strategy for a company operating in one of the most scrutinized sectors in finance. Leading in a high-scrutiny sector clarified one thing for Villa: data has a dual mandate.

"How do you translate data into actionable narratives to create insights, whether internally or externally? That's something I was super concentrated on achieving when I was at Bitso," says Villa. Her central argument is that data serves two distinct purposes for communications leaders, and most teams only pursue one. The first is external: using proprietary data to build public trust. The second is internal: using measurement to demonstrate value to executives who think in revenue and risk.

• Data makes opaque industries legible: At Bitso, Villa inherited a communications challenge familiar to anyone working in crypto, AI, or other sectors where public understanding trails adoption. "People are afraid of crypto exchanges because there has been a lot of misinformation or even crisis within the industry," she says. "I figured that one of the most actionable ways of creating trust was having data available and putting that data in front of the public." Her team created a flagship report called Panorama Crypto, a data-rich study of crypto use cases across the countries where Bitso operates. It covered what currencies people purchased, how they used them, and what value they found. "We turned this data into specific insights that people can read into and feel like the company is closer to them," she says.

• One big report is not enough: Villa structured the rollout deliberately. The Panorama Crypto report anchored each cycle, but smaller data releases filled the six months between editions. "We tried to nurture everything we communicate with data and information that is trustworthy," she says. The goal was sustained credibility, not a one-off content play.

• Measurement earns the seat: Villa is candid that proving communications impact to leadership remains the discipline's persistent internal challenge. "It's hard to contest numbers," she says. Her team tracked share of voice alongside custom metrics tied to company goals, using AI-powered reporting tools to connect communications activity to business priorities. "You are not speaking the same language as a business leader, and you need to cross over to their language. Data is key to that."

The harder question is positioning. Tying communications metrics too closely to sales risks being perceived as a marketing function. Staying too abstract risks irrelevance. Villa navigates that tension by anchoring every recommendation to a single principle.

• Reputation is the guiding star: "A lot of colleagues struggle not knowing from what perspective to position themselves as a trusted advisor," Villa says. "HR talks about the employee perspective. Safety talks about safety. Our perspective should be the company's reputation." She applies this filter to every decision, framing her counsel around long-term brand equity rather than short-term tactical wins.

• Focus on the problem, not the technology: Villa pushes back on the tendency to lead with whatever technology is dominating the news cycle. "I always call it the flavor of the month," she says. "I don't believe that focusing on the technology is worthwhile. It's about the specific problem that the technology solves." At Bitso, that meant telling stories about financial access and remittance efficiency rather than blockchain architecture.

Now teaching at the university level, Villa is watching the next generation of communicators form habits that will define their careers. Strong writing and relentless curiosity are the skills that hold, even as tools change.

"Good writing is still a needed skill. You need to know how to tell a story," she says. "And cultivate your curiosity. A lot of people tell me they're not naturally curious, but for me that's a muscle." She points to the Panorama Crypto report as proof. "We didn't have anything to communicate. The company was going through a transformation. So we created it just by looking at what was already there." The communicators who treat quiet periods as creative openings, Villa argues, are the ones who build the kind of strategic value that outlasts any single campaign. "Technical skills come and go," she says. "The ability to tell stories is not going away."