CEO Insights Magazine

Didin Nasirudin

Co-Founder & Managing Director

The public relations industry is changing as business decisions increasingly intersect with politics, regulation, technology, reputation, and geopolitics. Communications can no longer be treated simply as the final step after management has decided what to do.

In a more complex environment, senior leaders increasingly need advisers who can help them understand how regulators, investors, employees, media, communities, and other stakeholders may interpret decisions before they are communicated.

Didin Nasirudin, Co-Founder and Managing Director of Bening Communication, sees this shift as an opportunity to broaden the meaning of PR leadership. His career has moved through management, journalism, public relations, entrepreneurship, political communication, and geopolitical commentary.

A Nuclear Engineering graduate from Gadjah Mada University, he entered the corporate world after Indonesia’s planned nuclear-power project did not materialize, later moving into media during the country’s political reform era before beginning his formal PR career in December 1999.

Over the years, Nasirudin has complemented practical experience with professional PR training, a master’s degree in communication science, and doctoral studies in political communications and diplomacy.

The academic environment has brought him into dialogue with parliament members, political party activists, government officials, academicians, researchers, and policy practitioners, deepening his understanding of how institutions and political actors think.

His longstanding interest in U.S. politics and geopolitics has further strengthened his scenario-based approach. For Nasirudin, these experiences increasingly converge around one idea: communications professionals create greater value when they move upstream—from explaining decisions to helping leaders read the environment, anticipate stakeholder reactions, and make better-informed choices. In this interview, he discusses how that thinking is shaping Bening Communication and his own role.

How would you describe Bening Communication’s evolution, market position, and approach to staying relevant in a changing PR landscape?

I see Bening Communication as a malleable organization. We have evolved from a traditional PR agency into a broader communications and advisory platform, with experience serving more than 150 local and international organizations across technology and other industries.

Media relations remains important, but today it sits alongside content, events, digital and social media, KOL engagement, community engagement, government relations, crisis and issue management, and media intelligence.

Staying relevant means asking what clients will need next - not only how to gain visibility, but how to understand stakeholders, interpret risks, and communicate credibly in a fast-changing environment.

How does Bening Communication adapt its communication strategies to meet the diverse and evolving needs of clients across industries?

We start from the business problem rather than from a predetermined PR tool. Different organizations face different combinations of reputational, regulatory, political, commercial, and stakeholder challenges. We identify which audiences and institutions matter, what concerns them, how to frame an issue, and which engagements can build trust and legitimacy.

In government and stakeholder relations, access is only a starting point; strategy requires stakeholder mapping, policy analysis, issue positioning, narrative development, and sustained engagement. Increasingly, we support that work with research, real-time media and social intelligence, and scenario thinking.

How would you describe your leadership style, and how do you foster flexibility, openness, and innovation within your team?

My style is informal, accessible, and hands-on. I want people to feel comfortable bringing ideas, concerns, or disagreements directly to me. At the same time, openness must come with accountability.

I encourage the team to experiment with new services, technologies, and ways of working, but we remain disciplined about quality and results. I stay involved in important materials and engagements because leadership, to me, is not only about delegation. It is about creating freedom for people to grow while maintaining a clear standard and direction.

How have your experiences across engineering, journalism, PR, entrepreneurship, and political communication shaped your approach to communications leadership?

They have taught me to connect disciplines that are often treated separately. Engineering trained me to break complex systems into understandable components. Journalism sharpened my sense of relevance, evidence, and public narrative. PR taught me reputation and stakeholder relationships, while entrepreneurship exposed me directly to uncertainty and commercial risk.

Political communication and doctoral study have deepened my understanding of institutions, power, and political behavior. My interest in geopolitics adds scenario-based thinking. Together, these experiences help me see an issue not only as a communications problem, but as a business, political, stakeholder, and reputational problem at the same time.

What is your long-term vision for Bening Communication, and how do you see the company evolving with the communications industry?

I want Bening Communication to keep moving upstream in the decision-making process. Traditional PR will remain important because storytelling, media relationships, reputation, and trust still matter. But our role can go further.

A consultant may be asked, “How should we communicate this?” A counselor should enter earlier, when leaders are still asking, “What does this mean for us? What are the risks? Who may react? What choices do we have?” I see our future in combining communications discipline with stakeholder intelligence, public affairs, political literacy, and geopolitical awareness so we can become more valuable advisers to senior executives and investors.

Didin Nasirudin, Co-Founder & Managing Director, Bening Communication

Didin Nasirudin is Co-Founder & Managing Director of Bening Communication. He has more than three decades of experience across public relations, media, management, and entrepreneurship, and is pursuing doctoral studies in political communications and diplomacy. He also writes and comments on U.S. politics and geopolitics.