Board Leadership Center insights

As Generative AI (GenAI) moves from market buzz toward business value and large-scale rollout, it is critical that boards understand the opportunities and risks posed by the technology, including how GenAI is being used by the company, how it is generating business value, and how the company is managing and mitigating its risks.

The Board Leadership Center provides guidance and insights for new and experienced board members, from becoming a non-executive director through to the questions you should be asking once you’re on-boarded.

​Boards have to cover a wide range of issues. Time is limited, so asking the right questions is critical. Our boardroom questions series is designed to help directors frame their boardroom challenge.

Boards have made strides in monitoring management’s cybersecurity effectiveness. However, the growing sophistication and creativity of cyber attackers means that cybersecurity continues to be a key challenge.

Furthermore, the explosive growth in the use of GenAI is also prompting more rigorous assessments of a company’s data governance framework and processes more generally, as well as the steps being taken to help ensure that management’s cybersecurity risk management practices are keeping pace with increasingly sophisticated cyber threats enabled by GenAI.

How companies address climate change, human capital management (HCM), diversity, and other ESG issues continues to be viewed by many investors, research and ratings firms, activists, employees, customers, and regulators as fundamental to the business and critical to long-term value creation.

Geopolitical and economic risks, combined with the potential for political and social disruption posed by disinformation and cyberattacks, will continue to drive volatility and uncertainty. Board need to help management reassess the company’s processes for identifying the risks and opportunities posed by this global disruption – and the impact on the company’s long-term strategy and related capital allocation decisions. They also need to help the company test its strategic assumptions and keep sight of how the big picture is changing: connecting dots, thinking differently, and staying agile and alert to what’s happening in the world.

Having and retaining the talent required is increasingly important, and any talent plan should align with strategy and future needs. Leaders need to identify the new skills and capabilities that will be required in the future. Getting culture right also requires a laser focus on the tone at the top. Corporate culture needs to be embedded in strategic discussions, risk management and compliance, performance, and the incentives driving these activities.

Talent management extends beyond employees, to the board. Succession planning is a dynamic and ongoing process, and boards must always be thinking about developing profiles for potential candidates. Board composition and diversity should continue to be a key area of board focus.

The increasing complexity and fusion of risks unfolding simultaneously requires a more holistic approach to risk management and oversight. At the same time, investors, regulators, rating firms, and other stakeholders are demanding higher-quality disclosures – particularly on climate, GenAI, cybersecurity, and other ESG risks – and about how boards and their committees oversee the management of these risks.

The Board Leadership Center provides guidance and resources to audit committees, helping to facilitate the skills and knowledge required for this challenging job.

From induction and onboarding to tendering and ongoing operations, these insights are designed to help you in your audit committee governance and keep up to date with what’s on the audit committee’s agenda, the questions you should be asking, and the emerging and disruptive trends you should be considering.

Discover the key takeaways and recordings of our events and webinars from the past two years.