“A Pulse Check On AI In The Boardroom” reveals key takeaways from a recent Diligent Institute / Corporate Board Member poll of US public company directors about their use of AI.
Strategic opportunity—AI adoption / advancement was identified as the #1 strategic opportunity in the current business environment by 64% of directors, followed by M&A and strategic partnerships at 58%, with other traditional top priorities such as capital strategy / financing and international expansion trailing significantly at 29% and 14%, respectively.
Prevalence of use—While only 10% of directors are currently using AI regularly, just 2% are not planning on using it for board work, with most directors in various stages of using or dabbling, as detailed here:
Use for board work—Of those using AI for board work, half are using it for meeting preparation and nearly 40% for summarizing information, as follows:
AI tools—Of those directors using AI, nearly half are using open source generative AI such as ChatGPT or Gemini, which poses confidentiality, attorney-client privilege, and other risks (further discussed in the report).
AI policies—Less than one-quarter of directors (22%) reported their boards having adopted formal policies relating to AI governance, ethics, or risk oversight, while 31% say their boards have discussed but not adopted a policy. Notably, nearly 30% indicated that discussion or adoption of policies is on an upcoming meeting agenda; however, nearly 20% said they have not formally discussed or adopted a policy and have no plans to discuss it.
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This post first appeared in the weekly Society Alert!