Board Agenda

Boards should sharpen their strategic engagement, with a stronger focus on scenario planning, agility, and crisis readiness.

In this current fluid economic environment, shaped by global conflicts, trade tensions and shifting domestic policies, companies face risks from cybersecurity, climate change, AI, and emerging technologies.

To navigate this uncertainty, boards need to take an active, forward-looking role in strategy and ensure robust planning and resilience measures are firmly in place.

A clear understanding of the company’s AI strategy, its risks and opportunities, and the governance and talent required to deploy the technology, is a necessity for boards.

AI is reshaping business models, offering major benefits while introducing complex challenges - from data integrity and cybersecurity to regulatory compliance and reputational risk.

Have boardroom conversations addressed whether material or strategically significant sustainability issues, such as climate risk, energy transition, supply chain impacts and workforce diversity, been appropriately identified?

How are these sustainability issues addressed at a strategic level and embedded into core business activities to support long-term performance? Have the relevant reporting requirements and their implications been analyzed?

Has it clearly been communicated, both internally and externally, which sustainability topics are strategically important, and explained the reasons behind these priorities?

Although management and boards have invested heavily in strengthening cyber resilience, the landscape is shifting quickly.

The rise in ransomware, data corruption, and model poisoning incidents underscore the need for vigilant oversight, while advances in quantum computing may soon threaten current encryption standards.

To meet these challenges, many organizations benefit from having a board committee with dedicated cybersecurity expertise, establishing an advisory group, or drawing on external specialists to provide the necessary insights.

The rapid expansion of AI and broader digitalization is driving the need for more rigorous oversight of how data is managed and protected.

A robust data governance framework makes clear what data is being collected, how it is stored, managed and used, and who makes decisions on these matters.

It assigns responsibility for data governance across the enterprise and the specific roles and determines which vendors and third parties may have access to the company’s data and defines their obligations to protect it.

Clarifying and refining risk oversight roles at the board and committee levels continue to be a challenge.

Stakeholders, including investors, regulators, ratings agencies and others, expect high-quality disclosure on climate, cybersecurity, AI, and other sustainability related risks, as well as transparent reporting on how boards and their committees oversee these areas.

The board and the standing committees play a significant role in supporting this alignment, monitoring performance rigorously and ensuring that the company’s culture is consistent with its aspirations.