A Revolution in Governance: How AI Will Make Boards More Effective
- Impact Boards EM
- 9 hours ago
- 2 min read
21 January 2026
Far from making directors redundant, AI will enable boards to see further, act faster and govern better.
A group of academics from INSEAD found that fears about AI and corporate governance are largely misplaced. Board members won't be replaced by robots. Instead, AI will enable human directors to see better, further and faster. In their view, AI will provide transformational support across five core challenges – challenges that boards have faced since their inception – enabling boards to meet them more effectively than ever before.
1. Information: knowledge and competence
AI can synthesise regulatory findings, financial figures, employee feedback and much more. This means boards will have more time to make decisions and think strategically – areas that many boards admit are shortcomings.
2. Time: efficiency and insight
AI can help directors prepare for meetings more swiftly. In addition, AI can recall previous discussions accurately, including integrating relevant new insights. It can also shape pertinent questions to ask executives. Governance will change its rhythm as a result: rather than operating around sporadic sessions, board work will be continuous, reactive and anticipative. Boards will be able to focus on operational issues and more strategic thinking.
3. Action: confidence and decisiveness
AI can provide a near continuous stream of good information. It can also provide efficient forecasts, scenario analyses and risk assessments. Armed with these tools, boards can act swiftly and with greater foresight.
4. Emotion: respect and empathy
Even in the realm of emotions, AI can provide support. First, AI can monitor meetings and note disengagement, tensions, repetition and even fatigue, prompting intervention. Second, by analysing behavioural, decision and communication data over time, AI tools can help ensure that board members are still “fit and proper” for their roles. Increasingly, AI will also play a role in selecting directors. Third, AI can help boards to identify the patterns of deference and control that emerge when, for example, former CEOs serve as chairs, or a chair has become too sympathetic towards a CEO.
5. Spirit: purpose and integrity
Evidently, AI cannot make a direct intervention in matters of the spirit. However, the spirit of the board is only strong when the four other foundational challenges are addressed effectively. Boards often struggle to meet all five challenges: failure in one dimension cannot be offset by greater energies in the others and typically leads to board ineffectiveness. But as we have seen, AI will help boards to meet the challenges of information, time, action and emotion.
Working in partnership
How AI will impact the future remains unknown. But one thing is clear: any fears that AI will make humans redundant on governing boards is misplaced. In fact, we think that the opposite is true: AI will allow boards to be the informed, accountable and anticipative institutions they need to be. As business becomes increasingly automated, boards will need to work effectively to keep their organisations human-centred.
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