Top board trends in 2026
- Impact Boards EM
- Dec 15, 2025
- 2 min read
Boards entered 2025 facing rising risk, economic volatility and an urgent mandate to modernise oversight. Diligent recently hosted the Elevate Leadership Summit, a by‑invitation gathering of corporate directors and executives alongside a curated set of experts, for confidential, Chatham House Rule-style discussions to dissect these issues and look to the future of corporate governance.
Across sessions, a clear through‑line emerged: the most effective boards are shifting from moving from passive oversight to active, data‑driven governance with disciplined processes and human judgment at the centre.
Here’s what their expert speakers and experienced director attendees had to say about the trends to watch out for in 2026:
Active, data-driven governance overtakes passive oversight – Boards are shifting toward proactive governance augmented by AI to handle risk and strategic priorities rather than relying on traditional passive oversight models.
AI governance focuses on real usage metrics – Effective AI oversight requires measuring how tools are actually used, pairing this with cultural encouragement and targeted “lighthouse” projects that demonstrate value.
Culture oversight needs richer, anonymised data – Boards should expand culture monitoring beyond legacy tools, using broader anonymised insights while protecting individuals to better understand employee sentiment and risks.
AI literacy and cybersecurity remain essential – Boards must ensure directors and organisations have strong AI knowledge and foundational security practices, including bias testing, human oversight and cyber defences.
Crisis response protocols and early red-flag detection – Pre-defined escalation plans and AI-enabled monitoring help surface potential fraud or crisis signals quickly and provide structured first-72-hour responses.
Board–executive dynamics and succession planning evolve – Scrutiny around board composition and CEO turnover underscores the need for clear role expectations, continuous succession planning and third-party evaluations.
Compensation and diversity strengthen oversight – Boards are recalibrating executive pay with qualitative assessments and recognising that asking better questions and having diverse perspectives improve risk oversight and governance effectiveness.
