Is AI ready to take a seat?
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The rise and widespread adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) is significantly reshaping the corporate world – from personal digital assistants to complex systems that predict market behaviors, AI is no longer a distant frontier; it is a practical tool used to analyze data, identify risks, and refine decision-making. Companies are using AI solutions for employee productivity improvements, to rapidly analyzing large amounts of data, to assessing risks and identifying mitigations, to recommending strategic decisions.
AI can synthesize large volumes of market data and financial reports into concise insights, empowering directors to make informed decisions faster. Generative AI can simulate scenarios, enabling directors to weigh the risks and benefits of strategic initiatives like market expansions or acquisitions. Risk assessment becomes sharper and more proactive, with AI identifying hidden vulnerabilities in systems and processes.
But could AI go one step further and actually join the boardroom? Could it take on the duties and responsibilities of a director, making decisions alongside—or even replacing—humans? While it may sound futuristic and far-fetched, these question warrants serious consideration from boards of directors.
The board’s responsibilities revolve around three interconnected priorities: conformance, performance, and transformation. However, in a BANI (Brittle, Anxious, Non-linear, and Incomprehensible) world, these roles are becoming increasingly challenging to fulfill.
Particularly, given the non-linearity of today’s problems, directors may not always be able to rely on their past experiences to solve problems of the future. Embracing AI can help contextualize issues from multiple perspectives, draw on non-conventional and disparate data sources, and recommend innovative solutions. As past precedents and traditional approaches no longer guarantee successful outcomes, directors must complement their judgment with insights from AI, which can uncover patterns or predict outcomes beyond human intuition.
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Boards must ensure their organizations comply with a growing maze of legal and governance frameworks. AI tools can streamline compliance monitoring by identifying anomalies, automating repetitive tasks, and tracking regulatory changes in real-time, even across multiple jurisdictions. Generative AI systems like ChatGPT can simplify complex legal texts into actionable insights for board discussions. AI-powered platforms, such as Harvey AI use natural language processing and machine learning to provide whole host of legal solutions.
Looking ahead, if company ledgers adopt blockchain-based systems, AI could simplify verifying financial accuracy to the point of real-time audits. This would significantly reduce the complexity and cost of audit functions, freeing up directors to focus on strategic oversight.
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Boards are tasked with guiding organizations to achieve sustainable growth. AI tools are already enhancing decision-making in this area by optimizing supply chains, modeling financial scenarios, and generating actionable insights. For example, Hong Kong-based Deep Knowledge Ventures famously assigned voting rights to its AI algorithm, VITAL, on investment proposals. The algorithm evaluated factors that humans might overlook, providing an additional layer of decision-making rigor.
Through predictive analytics, AI can highlight underperforming areas, recommend corrective actions, and forecast future outcomes based on macroeconomic or organizational variables. Generative AI tools can simulate market dynamics to guide strategic discussions. Through advanced analytics, AI can identify underperforming segments, uncover new growth opportunities, and optimize resource allocation. For example, predictive algorithms help streamline supply chains by anticipating bottlenecks, as seen in companies like Amazon, which uses AI to enhance operational efficiency.
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Perhaps most importantly, boards must prepare their companies for an unpredictable future. AI is proving indispensable for long-term planning, offering predictive insights into trends and risks. Generative AI enables boards to simulate scenarios across different domains, from technological shifts to global crises, and formulate strategies accordingly.
AI’s capability to detect emerging trends and model potential disruptions makes it invaluable for risk mitigation and long-term planning. Generative AI could go one step further, developing innovative solutions or even drafting strategies for the board to review. IBM’s AI-driven Watson is used by businesses to map out potential risks and opportunities stemming from market disruptions or environmental factors, ensuring boards can adapt and innovate before crises arise.
By leveraging AI, boards can enhance their ability to navigate complexity and chaos—essential qualities in a world increasingly characterized by fragility and uncertainty. AI’s strength lies in its ability to process large datasets, uncover patterns, and provide recommendations grounded in data.
However, AI cannot replicate core human capabilities, such as empathy, ethical judgment, and emotional intelligence. These qualities are indispensable for addressing highly sensitive, complex issues that characterize anxious or incomprehensible scenarios.
Proponents of AI on the board argue that its analytical capabilities, lack of bias, and data-driven objectivity could transform decision-making. AI could reduce blind spots, challenge entrenched perspectives, and provide a broader view of possible futures.
Critics, however, are quick to point out AI’s lack of human skills such as emotional intelligence, intuition, and the ability to engage with stakeholders. Leadership in a boardroom isn’t just about data; it’s about relationships, trust, and navigating the human elements of complex systems—areas where AI falls short.
While AI’s potential is vast, significant ethical and legal hurdles must be addressed before it can be formally included in board decision-making; for example:
Despite these challenges, boards that treat AI as an advisor rather than a replacement stand to benefit greatly from its insights.
The idea of hybrid governance, where humans retain the leadership mantle while working alongside AI advisors, offers a pragmatic path forward. The human touch remains irreplaceable for empathy, judgment, and values, but AI’s ability to drive objectivity and scalability in decision-making is equally indispensable.
While it is unlikely AI will take a formal seat at the table anytime soon, its collaborative role in boardrooms is already significant. AI is increasingly acting as an “advisor,” providing data-driven insights while leaving strategic decisions to human judgment.
Take the example of SoftBank. Its Vision Fund uses advanced AI algorithms to identify high-potential startups for investment, significantly improving decision-making accuracy. Similarly, pharmaceutical companies like AstraZeneca leverage AI to fast-track drug discovery processes, with board oversight focused on how to allocate resources based on AI findings. Even retail giants like Walmart are leveraging AI-driven tools for risk management, which provide predictive insights into supply chain disruptions caused by extreme weather events or geopolitical tensions. These examples show how AI is becoming indispensable for data-rich industries.
In this context, the future of corporate governance seems poised for collaboration. AI could act as an “independent voice” in board discussions—free from biases, conflicts of interest, or exhaustion—augmenting human judgment.
Boards could evolve into “hybrid governance” models, where AI provides the analytical backbone, allowing human directors to focus on judgment, empathy, and long-term strategic vision. This collaborative future acknowledges AI’s strengths while respecting the uniquely human dimensions of governance.
The next wave of governance will require boardrooms to embrace AI not just as a tool but as a key partner in decision-making. Boards can take actionable steps today to prepare for this transition; such as the following:
Governance bodies such as the Institute of Directors can also play a role in promoting AI adoption by educating directors on its capabilities and guiding the development of ethical frameworks for its use.
The question isn’t so much if AI will enter the boardroom but rather how. And while it may never fully take a seat at the table, its impact on governance is already profound and irreversible. The idea of AI formally joining a board is still distant. Significant legal, ethical, and social shifts would be required to enable such a move. Yet, the integration of AI as a “virtual non-executive director” or an advisory system is already gaining traction.
The more successful boards will be those that leverage AI’s analytical capabilities while doubling down on the uniquely human qualities that AI cannot replicate: empathy, adaptability, and ethical reasoning. In a world where decisions must balance data and empathy, logic and leadership, the boardroom of the future will require both human insight and artificial intelligence—working together to build a resilient, adaptable organization.
The future of governance is not an either-or choice between AI and human leadership. It is a collaborative partnership—a synergy between logic and empathy, analytics and wisdom—designed to navigate an increasingly uncertain world. For boards willing to embrace this future, the possibilities are immense. For those hesitant to adapt, the risks of being left behind are even greater.
Corporate governance has long emphasized the value of independent non-executive directors (I-NEDs) for their ability to bring fresh, unbiased perspectives. Is now the right time to embrace AI-NEDs? After all, Artificial intelligence is not a tool of the future; it’s the partner of the present.
A version of this article appeared in Singapore Institute of Directors’ Q2 2025 Directors’ Bulletin.
Could this article have been written by AI? If so, would it be that much of a stretch to expect AI to play a stronger role in the Boardroom? Readers are encouraged to click on the button or scan this QR code to answer a few multiple-choice questions to share their views.
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