FT BOARD DIRECTOR PROGRAMME NEWSLETTER

In a recent article from the FT’s special report on AI and Leadership, IBM’s UK and Ireland chief executive Leon Butler claimed that companies are playing ‘catch-up on governance’ when it comes to AI. 

According to a recent survey conducted by the tech company, ‘80 per cent of executives in Europe, the Middle East and Africa said that an AI-related incident reached their board or C-suite’ in the past year. What is more concerning is that ‘only 40 percent changed AI governance policy or frameworks in response.’ 

The accelerating rate of AI advancement is something that few of us can control. This technology will continue to evolve, and with it will come fundamental changes to the global business world. The one thing every board member can control is their own response to these challenges, and the board as a whole must commit to learning from every issue that comes to light and adapting accordingly. In other words, ‘governance must evolve with technology’.

This could mean setting new frameworks for AI agents, such as Salesforce, where the company

has ‘adapted to the era of AI agents with principles that include conducting bias assessments, testing adversarial scenarios and accuracy.’ 

Every governance update must also include comprehensive training to ensure that the changes are properly understood and initialised across all levels of the business. However, when the technology itself is evolving at lightning speed, this training must also be nimble and adaptive. 

Onur Bakiner, director of the Technology Ethics Initiative at Seattle University, recommends that businesses ‘maintain a dynamic list of scenarios, especially the grey-area situations where businesses have to weigh the risks against the benefits.’

Until next time, 

Lottie and the FT Board Director Programme team