Board-Aligned AI Strategy
Three and a half days in which the executive team builds the company’s AI strategy, with the non-executive board joining on the first day and for the closing session. Both sides work from the same understanding from the start.
- Duration
- 3.5 days
- Who takes part
- Executive team, with the non-executive board on the first day and the closing session
- Where
- Your company, a venue of your choice, or on campus
Align at the start
When management drafts an AI plan and the non-executive board reviews it later, each side works from its own assumptions, and time goes into resolving differences that could have been settled at the start. This program starts and ends with the board in the room. At the close, executives and directors agree how the board will oversee the strategy; the strategy itself is not put to a vote.
What a strategy must reconcile
An AI strategy holds only where three things meet. Where only two overlap, something is missing.
- 1What AI can doWhich tasks it can improve today, at what cost and risk
- 2What the company stands forCustomers, people, values and the limits the owners set
- 3What the board will supportInvestment, oversight and the evidence directors need
- AI StrategyA strategy the company can fund, run and stand behind.
- Right, but unfunded
- Funded, but off-mission
- Supported, but not feasible
Who is in the room
Each group joins where its knowledge or authority is needed. Before the program, we interview the CEO, the chair and representatives of the owners, each executive interviews two or three managers, and directors receive a short primer on AI. The closing session can be held in person or by video call.
- Duration
- 3.5 days
- Who takes part
- Executive team, with the non-executive board on the first day and the closing session
- Preparation
- Manager interviews, and a primer for directors
- Where
- Your company, a venue of your choice, or on campus
- Day 1 AI ambition, limits and risk Output Ambition, limits and risk appetite With the non-executive board
- Day 2 Priorities and business cases Output Scored list of opportunities and business cases
- Day 3 Roadmap and operating model Output Strategy, roadmap, operating model and draft dashboard
- Day 4, half day Closing session Output Board metrics, dashboard and oversight charter agreed With the non-executive board
| Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4, half day | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Non-executives | Shared language, ambition, risk appetite | Not in the room | Not in the room | Challenge; agree metrics, dashboard and charter |
| Executives | Shared language, ambition, risk appetite | Choices and business cases | Roadmap, operating model, draft dashboard | Present the strategy |
- AI strategyBuilt by the executive team, tested by the non-executive board
- Operating modelWho owns AI, who decides, how new ideas surface
- AI dashboardA regular report on AI use, value and risk, with thresholds agreed with the board
- Oversight charterWhat the board decides, what its committees cover, and what is brought to it
- 18-month roadmapWith a check before each new investment
- Shared languageOne understanding of AI across the non-executive board and management
- 01PreparationInterviews and reading, so the program starts from your own situation
- 02LearnShort faculty input on one part of the strategy or of oversight
- 03PracticeThe step is tried first on a teaching case
- 04ApplyYour team or board applies it to your own company
- 05Follow-upAn optional review once the first results are in
Every program is adapted to your industry, size and governance before it starts.
How opportunities are sorted
Every opportunity is rated on the value it creates and on how feasible it is with today’s data, systems, risks and costs.
Who takes part
- CEO and executive teamBuild and own the strategy, in every session
- Non-executive or supervisory board membersSet the frame on the first day and agree how they will oversee AI at the close
- Closing sessionIn person or by video call
Should senior management join?
The integrated program keeps the room to the two boards, so that directors and executives can settle ambition, risk appetite and oversight between them. When department heads should help build the strategy, the executive program with senior management adds them and one extra day; directors can join its final day.
- The two boards settle ambition and oversight between them
- A smaller room for sensitive choices
- Shorter than adding a full day for senior management
- Department heads are not in the room when choices are made
- Function plans and owners follow after the program
The family enterprise version
Executives and the board start together on family values, ambition and risk. The executives then build the strategy, including the next generation’s role, and the board returns to agree how it will oversee AI and what the family council will receive. Owners and the family council contribute through interviews before the program.
Frequently asked
Does the board approve the strategy at the close?
No. Directors challenge the strategy and agree how they will oversee it: the metrics, the dashboard and the charter. The strategy itself is not put to a vote, so the line between management and oversight stays clear.
Does it work with a supervisory board?
Yes. In a two-tier system the supervisory board joins the first day and the closing session, and the management board builds the strategy.
Can the closing session be held online?
Yes, it can be held in person or by video call.
What happens after the program?
An optional review after 90 days with executives and directors, against the first roadmap check and the first report to the board.
Bring both boards together
A first conversation with the CEO and the chair about your company and where you are with AI.