Which program should we start with?

If the executives need a plan, start with AI Strategy for Family Enterprise. If the board needs a shared basis to oversee AI, start with Governing AI for Family Enterprise Boards. If both should align from the start, choose the integrated program. We help you choose in an introduction.

How are the owners involved?

Owners and members of the family council shape the intent through interviews before the program. The family council chair can join the second day of Governing AI for Family Enterprise Boards, and an optional session for the family council can follow every program.

What role does the next generation play?

Next-generation family members who work in the business take part in the strategy programs. They interview managers, co-own a business case and take on a first mandate, so they build support across the company.

Do the programs work with a supervisory board?

Yes. In a two-tier system the supervisory board takes the board’s role and the management board the executive role. We use your own terms, your family charter and your governance code.

Where do the programs take place?

At your company, in your boardroom or at a venue of your choice, or on campus at Columbia Business School in New York.

Strategy Workshops

Strategy workshops for family enterprises

Programs in which the executives, the board and the family council of a family enterprise build its AI strategy and agree how it will be governed. The same method as our enterprise programs, with the questions only family enterprises face.

Duration: 2 to 5 days
Participants: Executives, the board and the family council
Starting point: Your own company, family and data
Location: Your company, a venue of your choice, or on campus

Compare the programs Book an introduction →

Why it matters

AI decisions in a family enterprise

Every company that adopts AI has to decide where it creates value, what it costs and who owns it. In a family enterprise, the same decisions touch the family’s values and name, the owners’ capital and dividends, and the next generation’s place in the company. Many of the people deciding hold several roles at once: owner, director, executive, parent. A strategy that overlooks these roles can be sound on paper and still lose the owners’ support.

Companies using AI 9 in 10

use AI regularly in at least one business function.

AI high performers 6%

of companies attribute at least 5% of operating profit (EBIT) to AI.

Boards and AI 66%

of board members and executives say their board has limited or no knowledge of AI.

Our programs

Programs by participant group

The three programs use the same method. They differ in who takes part, how long they run, and how the board and the family council are involved. In the integrated program, executives and the board work on the strategy together. As an option, executives can include their senior management.

For Executives AI Strategy for Family Enterprise The executives of a family enterprise build an AI strategy that serves the owners’ values, continuity and the next generation. Best whenThe family wants a strategy it recognizes as its own 4 days See the program → For Non-Executives Governing AI for Family Enterprise Boards Family and independent directors learn to oversee AI in the owners’ long-term interest, and to explain it to the family. Best whenThe board answers to the family as well as the company 2 days See the program → For Executives and Non-Executives Management and governance in full alignment The executives build the family enterprise’s AI strategy; the board joins on the first day and returns to agree its oversight. Best whenExecutives and the board should align from the start 4 days See the program → Executives + Department Heads Why with your senior management? The strategy is built in the room, and the next generation works with the leaders whose support it will need. Best whenThe next generation must win support across the company 5 days See the program →

Bar length shows the duration, up to 5 days.

How it works

Our method, step by step

Every program follows the same sequence. Each step starts with short faculty input, is practiced on a teaching case (a prepared example from another company) and is then applied to your own company.

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

What every program includes

Your company is the caseFaculty interviews the CEO, family owners and family council members, and executives interview their managers. Directors receive a primer, and the chair a conversation with faculty. A teaching case is used only to practice each step.
Agreed before the program endsBecause the people who decide take part, the strategy, the operating model or the oversight tools are agreed during the program.
Tailored before it startsEvery program is adapted to your industry, size and governance before it starts.
Follow-up and the family councilAn optional review after 90 days, or after the first quarterly AI report for the board, and an optional session for the family council on the strategy and on reporting to owners.

How we frame the work

The family enterprise lens

Every family program looks at AI through three overlapping circles. In a two-tier family company, the supervisory board often carries the owners’ view; on a one-tier board, family and independent directors sit with the executives. The programs fit both.

1Business2Family3Ownership Fully backed AI strategy

1
BusinessWhere AI creates value, at what cost and risk
2
FamilyValues, the family name and the next generation
3
OwnershipLong-term capital, dividends and control
AI Strategy: carried by allA strategy the business can run and the family can stand behind.

Based on the three-circle model of the family business (Tagiuri and Davis).

Side by side

Compare the programs

	For Executives AI Strategy for Family Enterprise 4 days	For Non-Executives Governing AI for Family Enterprise Boards 2 days	For Executives and Non-Executives Board-Aligned AI Strategy for Family Enterprise 4 days	Option Senior Management 5 days
Who takes part	Family and non-family executives, including the next generation	Family and independent directors	Executives, with the board on the first day and the closing session	Executives, the next generation and department heads
Focus	Strategy shaped by the family’s values and long-term horizon	Oversight in the owners’ long-term interest	Strategy by executives, oversight agreed with the board	Strategy built with the people who run the work
Preparation	Owner interviews; executives interview managers	A short primer and a conversation with the chair	Owner and manager interviews; a primer for directors	Light: a one-page sheet per department
Board’s role	Background	The board is the participant	Joins Day 1 and the closing session	Background
Family council’s role	Interviewed in preparation; optional session after the program	Council chair may join Day 2; optional session after the program	Interviewed in preparation; optional session after the program	Interviewed in preparation; optional session after the program
Main outputs	Strategy, operating model, next-generation plan, reporting to owners	Oversight charter, risk appetite, dashboard, reporting to the family	Strategy plus board metrics and reporting to the family	Strategy plus an AI plan per function
Best when	The family wants a strategy it recognizes as its own	The board answers to the family as well as the company	Executives and the board should align from the start	The next generation must win support across the company
	See the program →	See the program →	See the program →	See the program →

Operating model: Who owns AI, who decides, and how new ideas are found.
Oversight charter: What the board decides, what its committees cover, and what is brought to it.
Risk appetite: How much AI risk the company accepts, and where.
AI dashboard: A regular report on AI use, value and risk.

Who takes part

Who is in the room

Each program brings together the people whose support the AI strategy needs. Their roles differ by program.

Executive team membersFamily and non-family executives who build and run the AI strategy
Department and team headsThe managers who report to the executives and run the work
The boardFamily and independent directors who oversee management

Family

Next generationFamily members working in the business, preparing for future roles
Family councilThe body that represents the owning family
OwnersFamily shareholders, including those who do not work in the business

Participation by program

Who is in the room
Family
	For Executives AI Strategy for Family Enterprise 4 days	For Non-Executives Governing AI for Family Enterprise Boards 2 days	For Executives and Non-Executives Board-Aligned AI Strategy for Family Enterprise 4 days	Option Senior Management 5 days
Executive team members	Takes part throughout: All four days	Optional: CEO and CFO can join the close	Takes part throughout: All four days	Takes part throughout: All five days
Department and team heads	Interviewed beforehand: Interviewed by executives	Not in the room	Interviewed beforehand: Interviewed by executives	Takes part throughout: All five days
The board	Not in the room	Takes part throughout: The board is the participant	Joins for part of the program: Day 1 and the closing session	Not in the room
Next generation	Takes part throughout: Takes part	Not in the room	Takes part throughout: Takes part	Takes part throughout: Takes part
Family council	Interviewed beforehand: Optional session after the program	Optional: Chair may join Day 2; optional session after	Interviewed beforehand: Optional session after the program	Interviewed beforehand: Optional session after the program
Owners	Interviewed beforehand	Not in the room	Interviewed beforehand	Interviewed beforehand

Each group in the format that fits its role

1Executive programsFour or five days
2Board programTwo days
3Family council sessionA short optional session after the program

Outputs

What participants take home

Strategy programs, for executives

AI strategyGrounded in the family’s values and long-term horizon
ROI casesPayback and long-term value for the strongest opportunities
18-month roadmapPhased, with a check before each new investment
Operating modelWho owns AI and who decides, in line with the family charter
Next-generation planAI roles and a mandate across the company
Reporting to ownersA report format for the family council, trusts and shareholders

Board program, for directors

Oversight charterWhat the board decides and what is brought to it
Risk appetiteHow much AI risk the company accepts, rooted in the family’s values
AI dashboardThe regular AI reports the board will ask for
Reporting to the familyA report format for the family council and trusts
Capital principlesHow AI investment and dividends are balanced over time
Annual AI agendaFor the board: reviews, independent checks and director education

Family

Family and next generation

How the programs develop next-generation family members and help the generations plan together.

Training the next generation

Executives

Successors learn most from real assignments with visible results, and their authority depends on the support of owners, directors and long-serving managers. Building the AI strategy gives next-generation family members both: work that matters to the company and a track record others can judge.

Before the programInterviewsInterview managers alongside the executives, using our interview method
During the programA value caseCo-own the business case for one AI use
After the programA first mandateRun the routine for collecting new AI ideas from every function
Over timeA wider mandateEarned with results

Steps to earn a mandate

1Map who decides and who influences them
2Win people over, one by one
3Prepare the decision in private conversations
4Make the case and ask for the mandate

Working across generations

ExecutivesBoard

Generations often differ in how familiar they are with AI, and the difference shows quickly once they plan together. Handled openly, it gives each generation something to learn from the other.

Explain-back exercise: One person explains an AI term and the other repeats it. Where meanings drift, the gap shows.
Mixed-generation pairs: Younger and older family members work in pairs, so each learns from the other.
The senior generation’s role: Never presented as out of date. Its judgment and relationships are inputs the strategy needs.

Ownership

Ownership: values, capital and reporting

How the family’s values become rules for AI, how AI investment is weighed against dividends, and how the strategy is explained to owners.

Family values as AI rules

ExecutivesBoard

The programs use the family’s values as the starting point for AI governance. Owners usually know what the company will never do, and those limits translate directly into rules.

The owners’ red linesWhat the company will never do
Risk appetiteHow much AI risk is acceptable, and where
AI use rulesWhat is allowed, with which checks

Conflicts between values and efficiency are discussed as real cases. A no-layoff tradition, for example, can conflict with an AI case that removes work.

Long-term investment and dividends

ExecutivesBoardFamily council

AI investment and dividends draw on the same cash. Shareholders who do not work in the business feel the trade-off first; left implicit, it turns into quiet conflict between owners.

Funded from the same cash

AI investmentBuilds capability over several years; benefits arrive gradually

DividendsIncome for shareholders now; felt first by those who do not work in the business

The trade-off is made explicit, and continuity becomes a concrete question: what will this investment protect for the next generation?

Owners’ goals beyond payback

Executives

Family owners weigh more than financial return. A ranking on payback alone can put first the cases the owners are least likely to support.

Each business case is scored on

Payback
Family control
Reputation
Long-serving staff
Local community

The people plan, who is affected and how they are supported, states unwritten employment promises explicitly.

Family council session

Family council

Many owners never sit on the board, yet their support decides whether long-term AI investment holds. The family council, which represents them, needs the strategy explained without confidential board detail.

Reporting to the family council covers

Values
Capital
Continuity
People

An optional session after the program, on shareholder engagement and reporting outside the boardroom, with rules agreed in advance on what may leave the boardroom.

Business

Business: knowledge, leadership and risk

How the programs protect know-how, set leadership roles for AI, and address risks that reach both the family and the company.

Knowledge at risk when people leave

ExecutivesBoard

When the senior generation or long-serving managers leave, their know-how and relationships go with them. Capturing that knowledge with AI is central to the programs, and it must happen while those people are still in the company.

People leavingSenior generation, long-serving managers
What they takeKnow-how and relationships, rarely written down
Captured with AIUsable by successors

Knowledge at risk is mapped as an AI use when opportunities are found, and knowledge transfer goes on the board’s continuity agenda.

Family and non-family executives

Executives

Most family enterprises are led by family and non-family executives together. AI ownership assigned without regard to family governance creates conflict later.

AI ownership and decision rights follow the family charter, the family’s written agreement on its role in the business. A non-family CEO gets a clear mandate from the owners.

Risks specific to family enterprises

Board

The family and the company are closely linked, so some AI risks reach both.

The family name: Exposed in any AI incident
Impersonation fraud: Cloned voices or video of family members
Privacy: Family and wealth data
Vendor dependence: Reliance on one vendor

Covered in the risk session of Governing AI for Family Enterprise Boards.

Next step

How an engagement runs

01Initial conversationYour situation, your goals and the people who should take part
02TailoringThe program is adapted to your industry, size and governance
03PreparationInterviews with owners, family council members and managers, or a primer and a conversation with the chair
04Program daysLearn, practice and apply each step to your own company
05Follow-upAn optional review and an optional family council session

One company per programEach program is run for one family enterprise, so its data and discussions stay within the company and the family.
Where it takes placeThe program comes to you, or to a venue of your choice; the board can meet in its own boardroom. Every program can also run on campus.
Agenda agreed with youDetailed agendas and logistics follow after the initial conversation.

Enterprise

Not a family enterprise?

The enterprise programs follow the same method without the family questions, and are a day or half a day shorter.

For Enterprises →

Also on campus in New YorkEvery program can run at your company or in your boardroom, or on campus at Columbia Business School, where our founder teaches AI. About the campus option →

Frequently asked

Which program should we start with?
If the executives need a plan, start with AI Strategy for Family Enterprise. If the board needs a shared basis to oversee AI, start with Governing AI for Family Enterprise Boards. If both should align from the start, choose the integrated program. We help you choose in an introduction.
How are the owners involved?
Owners and members of the family council shape the intent through interviews before the program. The family council chair can join the second day of Governing AI for Family Enterprise Boards, and an optional session for the family council can follow every program.
What role does the next generation play?
Next-generation family members who work in the business take part in the strategy programs. They interview managers, co-own a business case and take on a first mandate, so they build support across the company.
Do the programs work with a supervisory board?
Yes. In a two-tier system the supervisory board takes the board’s role and the management board the executive role. We use your own terms, your family charter and your governance code.
Where do the programs take place?
At your company, in your boardroom or at a venue of your choice, or on campus at Columbia Business School in New York.

Find the program that fits

Tell us about your company, your family and who should take part. We will propose the program that fits and how to adapt it.

Book an introduction Guided implementation →