For Family Enterprises For family and independent directors

Governing AI for Family Enterprise Boards

Two days for the family and independent directors of a family enterprise: understand AI, judge its risks, ask for the right reports, and oversee AI in the owners’ long-term interest.

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Family enterprise · For Non-Executives
Duration
2 days
Who takes part
Family and independent directors
Where
Your boardroom, a venue of your choice, or on campus
Back to overview
Why it matters

Beyond risk and return

In a family enterprise, AI oversight goes beyond risk and return. It touches the family name, the firm’s independence, the commitments made to long-serving staff, and the balance between investment and dividends. The board also answers to owners outside the boardroom, such as the family council and trusts. The program prepares directors for both: overseeing AI in the company and explaining it to the family.

Boards and AI 66%

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

Not on the agenda 31%

say AI is not yet on their board’s agenda.

AI high performers 6%

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

How we frame the work

Oversight questions for the board

1Business2Family3Ownership Board oversight
  1. 1
    BusinessIs AI creating value, and are its risks under control?
  2. 2
    FamilyDoes it respect our values, our name and our people?
  3. 3
    OwnershipDoes it fit our horizon, capital and dividend policy?
  4. Board oversight: carried by allOversight that serves the company and its owners over the long term.

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

The program

Day by day for the board

Before the program, directors receive a short primer and six readiness questions, and we speak with the chair and review current AI activity, the risk register, the family charter and recent family council reports. Because the directors take part, the oversight tools are agreed in the room. The second day ends with ownership and continuity: investment and dividends, family values and the next generation.

Duration
2 days
Who takes part
Family and independent directors
Preparation
A short primer and a conversation with the chair
Where
Your boardroom, a venue of your choice, or on campus
  1. Day 1 Understanding AI, oversight and risk Output Shared AI vocabulary; what the family protects; draft charter and risk appetite
  2. Day 2 Reporting, ownership and continuity Output Dashboard design, annual AI agenda, reporting format for the family, capital principles
What you take home
  • 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 ownersA 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
  1. 01PreparationInterviews and reading, so the program starts from your own situation
  2. 02LearnShort faculty input on one part of the strategy or of oversight
  3. 03PracticeThe step is tried first on a teaching case
  4. 04ApplyYour team or board applies it to your own company
  5. 05Follow-upAn optional review once the first results are in

Every program is adapted to your industry, size and governance before it starts.

Tools the board builds

Risk tiers and the dashboard

Rating AI uses by impact
  1. Not allowedUses the company has ruled out
  2. Board attentionHigh impact on customers, people, money or safety
  3. Controls and monitoringHuman review, testing and regular checks
  4. Left to managementLow impact, standard rules apply
What the AI dashboard can showIllustrative
  • Value against plan
  • Adoption
  • AI uses by risk tier
  • Incidents
  • Compliance actions
  • Family council report
Annual AI agenda for the board
  1. First quarterStrategy and investment review
  2. Second quarterRisk review and list of AI uses
  3. Third quarterIndependent review of key controls
  4. Fourth quarterDirector education and the annual family council update

Who takes part

  • Family directorsRepresent the owners’ perspective, both days
  • Independent directorsBring outside experience and challenge, both days
  • Family council chairConnects the board’s oversight with the wider family; can join the second day
  • CEO and CFOCan join the close to receive the board’s reporting requests
Management

Should management take part?

This program is for the board only, so directors can speak freely about their own role and the family’s concerns. The CEO and CFO can join the close to hear which reports the board will ask for. When the executives and the board should build the strategy together, choose the integrated program.

Strengths
  • Directors speak freely about their own role and concerns
  • A clear line between oversight and management
  • The CEO and CFO still hear the board’s reporting requests
Trade-offs
  • Management does not see how directors reached their view
  • Board and management align later, in the boardroom
For Executives and Non-Executives Board-Aligned AI Strategy for Family Enterprise 4 days
EU AI Act

Key dates for boards

Dates as amended in 2026 by Regulation (EU) 2026/1744. Which rules apply depends on how your company uses AI and how risky that use is.

  1. Feb 2, 2025 Banned uses of AI

    Some uses of AI are prohibited.

    In force
  2. Aug 2, 2025 Rules for general-purpose AI

    Duties for the companies that provide general-purpose AI models.

    In force
  3. Aug 2, 2026 Most other rules

    Including telling people when they deal with AI or with content made by AI.

    In force
  4. Dec 2, 2027 High-risk uses of AI

    Such as recruitment, credit scoring and access to essential services.

    Prepare now
  5. Aug 2, 2028 AI in regulated products

    Such as medical devices, machinery and toys.

    Prepare now

The program also covers the NIST AI Risk Management Framework and ISO/IEC 42001, the international standard for AI management.

Enterprise

The enterprise version

Governing AI for Boards covers the same oversight tools in a day and a half, without ownership and continuity.

Governing AI for Boards Directors learn what AI changes, how to judge its risks and what to ask management for. 1.5 days
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 →

Questions directors ask

  • Do directors need technical knowledge?

    No. Directors learn what AI can and cannot do, and how it fails, in plain business terms. They also try an AI assistant on a set of meeting papers.

  • Does the program cover the EU AI Act?

    Yes, together with the NIST AI Risk Management Framework and ISO/IEC 42001. We check which rules apply to your company before the program.

  • Is this for supervisory boards too?

    Yes. The program works for one-tier boards and for supervisory boards in two-tier systems, with family and independent members.

  • Can the family council take part?

    The family council chair can join the second day. The program also builds the report format the family council and trusts will receive.

  • What happens after the program?

    An optional review after the first quarterly AI report, with the family council chair if the board wishes.

Ask us → For Family Enterprises →

Plan your board’s program

A first conversation with the chair about your board and where it stands on AI.

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