As companies move AI from experimentation into core operations—and weigh whether to buy, build, or license AI capabilities—boards and CEOs need a clearer shared view of where the organization is, where it needs to go, and what risks come with moving too slowly or without enough coordination. This conversation will explore how AI is changing decision-making, accountability, and execution speed, while also raising new questions around cyber resilience, organizational change, and workforce readiness.
The format is deliberately interactive. Our panel will frame a small number of foundational questions—about pace, accountability, change management, and governance boundaries—and then turn the conversation to the room. Attendees will break into short table discussions to reflect on how these tensions are playing out inside their own organizations before returning to the panel to surface patterns. The session culminates in a shared view of the leadership agenda boards and CEOs must own together in 2026: how to move with urgency while managing risk, leading through disruption, and protecting long-term value.
Board Member, Accendra Health (formerly known as Owens & Minor)
Board Member, Shipwell and Everyrealm Inc.; 4-Time AI Company Founder
This highly interactive session will help directors and CEOs pinpoint where AI can unlock real competitive advantage—while applying enough discipline to measure ROI, scale what works, and stop what doesn’t.
Why do some companies escape pilot purgatory while others stall? Which business models are already shifting under AI pressure, and what early signals indicate an initiative is drifting off course? After each panel exchange, attendees will break into table discussions to test these ideas against their own organizations—surfacing hidden value, identifying where momentum is stalling, and debating which AI bets deserve more investment or sharper scrutiny. The goal is to help boards diagnose barriers to speed and determine which AI investments should be accelerated to create economic advantage.
Board Member, Credit Suisse Funds; Chief Data Scientist, Numerati Partners
Former Head of AI & Machine Learning, Stripe
Imagine this:
These aren’t hypotheticals—they’re happening now. Throughout the day, short AI Interstitials will spotlight startups already redefining these markets—collapsing cost structures, resetting customer expectations, and moving from prototype to scale in weeks, not years. Each interstitial offers a focused glimpse into where disruption is taking hold—and why boards and CEOs of large enterprises cannot afford to move slowly as AI rewrites the competitive landscape.
Chief Technology Officer, Capital Access Platforms, Nasdaq
Head of AI and Modern Data Strategy, Amazon Web Services
As AI moves from pilots into core operations, boards must oversee not just where it creates value, but where it introduces risk. This session will introduce a framework for practically governing AI across five areas: risk classification (Triage), data integrity, continuous monitoring, human oversight, and technical documentation.
The conversation will focus on what this looks like in practice, with a deeper dive on how organizations classify AI use cases by risk and determine where board visibility and oversight are required. Attendees will then apply this lens in a brief table discussion, examining how their own organizations are prioritizing AI use cases—and where governance may not yet match the level of risk.
CEO and Founder, Global Data Innovation; Author, Trust: Responsible AI, Innovation, Privacy and Data Leadership
In this spotlight, attendees will see how Reuters is deploying AI across its global newsroom to accelerate news production while preserving editorial standards, guardrails, and trust. The demo will also show how Reuters is enabling its 2,700 journalists to experiment with AI in practical, entrepreneurial ways—within a system designed to keep safety, quality, and accountability intact.
Global Editor for AI Development and Integration, Reuter
During lunch, attendees select one of three concurrent workshops designed for deeper, application-focused learning in smaller groups.
AI is rapidly reshaping how deals are sourced, evaluated, and integrated—often in ways boards don’t fully see. This workshop explores how leading companies are using AI to accelerate diligence, surface hidden risks, assess cultural and operational fit, and improve post-deal integration outcomes—while also examining where over-reliance on AI, poor data quality, or weak governance can quietly undermine deal value. Attendees will leave with a practical lens for evaluating when AI strengthens M&A decisions—and when it introduces new, often invisible, risks.
President, Cantellus Group; Former Chief Data and AI Officer, Mastercard
As interest in agentic AI accelerates, boards face a new strategic question: not whether agents are possible, but where they make sense. Boards are increasingly being asked to approve initiatives without a clear strategic frame for why agents are being deployed—and to what end. This workshop will help directors and CEOs evaluate the strategic business case and operating implications for agentic AI before questions of oversight, controls, and accountability arise. The discussion will focus on when agentic AI should be viewed as workforce augmentation rather than automation, how operating models and organizational design must adapt, and why architectural choices—such as sovereign or enterprise-controlled agents—matter more than most boards realize. We’ll focus on the questions boards should be asking management at the decision stage: what problem is truly being solved, what human roles are being changed, and what dependencies are being created that may be difficult to unwind later.
Group Chief Technology Officer, Atos Group
Generative AI is rapidly becoming a quiet but powerful partner in board oversight—helping directors synthesize complex materials, compare strategic scenarios, and challenge management’s assumptions with greater precision. In this practical, hands-on session, we’ll show how boards are incorporating AI into their meeting preparation, committee work, and strategic reviews without crossing the line into management territory.
The focus is on governance, not software: simple prompts that elevate oversight, examples of how AI can streamline agenda prep and risk reviews, and the boundaries directors must uphold to avoid accuracy, confidentiality, and over-reliance pitfalls. You’ll leave with a practical “Boardroom AI Quick-Start Guide” outlining the 5 highest-value, lowest-risk ways directors can begin using AI immediately.
CEO, TGN Consulting
Participants will break into a second set of concurrent workshops to look at what boards must be asking next.
As organizations accelerate AI adoption, work is being redesigned to produce answers faster, but not always better decisions. Over time, this can weaken ownership and erode the organization’s ability to execute on its most important strategic bets.
This session reframes AI from a technology initiative to a decision-making and governance risk. It surfaces where current adoption patterns are already weakening thinking, ownership, and capability if left unmanaged. This is not just an operational shift. It is a human transition and organizational transformation. As roles and expectations change, people must reorient how they add value and contribute. When this is not led well, decision quality, innovation and capability decline as your best talent walks out the door. Directors and executives will leave with a clear lens for governing AI and the leadership required to ensure people can effectively adopt AI and continue to contribute at a high level as work changes, so that human performance strengthens as the business evolves.
CEO, TGN Consulting
AI is transforming cybersecurity on both sides of the equation—giving defenders new tools while dramatically increasing the speed, scale, and sophistication of attacks. This workshop will help directors and CEOs understand how AI is changing the threat landscape, from automated phishing and deepfakes to AI-driven vulnerability discovery and response. We’ll examine how attackers are exploiting organizational lag, where traditional cyber controls fall short, and what boards should expect from management as AI becomes embedded in security operations. Participants will leave with a clearer view of how AI alters cyber risk oversight, what “AI-ready” cyber governance looks like, and how boards can pressure-test resilience before an incident exposes gaps.
CEO, TGN Consulting
AI, cyber risk, and enterprise technology investments are challenging the traditional three-committee model. This working session will explore how boards are adapting their structure to meet rising oversight demands. Using a real case study, we’ll discuss how a Technology Committee adds value, how to define its remit, how it interfaces with audit and governance committees, and what reporting, policy review, and internal audit integration should look like in practice.
Board Member, Alliance Entertainment, Principal Mineral Company, StoneAge Holdings
Board Member, Alliance Entertainment, Founder, MyEV.com
In this spotlight, attendees will see how AI can simulate the likely impact of major decisions before they unfold—modeling how investors, customers, employees, and regulators may respond over time. The demo will show how these simulations can help boards and leadership teams test assumptions, surface unintended consequences, and bring more rigor to decisions with significant strategic or reputational stakes.
Founder & CEO, iQ 360
Principal, iQ 360
While AI-specific regulations are beginning to take shape, much of the real exposure already comes from existing obligations around cybersecurity, privacy, disclosure, governance, documentation—and privilege.
The discussion will examine where scrutiny is building, how global, national, and state-level requirements intersect, and where both company and director exposure may arise if governance, disclosures, or internal controls fall short. It will also address practical issues boards are increasingly confronting, including discoverability, privilege, cyber risk, and what management should have in place now to reduce exposure without slowing responsible innovation.
CEO and Founder, Global Data Innovation; Author, Trust: Responsible AI, Innovation, Privacy and Data Leadership
As AI evolves into agentic systems, boards face a step-change in governance. Systems are no longer just informing decisions; they are initiating and executing them. This session will examine the shift from AI governance to agentic governance, where authority, control, and accountability must be designed into systems operating at speed and scale—and where new risks emerge as those systems begin to act.
From a boardroom lens, the discussion will focus on decision rights, control boundaries, and accountability. What remains human-controlled? Where can authority be delegated? How do boards ensure visibility, auditability, and effective escalation as decisions move toward machine execution? Through a live example of agentic AI in motion and a visual walkthrough of different levels of autonomy, this session will show how governance requirements change as systems move from assisting human judgment to acting with increasing independence.
Executive Advisor, Cantellus Group
CEO & Founder, Cantellus Group
In this closing fireside conversation, we’ll hear from a senior executive who has helped embed AI across a large, complex enterprise—across customer experience, operations, and core workflows. The discussion will focus on what it actually took to move from experimentation to scale: how priorities were set, where leadership and the board had to align, what changed operationally, and where governance, trust, and risk management had to evolve alongside the technology.
Rather than ending the day with theory, this session is designed to bring the themes of the forum together through a real-world example of what it looks like to scale AI inside an enterprise without losing discipline, resilience, or strategic focus.
This final discussion ensures every participant leaves with an actionable commitment tied directly to board leadership.
Questions You’ll Answer: