Consistently ranked as one of the most valuable aspects of the Directors Forum, these private, role-based discussions are unstructured by design—and that’s what makes them work. With no formal presentations, and no press in the room, you’ll engage in candid, off-the-record dialogue with fellow directors who understand your challenges firsthand. Participants help shape the agenda in real time, ensuring the conversation focuses on what’s most relevant now. You’ll walk away with fresh insights, practical takeaways, and trusted peers you can call on long after the event ends.
Select the group that best reflects your role or interests:
Before a board can govern strategy, it must first govern itself. In today’s unpredictable environment, it’s not just technical expertise that drives effective oversight—it’s character. This opening keynote will explore how the most respected directors lead with clarity, courage and conviction in moments when the path forward is anything but clear.
We’ll examine how character-based leadership can shape stronger board dynamics, guide more decisive action, and help boards hold their ground under pressure—from activist demands to crisis response. You’ll leave with a refreshed perspective on what makes boards not just effective—but trusted.
Chief Financial Officer, Mars, Incorporated
Director, EY Americas Center for Board Matters
Drawing from cutting-edge research in neuroscience and behavioral science, this hands-on session will explore how leaders make decisions under uncertainty, pressure and social influence. You’ll gain practical insights into how brain-based mechanisms shape risk-taking, collaboration and trust—critical factors in high-stakes environments like the boardroom. Then, as part of an interactive, collaborative table-top exercise, you’ll discover practical moves — from agenda design to meeting cadence — that reset risk lenses, sharpen oversight and provide a playbook to anticipate volatility and make smarter, bolder calls.
Editor-in-Chief & Chief Content Officer, Chief Executive Group
Editor-in-Chief & Chief Content Officer, Chief Executive Group
The pressure to grow may sit with management—but boards are the ones expected to sign off on the strategy and stand behind the outcome. In this interactive session, directors will be assigned roles in a fictional M&A scenario: strategic buyer, target company and hostile bidder. Each group must evaluate the deal through their lens—considering valuation, timing, integration risks and stakeholder response—before presenting their board’s recommendation. The exercise is designed to sharpen strategic judgment, surface competing perspectives and explore what real oversight looks like when the path isn’t clear.
Editor-in-Chief & Chief Content Officer, Chief Executive Group
Editor-in-Chief & Chief Content Officer, Chief Executive Group
Trade wars, military conflicts, and shifting alliances are reshaping entire industries overnight. Directors can no longer treat geopolitical risk as a footnote—it’s become the central variable determining which companies thrive and which get blindsided. In this essential session, Mark Weinberger will share battle-tested frameworks for navigating an era where geography is destiny and political decisions drive market outcomes.
Drawing from his experience leading EY’s 284,000 people across 150+ countries through multiple geopolitical crises, plus his government perspective as Assistant Secretary of Treasury and advisor to four U.S. presidents, Weinberger will reveal how leading boards embed geopolitical intelligence into strategic planning. He’ll demonstrate practical tools for pressure-testing supply chains, stress-testing management assumptions about global markets, and identifying early warning signals before they hit financial performance. Directors will leave with actionable frameworks for asking the right questions and protecting shareholder value when the world shifts beneath your company’s feet.
Editor-in-Chief & Chief Content Officer, Chief Executive Group
Global Co-CEO and Board Member, AlixPartners
Optional small-group conversations to dive into critical governance topics.
How to challenge without undermining—and support without rubber-stamping. Explore how boards can maintain healthy tension with management, manage CEO sensitivity, and provide oversight that adds value rather than just pressure.
Where liability is growing—and what boards should do now. A frank discussion on where board exposure is increasing (cyber, ESG, M&A, AI), how to think about indemnification, and what questions to ask about your coverage and committee charters.
You don’t need to be technical—but you do need to be prepared. Discuss how boards can oversee cyber risk without being experts, what questions to ask CISOs, and how to stress-test readiness through tabletop exercises and breach simulations.
Still feel like an outsider in AI conversations? This no-pressure, beginner-friendly session will walk through the basics every director should know—from how to use tools like ChatGPT and Perplexity to improve your research and prep, to key terms and concepts that will help you ask sharper questions in the boardroom. Whether you’re just trying to better understand what your kids (or grandkids) are talking about or want to build fluency for business use-cases, this session is designed to help you sound (and feel) more confident in AI discussions.
We’re sitting down with three veteran directors—each with decades of experience across some of the most dynamic boardrooms in corporate America—for a candid look at the decisions that tested them, stretched them and ultimately shaped how they lead today. No theory. No spin. Just straight talk on:
Start your day with hard-earned insights on boardroom judgment, courage and leadership—because the best directors never stop learning.
Editor-in-Chief & Chief Content Officer, Chief Executive Group
Editor-in-Chief & Chief Content Officer, Chief Executive Group
The CEO you choose next may be the single biggest factor in whether your company thrives or just survives. In this interactive session, directors will work through a shared scenario that challenges them to think beyond “ready now” and define what leadership the company truly needs for the next 5 to 10 years. Working in small groups, you’ll discuss the right CEO profile for the decade to come, internal vs. external trade-offs, and what actions the board should be taking now to prepare. A panel of experienced directors and former CEOs will offer insights on how forward-looking boards are making succession planning a strategic advantage—not just a contingency plan.
Chief Financial Officer, Mars, Incorporated
Director, EY Americas Center for Board Matters
You’re facing a proxy campaign questioning whether your board is prepared for AI-driven disruption and global expansion. Groups must revise board composition, committee structure, or onboarding—and defend their decisions. Then, hear what other tables would do differently.
Editor-in-Chief & Chief Content Officer, Chief Executive Group
Editor-in-Chief & Chief Content Officer, Chief Executive Group
It’s easy to focus on shareholder value, quarterly performance, or regulatory compliance—but the decisions made in boardrooms shape so much more: jobs, innovation, trust, reputation, and the future of entire industries. In this closing keynote, we’ll hear from a leader who has seen how purpose-driven leadership at the highest level can transform not just companies, but communities—and why today’s boards must think bigger about the impact they have.
Editor-in-Chief & Chief Content Officer, Chief Executive Group
Global Co-CEO and Board Member, AlixPartners
Come ready to share challenges, compare oversight strategies and trade lessons with peers navigating similar pressures.
Audit Committee Exchange
From evolving disclosure requirements to AI risk oversight, the audit committee’s scope continues to expand—while expectations around accuracy, ethics, and internal controls have never been higher. This off-the-record session gives audit chairs and members a chance to compare approaches to managing external auditor relationships, cybersecurity readiness, audit committee workloads, internal reporting, and emerging financial risk.
Compensation Committee Exchange
Today’s comp committees are under increasing scrutiny—not only for pay-for-performance alignment, but also for how executive incentives reflect evolving priorities around risk, culture, human capital, and long-term value creation. In this session, compensation committee members and chairs will exchange views on evolving incentive structures, performance metrics, DEI-related targets, shareholder engagement, and how comp intersects with succession planning and CEO evaluation.
Nominating & Governance Committee Exchange
With heightened focus on board composition, refreshment, committee mandates, and ESG-related responsibilities, the nominating & governance committee plays a critical role in shaping long-term board effectiveness. This session offers committee members a private forum to discuss recruitment strategies, onboarding and director education, committee evaluation practices, shareholder expectations, and how to evolve governance practices to stay ahead of risk and disruption.
Chairmen & CEOs Exchange
Whether you’re a non-executive chair, lead director, or sitting CEO, this conversation is for the most senior voices in the boardroom. You’ll engage in a candid peer dialogue around topics like managing the board/management boundary, building trust across leadership transitions, ensuring alignment on strategy and risk, and leading through external pressure—whether from activists, regulators, or the media.
General Counsel Exchange
The GC’s role as board advisor and governance steward has never been more critical—or more complex. In this session, public company GCs will gather to discuss boardroom dynamics, director engagement, disclosure challenges, regulatory developments, and how legal teams are helping boards navigate emerging areas of risk like AI, cyber, and ESG litigation. A private, practical forum to sharpen judgment and compare strategies with those who walk the same tightrope.
Board-Ready Executives Exchange
For executives actively pursuing a public company board seat, this interactive workshop goes beyond resume writing to help you understand what boards are really looking for—and how to position yourself accordingly. You’ll gain candid insights from sitting directors and boardroom decision-makers, explore how to apply a director’s mindset to governance challenges, and refine your board value proposition and bio with peer feedback. Leave with greater clarity, confidence, and a sharper strategy for landing the right board opportunity.