Post by Isabel Knauf

Everyone says that boards need to prepare for AI - but are we clear on what that really means? This question set the tone for the first annual #BoardSummit meeting in Munich, orchestrated by the grandmaster of headhunting for the Mittelstand in the DACH region, Friedrich Vogel and his colleagues at SELECTEAM. The event brought together well over 100 board members from family businesses and big corporations. This mix of perspectives made our debates much less lofty and, refreshingly, much more practical. There were lots of interesting panels with experienced panelists such as Sabine Eckhardt, Prof. Dr. Peter Ruhwedel, Fabian Kühne, Markus Sontheimer, Nicolas Escherich, sharing their insights on how disruptive technologies change boards. What stuck with me most, however, was the least expected: the learnings of a workshop. Normally, I loathe workshops at large events. I tend to subscribe to the motto "do it right or don't do it", which is why I prefer working with a small team that fits around a table, taking time for deep thinking and discussing. And yet, I found myself in the crowded workshop "Man vs. Machine". Our task was to identify which capabilities a company’s supervisory board needs to develop – and by when? To build a skills radar, the group was asked to list the competencies required for AI transition and categorize them into three time horizons: “secure now”, “build next” (with 2-5 years), and “explore future”(5 years+): 1️⃣ Governance & Risk: ▪️AI Law and Regulation Literacy ▪️AI-Governance and Accountability ▪️Increasing threat cybersecurity ▪️Governance Paradox: Ensure stability while allowing for instability 2️⃣ Skills & Leadership: ▪️Data and Model Literacy including cost-benefit calculations ▪️AI Judgement and Agentic AI Leadership ▪️Introducing AI as a change management program instead of an IT project ▪️AI Courage: Promoting acceptance of AI ▪️Resilience and Agility: Absorbing setbacks and adjusting course 3️⃣ Strategy & Transformation: ▪️Navigating from current to future business models ▪️Building an AI strategy with portfolio leadership that prioritizes and scales ▪️Investing capital when the business case is still unclear ▪️Managing Stakeholders ▪️Imagining several possible futures One thing soon became clear: all board members will need to acquire some AI literacy. It’s learn! or no longer be relevant. The only ambiguity is the question of speed. It was fascinating how, in the course of the discussion, the stickers on the white board, one by one, kept being moved from “in five years” towards “immediate urgency”. The realization popped up, “Where are we going to get all these AI qualified people from?”. It looks like even us old dogs on supervisory boards are urgently going to have to learn some new tricks – and we are going to require age and tech skill diversity on boards. Thanks to Sybille Frank for the great organization and Radmila Dier for the photo! #CorporateGovernance #BoardLeadership #AITransition