Raising Board AI Literacy Without Outsourcing Board Judgment—Webinar

While artificial intelligence promises unprecedented strategic and operational insights for corporate boards, relying on blind automation or unguided usage risks compromising director duty of care.

In a recent webinar with Today’s General Counsel, Diligent’s General Counsel Warren Allen and Global Veteran Board Director Ana Dutra discussed how corporate boards and general counsel can systematically build AI literacy while maintaining core fiduciary judgment. The session, “Raising Board AI Literacy Without Outsourcing Board Judgment,” outlined why adding a single AI expert or one-off annual presentation fails to build board capability, and how leadership can establish secure, governance-aligned frameworks that drive high-value insights.

Dutra highlighted the fundamental reality of AI in the boardroom:

“First of all, it’s not the boards where directors will necessarily know how to build a model, but what they do know is how to ask the right questions,” Dutra said. “Where can AI create value for us? What are the risks? What assumptions sit behind the numbers that management presents? What’s the base case…in worst scenarios? And the most important, who’s accountable for it?”

Key takeaways from the session:

• Distinguish active literacy from performative adoption: True board literacy requires asking critical questions and holding management accountable, rather than relying on an annual AI deck or a single designated board expert.
• Retain core human judgment: While AI can summarize materials and run scenarios, directors cross the line into blind reliance when they can no longer independently explain the reasoning behind their decisions.
• Enforce governance guardrails against data leaks: Inputting board materials into public consumer AI tools leaks corporate data and threatens legal privilege; legal teams must provide secure, approved tools and clear usage guardrails.
• Demand concrete metrics over management hype: Boards and GCs should reject performative presentations packed with buzzwords and instead require management to show specific business problems, clear KPIs, and explicit risk boundaries.

Balancing rapid technological adoption with responsible oversight requires choosing the right framework for board governance. Watch the full recording to learn how your team can raise board capability while protecting institutional judgment.