The Heller Report: Special Board Edition

Boards are getting smarter about AI, says Global Deloitte AI Institute Executive Director Beena Ammanath, shifting their attention from basic literacy to governance structures and accelerating innovation. In this interview, Ammanath explains how IT leaders can play a central role, helping board members stay ahead of emerging trends, potential disruptions, and strategic opportunities in AI. 

Boards confronting challenges and opportunities in their oversight of AI strategies don’t need to abandon everything they know about corporate governance, argues M.M. (Sath) Sathyanarayan, a veteran technology and consulting leader who now advises corporate boards on AI governance. Rather, boards “need to expand how they think about governance, applying familiar oversight principles to unfamiliar risks,” he says in this interview about his book on AI adoption.

How can a CIO keep the board informed about major initiatives when setbacks are expected before results? Angela Maragkopoulou, the chief information and digital officer for Sunlight Group Energy Storage Systems, explains how to engage board directors in a focused presentation using three slides and 10 minutes. By focusing on progress, risks and mitigation, and decisions needed, IT leaders can convert board meetings into collaboration sessions.

Boards seeking chief information security officers have a critical task to find the right person who can do more than the traditional role of mitigating security risks, explains Jason Henninger, managing director at Heller. In this interview, Henninger discusses how the CISO role has expanded, how companies should view this change, and the experiences boards are seeking in their next CISO.