AI strategy is business strategy and boards don't get it

Boards of directors are waffling between fear of missing out and outright fear when it comes to adopting AI.

At Constellation Research's Connected Enterprise 2026, AI and corporate strategy with boards of directors and CEOs were a key theme. Here are some takeaways:

Boards too slow for AI

Boards have typically been made up of retired executives so they're not keeping up with latest technologies such as AI. "In the recent past, boards were very biased towards retired executives," said Kaylan Adams, Principal, Board & CEO Services at Korn Ferry. "Because of that, it means that they do not have the relevancy, the currency of what's happening today."

Lara Druyan, General Partner at Private Liquidity Partners, agreed. "What's happening with AI is at machine scale and board meetings happen quarterly with snacks," she said.

In regulated industries, AI governance is taken seriously and must be auditable. "Governance is something that is not casual. Risk is not casual. Can we understand what your agents did overnight? And oh, by the way, I have to be able to audit that. And the answer can't be the person accountable to that is the AI," said Druyan.

More from CCE 2026:

• Outcome based pricing: Pros, cons and nuances
• Teamwork in the AI age: Pods, clusters, flocks
• An early read on your 2027 AI budget
• Management amid AI chaos: Takeaways from the field
• 2027 themes to watch and what you should do now
• Boomi CEO Lucas: Beware your zombie AI agents

AI risks misunderstood

Druyan said directors often don't understand the AI risks. She cited a statistic where 40% of directors uploaded board materials to a generative AI platform. Druyan argued that the share of companies with AI governance controls is low. Boards need to know what questions to ask to check those controls.

Tracey Cesen, Founder & CEO of Forever Human.ai, said "2027 is going to be the year of lawsuits" over AI governance and data leaks.

Why are boards pushing ahead without concerns about AI risks? Board anxiety is pushing companies to adopt AI without controls. "There's so much neurosis at the board level… that boards are pressuring companies to catch up on AI without understanding the governance needs that need to be in place and the controls," said Druyan.

Think beyond tech

If you're a tech leader, you still need P&L experience. That experience will be needed to tie tech to business outcomes. "That can be owning the P&L for the digital business. That can be working with other functions within the company to co-own the P&Ls. But it does matter," said Adams.

Cesen said "money is that language of business. You don't want to be pigeonholed into being a tech person. Whatever you think they want to hear, cut it by 90%."

Strategy still drives your AI usage. "The really important piece is to be able to link the technology to the strategy. That is the biggest barrier I think to being a board member," said Druyan. "The strategy still has to drive your use of AI."