Boards are increasingly responsible for oversight of digital, data and AI initiatives. Yet many board members do not come from technical backgrounds, and may not know which questions to ask.
Good oversight starts with strategy. How does data support the organisation's goals? Which decisions rely most heavily on analytics or AI models? What capabilities are critical today and in the next three to five years?
Boards should also ask about governance and ethics. Who is accountable for data quality? How are biases identified and mitigated in models? What guardrails exist for experimentation with AI tools?
Finally, boards need visibility into risk and resilience. How dependent is the organisation on specific platforms or vendors? What happens if key data is compromised, corrupted or lost? Clear answers to these questions help boards fulfil their fiduciary duties in an increasingly digital economy.