Power Steering, Not a Brake - Board AI Governance

Boards are the last line of defense on AI. There is no one else. Three sitting directors on how to govern AI without slowing the company down. Comprehensive AI rules are not settled in the US or globally. 3% of directors disclose AI expertise, while 83% of boards list AI as a risk. So what should a board do? Recorded live at the INSEAD AI Forum Americas, San Francisco, September 18, 2026. PANEL Kerry Whorton Cooper: Chair, PG&E Corporation and Mozilla. Lead Independent Director, Upstart. Former CMO, Walmart. Alison Davis: Director, Pagaya, Kraken and Bitwise. Chairman and Managing Partner, Fifth Era and Blockchain Coinvestors. Former CFO, Barclays Global Investors. Chitra Nayak: Independent Director, Infosys. Director, Vimo/GetInsured. Executive Advisor, BCG. Former COO, Salesforce platform business. Moderator: Robert Maciejko, Founder, Board AI Institute, and Co-Founder, INSEAD AI (alum-led) community. WHAT YOU'LL HEAR AI is not one topic. Find the 2% of issues that deserve 85% of the board's time. The strategic threat: a few people with agents rebuilding a billion-dollar business in months. Why no single AI vendor should own your workflows. Blast radius: when an AI failure should reach the board. Why AI oversight can't sit in one committee. What a board tech and innovation committee did at RBS. AI ROI: pay management for shareholder outcomes, not AI usage. How directors use AI in their own board work, and why they won't upload the board book. Should directors get AI access to company data? "Noses in, fingers out," debated. One thing to stop: telling management to "move faster on AI." One thing to start: director AI literacy. CHAPTERS 00:00 The last line of defense 03:21 Are boards ready? A show of hands 04:40 Kerry Whorton Cooper: a utility, a browser and an AI lender 08:18 When should the board hear about an AI failure? 10:51 Alison Davis: future views and terminal value 14:31 The RBS tech and innovation committee 16:21 Chitra Nayak: AI in every committee 19:44 Should one vendor own your workflow? 21:40 Upside and risk in the same board pack 25:50 Measuring AI ROI 28:20 How do you know a board is governing AI? 30:50 What boards should stop doing 34:10 Q&A: how directors use AI themselves 38:15 Q&A: what keeps directors up at night 42:30 Q&A: should boards get AI access to company data? 46:45 Q&A: does director age matter? 49:30 Closing advice Guide to board AI governance: https://boardaiinstitute.com/insights... Views are the speakers' own. #BoardGovernance #AIGovernance #CorporateGovernance