Jen Sisson is the CEO of the International Corporate Governance Network.

The past year has been a big year for corporate governance, and 2025 promises to be another one! At ICGN, we hope that 2025 will be a year focused on the importance of corporate governance and stewardship, as crucial tools to help us all to build strong foundations that allow us to focus on the core goal—creating long term, sustainable returns for savers and beneficiaries. I hope that we see more understanding of that shared goal in 2025: the company and investor relationship should not be combative—it should be open and constructive.

We need to work together to understand views and expectations and to act in the long-term best interests of the company and its shareholders, while of course remembering that those long-term sustainable returns depend on a range of factors.

Our four core focus areas remain unchanged, so we hope for continued progress. In reliable reporting, we hope that the ISSB standards will be widely adopted as soon as possible; that companies report transparently and in a timely manner; and that the quality of audit and assurance is strong. We hope boards execute their duties well and focus on their effectiveness. We hope that standards of investor stewardship remain high and we will continue our work to help our members learn from one another about best practices.

And, of course, we hope to avoid a regulatory race to the bottom on shareholder rights. We don’t want an undue burden of regulation, but we do want protection of fundamental ownership rights. We need to remember that this is really about accountability: how the basic contract of trust, checks and balances work. We need to get back to basics and remember why corporate governance is important in the first place. Good governance is the foundation of business success—we hope 2025 sees that acknowledged and acted on.

Andrew Kakabadse is professor of governance and leadership, and Nada Kakabadse is professor of policy, governance and ethics, both at Henley Business School.

There are two distinct challenges facing boards this year that will either result in greater organisational accomplishment, or near-irreparable damage. The first is artificial intelligence (AI) adoption, and the second is the board’s ability to embrace and manoeuvre through the slippery realities of global geopolitics.

The rapid advancements in AI, which also encompass a significant revolution in data management, will shape the governance demands of 2025. AI-driven analytics will provide real-time insights into financial performance, risk management and stakeholder sentiment, enabling boards to quickly make and implement better informed and data-driven decisions.

However, as part of this process, directors’ digital literacy will come under far closer scrutiny. The capacity to address the ethical challenges associated with AI, such as data privacy, security and algorithmic bias, will become inextricably linked with business success. Effective technology governance demands that digital investment aligns with each organisation’s mission, values and strategic objectives.

Board clarity on competitive advantage will ensure corporate survival and sustainability, but only through sensitive stewardship of the organisation’s resilience and adaptability.

Alongside technological fortitude, geopolitical developments will further test the board’s foresight. With Donald Trump back in the driving seat as US president, investments in Russia and further east will once again become realistic considerations.

The companies that previously supported Trump—and are once again supporting him—are doing so for a particular reason: access to the wealth of resources in Russia’s possession and the lands further east that will be open for exploitation. US banking and private equity organisations are now courting oligarchs for access to Russian assets, which the Europeans are continuing to desperately resist.

So much depends on the board’s clarity toward competitive advantage. The Kakabadse global studies initiative has identified that only 18 per cent of boards hold a clear and shared view on competitive advantage.

However, for most boards, 2025 governance will be a case of ‘more of the same’. This will include issues such as sustainability, ESG, and the need to display diversity and inclusion statistics in order to maintain and enhance the organisation’s reputation. Whether standing above and apart or not, due to increasing market volatility, boards will effectively be on their own.

Balancing competitive advantage, while displaying social and environmental sensitivity, is unlikely to survive the scrutiny of quarterly reporting, which will in turn become an ever greater priority for maintaining investor confidence.

It is the ‘numbers’, rather than socially acceptable statements in the annual report, that will ultimately keep investors sweet. Unorthodox and yet successful boards will be deeply conscious of the all-important figures and statistics that will ultimately enhance their reputation and markets throughout 2025.

David Avery-Gee is co-managing partner of Weil’s London office, and leads its M&A (mergers and acquisitions) practice in London.

Fuelled by improved valuations and investor sentiment, we expect an escalation in M&A activity in the coming year, continuing an upward trend in deal volume and values seen during the last quarter of 2024. We anticipate more cross-border M&A deals and bids; public-to-privates with private equity houses returning to dealmaking and partnerships/joint ventures between strategics and private capital providers.

In terms of industry sectors, infrastructure, aerospace and defence, pharma, natural resources and technology should see even more activity. This growth appetite for deals will be despite a backdrop of global market volatility, driven by ongoing regional conflicts and some uncertainty over how an incoming US administration will approach trade and economic policy.

A major challenge will be keeping abreast of growing regulation around technology and climate change, among other areas, which has direct implications for corporate governance and directors’ duties.

Exposure of boards to liabilities relating to fraud and AML, as well as increased scope of parental liability of companies for subsidiaries, necessitates ever-more sophisticated risk management across all client strategies.

Ruth Wandhöfer is an author, speaker, adviser, visiting professor at Bayes Business School and a non-executive director.

My new year’s wish for the world of boards is to bring creativity and imagination back into the boardroom.

With multiple risks and challenges facing boards on a regular basis, 2025 is the year where massive action should be taken by boards to help navigate the ongoing storm of operational and cyber risks. The way to go about this will inevitably require ‘outside the box thinking’ and true diversity of thought, combined with continuously evolving skillsets that are broader and more complementary than ever before.

The no-longer-new UK Corporate Governance Code of 2024 will need to be lived, rather than merely complied with. With effective risk management being on top of the board’s list, I truly hope that boards will rediscover the power of imagination and creativity.

Beyond enhanced transparency and improved incentives across businesses, boards should explore new ways of conducting board discussions, challenge issues from non-traditional angles, enlist left-field, outside perspectives and try to keep an open mind and heart.

The thinking of Gen Z will have to be understood as much as the impact of new technologies—such as AI—on society, markets and the day-to-day business.

My biggest wish for 2025 is that boards realise that risk not only equates to challenge but can often bring unexpected opportunities. This mindset will serve as an essential tool for any board member to navigate the uncertain future—but it will require a sustained paradigm shift.

In times of uncertainty, every business and every board has the opportunity to imagine and create the future.