Hit the tech running

It seems businesses are running their governance to stand still when it comes to artificial intelligence. Tech Radar reports that new research shows 80% of execs worry that AI innovation is outpacing their governance efforts.

The report, from NTT Data, says that fewer than one in four companies has “strong AI frameworks” in place. There’s more. Two-thirds of businesses say they are concerned their workers lack the right skills for AI.

NTT Data chief executive Abhijit Dubey says: “The enthusiasm for AI is undeniable but our findings show that innovation without responsibility is a risk multiplier.” He’s not kidding.

Boardroom blitz

Speaking of AI, it seems it’s about to transform boardroom work, too. Writing in The Independent, Babur Mirza, global head of sales at Datasite (Sherpany), a tech provider, reckons the boardroom is going to change out of all recognition.

Boards will juggle dynamic agendas managing forward-looking issues informed by AI-driven real-time data; AI will become an “indispensable ally”; and boardroom diversity (whether demographic, cognitive or experiential), will be a driver of innovation.

While that’s all a bit “tell-us-something-we-didn’t-know”, here’s the shock news: Mirza says boardrooms will evolve into “continuous collaboration” by default. Or, to put it another way, all the tech that’s coming onstream will mean “continuous boardroom engagement”. The tech in your pocket, on your desk—all powered by AI—means life will, joy of joys, become one unending board meeting. Bet you all just can’t wait for the future to hurry up and get here.

Banker’s bonus

We note the big pay rises keep coming for UK CEOs. This week, Barclays chief executive CS Venkatakrishnan is collecting £10.5m, doubling the previous figure. Barclays also spent £1.2bn rewarding its investment bankers.

The High Pay Centre, a think tank, is not impressed. Executive director Luke Hildyard greeted the news with some maths: “It would cost Barclays about £45m to give £500 to 90,000 staff—increasing that tenfold would still equate to less than half the value of the £1.2bn spent on the pay of 800 investment bankers, or about 6% of Barclays £8bn profits.”

Maths can be devastating.

All new from remco

So London Stock Exchange’s chief executive, Julia Hoggett, has also been talking about executive pay and how attitudes have changed. CEOs can now command more pay, and remcos will cough up (see our report here).

Hoggett has a way with words. She once said remco chairs were willing to sit on the investor “naughty step” to win more wads of cash for their CEOs.

In a speech last week, she referred back to that comment and said the blog it was in changed everything on pay.

“We published a blog on the topic some years ago now, which was only 366 words in fact (including the title)—but which now appears to turn up in the press whenever they report on what a business leader in the UK gets paid. It may be the most efficient 366 words we have ever written.”

Maybe. Many CEOs got a lot of extra pay, including her own boss. But Hoggett may also be concerned with whether it’s helping bring more listings to the LSE. That’s a trend still to run upwards.