The future of boardroom evaluations could be an AI observer tracking performance in real-time, according to a panel of experts.

In a special webinar on boards of the future, hosted by Board Agenda in association with Nasdaq, experts agreed technology would play an ever-increasing role in assessing the quality of decision-making and deliberations.

Panel member Susanne Given, board and executive adviser with Indian retail giant Trent, said she was “enormously” comfortable with the contribution of artificial intelligence in board evaluations.

“The future could very well look like an AI board observer who, at the end of the meeting, will create a data-based assessment as to how effective the board was.

“That would be enormously interesting for a board… calling out a lack of diverse conversations and thinking or, perhaps, less-than-clear outcomes.”

However, Given said real-time AI assessments might prove “uncomfortable” for chairs, though it might also prove “essential” to “create a difference between your organisation and your competitors.”

The pressure to perform

Board performance has become a critical issue as companies and organisations grapple with the impact of geopolitical uncertainty, climate change and unprecedented developments in technology.

The panel’s conversation ranged across emerging technology, evaluation best practice and boardroom culture. One conclusion was that external advisers were well placed to provide objective, tailor-made assessments.

But the panel also noted that evaluations were only as good as the follow-up implementation that takes place once action plans are put in motion.

James Beasley, head of board advisory, EMEA, with Nasdaq, said: “Even the best-placed boards fail around follow-through.”

He said that, increasingly, board evaluations were not “a clearly defined point in time” but an ongoing process in which they were discussed and “tweaked” into action points with timelines and “owners”.

“It’s really important,” Beasley said, “that those actions are achievable within the time period that’s agreed, that those actions are clearly actionable, and you’re able to demonstrate that they’ve been closed.”

Board evaluation

Elsewhere, the discussion turned to how a board evaluation can be meaningful instead of a box-ticking exercise.

Panel member Alia Fazal, head of governance at BP plc, said: “The key thing is, at the outset, that there needs to be the commitment of the board, as well as external evaluators.

“That commitment from the board is really important in the sense of going into this as an opportunity to gain insights that will help to strengthen and improve the board’s performance.”

Watch the full webinar here