More than 120 investors, advisors and issuers convened in London on November 11 for the latest leg of the Diligent Market Intelligence Stewardship Series, hosted in collaboration with White & Case, Okapi Partners and Forward Global.

Over the three dynamic panels that kicked off the day, speakers explored how activism is evolving across the U.K. and Europe and what boards should expect next.

The event opened with the launch of DMI’s 

 report, sponsored by White & Case, and a clear message: U.S.-based activists are likely to continue dominating campaigns in the U.K. as the primary agitators.

“Homegrown activists are still a minority," said Tom Matthews, partner and head of EMEA activism, White & Case." The U.K. market is perceived as undervalued relative to the U.S. which makes it attractive." The discussion, moderated by DMI's Editor-in-Chief Josh Black, also highlighted that with various factors combining to make activist wins harder on their home turf, many U.S. players are looking across the Atlantic for new opportunities.

"With that combination of available capital, tougher conditions at home, and lower valuations in the U.K., I think we’ll continue to see more U.S. activists coming over here,” said Matthews.

The audience heard that M&A activism could be a defining theme in 2026 and noted that domestic U.K. activists are willing to adopt a more assertive, U.S.-style approach when needed – including more campaigns aimed at securing one or more board seats.

Address shareholder concerns before the activist strikes

The second session shifted the spotlight to board preparedness. The message from JP Morgan, Okapi Partners and Forward Global was unanimous: engage early and often.

“Too many companies do prep work and then put it in a drawer until the activist arrives. Understand where your shareholders sit, their concerns, their thinking, and whether that overlaps with what an activist’s thesis might be," Darren Novak, global co-head of shareholder engagement and M&A capital markets at JP Morgan, told delegates. "The most effective defence is to identify shareholder challenges and address them before the activist strikes.”

This sentiment was echoed by Patrick McHugh, co-founder and senior managing director, Okapi Partners, who advised issuers in the audience to talk to their shareholders early, communicate with confidence, and emerge stronger. “A few years ago, there was almost no dialogue unless there was an issue or a campaign. Companies are now starting to understand that they need to talk to their investors, explain what’s going on, and address any possible perception that nothing is happening,” he said. "You never want the first time you speak to an investor to be when you need their vote."

With the continued rise of first-time and occasional activists, companies were also advised to identify and assess potential activist approaches before they ever become public.

“A crucial part is intelligence and companies often underestimate this," explained Brendan Foo, partner at Forward Global. "When you’re dealing with first-time activists, you may not know how they think. The best approach is to start early. Ask yourself: If I were them, how would I approach this company and then build an understanding of how an objective third party would critique you. It's game changing."

In a candid discussion moderated by White & Case partner Patrick Sarch, Spur Value Partners’ Till Hufnagel pulled back the curtain on how activists identify opportunity and what his recently launched fund expects from boards.

Markets are increasingly impatient when it comes to even the slightest performance variations, he said, and while this can offer substantial opportunities for fundamental value driven investors, it also means companies should avoid vulnerabilities that could eventually invite activist pressure.

"In Europe, activists don’t show up with boxing gloves just for the sake of it. The goal is constructive engagement, not theatrics," said Hufnagel, adding that meaningful feedback on his thesis was the goal of sharing his plan with management.

However, for campaigns that do require escalation, boards were advised that activists will be prepared to follow through. “If you enter a fight, it’s important to see it through because the value of all investors, especially minority investors, is at stake. We try not to stop until we achieve our objective,” Hufnagel explained.

The second half of the invite-only event broadened the lens, focusing on the future of social stewardship in an AI-driven world, the next chapter of the U.K. Stewardship Code, and evolving expectations around executive compensation across the UK and Europe. Watch this space for more key takeaways from these expert discussions next week.

Speaking after the event, DMI Editor-in-Chief Josh Black thanked the more than 20 expert speakers who contributed to the day’s success: "Today’s panels have shone a light on the expectations investors of various stripes place on boards as stewards of their capital. Successfully executing on strategies to enhance shareholder value means persuading the company’s owners that good governance and oversight is in place and understanding your shareholder base is the first step on that journey."

The Stewardship Series' next stop will see the event return to New York in the first quarter of 2026. For more information on sponsorship opportunities, get it touch 

Delegates gather in London as DMI’s Stewardship Series examines Europe's evolving activism landscape 

Twenty years ago, I joined a small team that set out to build something deceptively simple: give nonprofit boards technology that genuinely elevates their work. I couldn’t have predicted how far that idea would go — or how essential it would become — but I knew boards needed better ways to prepare, make decisions and lead.

What excites me most now, two decades later, is that we’re no longer just digitizing board books or compressing workflows; we’re helping directors “see around the corner,” shifting them from being stewards of the past to architects of the future.

Back when we started BoardEffect, we persuaded directors to trade three-ring binders for digital board books; the iPad made that shift feel inevitable. Then the world changed: cybersecurity, more regulations coming down the tracks, changing stakeholder expectations — these have all pulled oversight forward. Board members started asking for visibility into what might come next, not just what already happened.

The pandemic slammed the accelerator on secure, cloud-based governance, and now generative AI has opened a new chapter: a chance to reimagine how boards navigate complexity, interrogate assumptions and prepare for decisions with greater speed and confidence.

That’s why this move for BoardEffect into the Diligent One Platform matters so much. It brings our customers a modern, unified experience with enhanced security, a consolidated view across governance, risk and compliance, and direct access to education and AI capabilities — all in one place, while retaining the BoardEffect functionality and ease of use our clients have come to rely on in the last twenty years.

The Diligent One Platform makes it easier for boards and administrators to work together. It brings everything into one place, so you can log in securely and access what you need without extra steps. Learning tools and dashboards are built right into your daily board activities, helping administrators support their boards with less hassle. Plus, new AI-powered features simplify tasks for everyone on the governance team, saving time and reducing complexity. It's still BoardEffect, but it's better than before.

What we’ve delivered this year for our BoardEffect community

This past year, we focused on three things: making the everyday easier, turning activity into insight and modernizing the user experience using native AI.

First, the everyday: a refreshed BoardEffect home experience makes the start of work more intuitive, so admins and directors can get to essential tasks faster. For leaders with multiple BoardEffect sites, the new Board Switcher means you log in once and move across sites without the usual juggling of passwords and URLs. We also added the ability to share annotations directly with anyone who can access a meeting book, lightweight collaboration that reduces email loops and keeps context where it belongs.

Second, turning activity into insight. Our AI Smart Minutes convert typed notes and transcripts into professional minutes in seconds, automatically capturing decisions and action items and supporting compliant recordkeeping. AI Smart Summary distils complex board books into concise, actionable overviews so board members arrive prepared and aligned, even on busy cycles. And for admins who need to tell the board’s story in numbers, Customizable Reporting now lets you visualize key metrics — terms, attendance, logins — and filter to what matters, then share with stakeholders.

Third, a modern design that keeps everything in one place, so you don’t have to jump between tools or feel overwhelmed. AI Smart Prep surfaces themes, decisions and questions from your meeting materials so members can focus quickly on the substance of the conversation. With Microsoft 365 integration enhancements, teams can create and collaborate on Excel files directly in BoardEffect, eliminating context switching and preserving controls.

. These AI assisted governance tools are built right into BoardEffect and are designed specifically for nonprofit and volunteer boards.

GovernAI speeds up the jobs that have historically slowed you down: summarizing dense materials, accelerating preparation, generating accurate minutes and finding the right information without digging.

Just as importantly, GovernAI is grounded in principles that put customers in control: the AI is only trained for your use, it produces clearly labelled AI outputs and it is 

Looking forward, we’re continuing to invest in BoardEffect where you’ve asked us to deliver most: productivity, insight and seamless engagement.

You’ll soon see AI Smart Search, with natural language answers grounded in your permissions, so directors and admins can find relevant documents, events and highlights in seconds.

You’ll soon gain Board Engagement Reporting to understand how members interact with materials and where readiness can improve over time, helping you tailor support and spark better questions in the room.

We’re modernizing the UI across BoardEffect's web and mobile applications to make navigation cleaner, faster and more accessible, and we’re refreshing the mobile app to keep the on the go experience responsive and dependable.

Across all of this, we’re continuing accessibility improvements aligned to WCAG standards, alongside practical guidance to help teams prepare accessible materials.

Why I’m so excited about BoardEffect’s future

BoardEffect is not going away. On the contrary, it’s getting even better and more innovative for our customers as a result of moving onto the Diligent One Platform.

What began as a push to remove friction from board work has become something much bigger: an opportunity to help mission driven leaders govern with more foresight, more clarity and more confidence. We’re meeting boards where they are, on a secure, modern platform, with AI that saves real time, respects privacy and elevates preparation, and we’re doing it with the nuance that governance demands.

I’m excited for what BoardEffect will unlock in the year ahead: better prepared directors, crisper discussions and faster, more informed decisions that move your mission forward. That’s why we built BoardEffect in the first place, and it’s why I’m as energized now as I was on day one.

If you’d like a walkthrough tailored to your board’s needs, 

 to see GovernAI and the latest BoardEffect enhancements in action.

20 years of BoardEffect: Reflections on the past, focused on the future

Ten insights shaping boards in the year ahead

Boards entered 2025 facing rising risk, economic volatility, and an urgent mandate to modernize oversight. At Diligent, we recently hosted the Elevate Leadership Summit, a by‑invitation gathering of corporate directors and executives alongside a curated set of experts, for confidential, Chatham House Rule-style discussions to dissect these issues and look to the future of corporate governance.

Across sessions, a clear through‑line emerged: the most effective boards are shifting from moving from passive oversight to active, data‑driven governance with disciplined processes and human judgment at the center. Here’s what our expert speakers and experienced director attendees had to say about the trends to watch out for in 2026:

1) From passive to active GRC—augmented by AI

Active GRC is replacing passive oversight as directors confront increasing risk and low confidence in near‑term conditions. Speakers suggested augmenting teams with AI agents to handle foundational tasks and “ask the next question,” freeing leaders to focus on strategy amid resource constraints.

2) AI governance: Measure what people actually do 

The biggest AI risk isn’t only technical, it’s invisible usage. AI governance should incorporate real usage metrics, not just periodic sentiment surveys, and pair cultural encouragement (safe experimentation and knowledge‑sharing) with “lighthouse” projects that prove measurable value to employees and shareholders.

3) Culture oversight is expanding and needs better data

Board oversight of culture has outgrown legacy tools. Public trust continues to concentrate on employers and brands, and employees increasingly make choices based on societal beliefs. Activism is rising, and many boards still haven’t discussed company stances on social issues. Our speakers discussed the possibility of utilizing a broader range of anonymized unstructured data - such as employee intranet messages and chat data - into decisio useful insights, while ensuring individual employees aren’t being singled out or retaliated against for escalating concerns.

4) AI literacy and security remain non‑negotiable

Boards need AI literacy and strong cyber foundations; there’s no leapfrogging weak security into trustworthy AI. Keep a human in the loop, test for bias systematically (using available benchmarks), and consider experimenting with smaller models and improved licensing terms where they fit the use case and data‑governance needs.

Early red flags require pre‑defined protocols, not improvisation. The first 72 hours following a crisis event should trigger escalation playbooks, evidence preservation (including email freezes), independent counsel where appropriate, and non‑retaliation toward whistleblowers, all paired with board‑level visibility and documented independence.

Continuous monitoring (increasingly AI‑enabled) can surface fraud risk indicators earlier, narrowing the expectation gap around what audit and compliance actually do.

6) Speak‑up culture is a strategic asset

A speak‑up culture with higher hotline usage is a positive signal, but only if organizations close the loop, protect anonymity, and report metrics to the board. Leaders should be encouraged to normalize and celebrate reporting, which reduces fear and builds trust across the enterprise.

7) Board-executive dynamics are shifting under scrutiny

Executives are pushing for director refreshment, and more of them see boards overstepping compared to last year. Meanwhile, CEO turnover is up, with most U.S. departures described as unplanned. These themes raise the premium on preparedness, role clarity, and disciplined engagement between boards and management.

8) Succession planning must be continuous and robust 

Effective succession planning should be continuous and discussed at every meeting, with directors knowing the pipeline at least one level down and preparing for unexpected transitions – including mission-critical roles beyond the CEO.

The board chair’s (or independent lead director’s) role in tone‑setting and inclusion is pivotal. Boards can benefit greatly from periodic third‑party evaluations to raise effectiveness.

9) Executive compensation is evolving amid volatility

Executive compensation committees are recalibrating discretion, which allows boards to award compensation based not only on results, but qualitative assessment. COVID‑era lessons showed shareholders tolerate discretion in executive compensation when the rationale is strong and disclosure is clear.

Executive security as part of the compensation package is rising as a governance and risk issue; Policy and regulatory discussions happening at the SEC point to potentially simpler disclosures as early as the 2027 proxy season, while state‑level rules are reshaping proxy‑advisor practices.

10) Better questions and diverse composition strengthen oversight

Directors who ask, “What do I need to understand?” and “Do I have all the information?” sharpen risk oversight. Building formal and informal trusted channels with audit and compliance leaders can improve signal quality, while targeted training helps boards recognize fraud indicators. Evidence that boards with a broader range of perspectives are more effective highlights the value of having a well-balanced and diverse composition.

The year ahead will reward boards that operationalize judgment: clear protocols for crises, richer data streams on people and culture, pragmatic approaches to compensation, and step‑wise AI adoption that starts with the reality of how employees are using it. The common denominator is disciplined curiosity. The best directors will ask better questions, measure what matters, and adapt faster.

If these insights resonate with your board or leadership team, consider a structured review of your speak‑up mechanisms, succession playbooks, culture data sources, and AI governance metrics to ensure they’re meeting today’s pace of change. Then, pick one “lighthouse” initiative to prove value within the next two quarters and use the learning to scale.

Note: The Elevate Leadership Summit is an annual, by‑invitation gathering of corporate directors and CEOs, alongside a curated set of experts, for confidential, Chatham House Rule-style panel discussions.

Top board trends in 2026

This article originally appeared in our November 6 edition of the Diligent Minute Newsletter. For more insights like these, delivered straight to your inbox, subscribe

Cyber threats, AI disruption, and geopolitical instability are reshaping the audit landscape — and 4,000 audit leaders across 131 countries have weighed in. Whether you’re on the internal audit team, serving on your board’s audit committee, or working in partnership with them, the IIA’s 2026 Global Risk in Focus report has insights for you. This year’s edition reveals the key risk areas
to focus on and highlights how risk is changing across regions and sectors (with tips on how to achieve compliance with updated 

2026 Global Risk in Focus: Top risks for internal audit (Cybersecurity, AI, Geopolitics)

 remains the number one concern for organizations worldwide, with 73% of respondents naming it a top five risk. 

pronounced in North America and Europe, where more

than 80% of organizations put it at the top of their list.

, has seen the second largest jump in perceived risk with an increase of 9 percentage points year-over-year. Organizations are racing to implement new technologies,
but many are running into infrastructure and skills gaps.

3.Geopolitical uncertainty leapt 10 percentage points 

globally, now ranking sixth overall. North America saw the sharpest spike (up 19 points), driven by shifting U.S. trade policies and global conflicts.

4.Business resilience (47%) and human capital (43%) round out the top global risks.

 Organizations are feeling the pressure to shore up supply chains and crisis response capabilities. Meanwhile, talent shortages, wage competition, and generational shifts keep human capital risk firmly on the agenda. 

 Regulatory change (41%) is closely linked to geopolitical risk. Where political uncertainty is high, regulatory challenges follow.

How audit committees can close the risk-to-audit gap

I asked Curtis Warfield, experienced public company director, Audit Committee Chair, and former Chief Audit Executive, his thoughts on bridging the risk-to-audit gap. He outlined five steps:

“As an Audit Chair, I see the gaps as driven by limited expertise in emerging areas like AI and digital disruption, audits taking longer than planned, and the need to balance enterprise-wide coverage with limited resources.” says
Warfield. 

“It’s a risk–reward trade-off,” he goes on. “Sometimes management also has major deliverables in progress, which limits timing for audits. Audit committees can help by understanding these constraints, supporting skills development, and encouraging dynamic adjustments to the plan when new or fast-moving risks emerge.”

“Internal audit should not just police — it should partner,” says Warfield. “The key is alignment with senior leadership so internal audit can help ensure technology risks are managed without slowing innovation.” He adds, “Audit leaders should focus on being strategic partners, not just reviewers, and work closely with the business to embed technology risk considerations into
transformation projects from the start.”

Audit committees add the most value when they understand the process behind the audit plan. “Members should take time to learn how the ERM process connects to strategy and how audit allocates time across the risk
profile,” advises Warfield. “That understanding makes it easier to have meaningful dialogue about priorities. Regular communication and progress updates help keep the plan dynamic and aligned with emerging risks.”

4.Support advisory work while maintaining independence

“Tone at the top is critical,” Warfield emphasizes. “The audit committee and board chair can reinforce that internal audit’s role is not to police management, but to be a strategic partner while maintaining independence. It’s a delicate balance — audit must still provide objective assurance, but it can also offer valuable advisory input on AI governance,

, or scenario planning. Clear boundaries and communication make both roles possible.”

5.Build an agile, forward-looking partnership

Agility starts with alignment. “Everyone should understand the audit process, how it ties to enterprise risk and strategy, and how resources are deployed,” says Warfield. “The audit committee should be willing to adjust its agenda
throughout the year for new risks and ensure flexibility in hours and resources to respond to change. That’s how audit and the board can stay proactive and effective in uncertain environments.”

Looking to stay ahead of the curve on audit governance? Check out the 

IIA’s new Center for Audit Committee Leadership. 

The Center offers audit committee members tailored strategic advice, best practices, and educational resources to help ensure internal audit functions are effectively structured and integrated within your organization’s governance framework.

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Delegates gather in London as DMI’s Stewardship Series examines Europe's evolving activism landscape

20 years of BoardEffect: Reflections on the past, focused on the future

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