This article originally appeared in our July 2nd edition of the Diligent Minute Newsletter. For more insights like these, delivered straight to your inbox, subscribe here.
The latest data show that generative AI is already finding its way into board work at a remarkable pace, even as the rules around its use remain thin or nonexistent.
In our latest survey of 104 U.S. public company directors conducted in partnership with Corporate Board Member, 82% said they’ve used generative AI in their board work in the past six months, up from 66% in September 2025. That’s not tentative experimentation at the margins. It’s a clear signal that AI is already shaping how directors prepare, learn and engage on board matters.
But here is the tension: Adoption is moving much faster than governance. 69% of our respondents said there is no formal policy in place for directors’ use of AI at their company and only 6% reported a formal policy specific to the board. At the same time, roughly 30% said they have used generative AI to summarize board books or meeting materials, some of the most sensitive information a public company can produce. Nearly half, 49%, said they have heard of board members using publicly available or consumer-facing AI tools for board work rather than company-approved systems.
This is the governance gap boards need to confront now. The question is no longer whether directors will use AI, but whether board oversight is evolving fast enough to keep pace with how it’s already being used.
Six in 10 directors said generative AI is already creating measurable change inside their companies today. That’s the signal boards should focus on. Directors expect AI’s impact to show up on the board agenda over the next 12 months, especially in cybersecurity and data governance, strategy and growth and risk and compliance.
In other words, AI is already influencing the business in ways that demand board attention, whether or not every director feels fully comfortable using the tools themselves yet.
Some of the most striking findings came from directors serving on dedicated risk committees. They were more likely to report measurable AI-related change inside the company and more likely to use AI in their own board work for learning, benchmarking and drafting questions for management. They were also far more likely to expect AI to reshape risk and compliance discussions in the near term.
That should tell every board something important: committee structure and oversight discipline may shape how quickly boards recognize emerging AI realities. Oversight discipline is no longer just about governance hygiene. It shapes how early boards see risk and opportunity.
Every board should be asking:
AI is already in the boardroom. Now the governance needs to catch up.
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