Many corporate boards lack experience and expertise in AI

CHROs across the world have been tasked with integrating AI within the workforce, and the HR department in general is often considered a first stop when it comes to using the new technology to boost productivity. But HR leaders be warned—some of the most powerful players at your company may be holding you back. 

About 45% of board members and C-suite leaders say that AI is not on the agenda of their board of directors, according to a new report from Deloitte. And about 80% of this cohort say that their boards have limited, minimal, or zero expertise or experience with AI. Only 2% say that their boards are highly informed about the technology. 

“The lack of knowledge comes from it [being] very new,” Lara Abrash, chair of the board for Deloitte U.S., tells Fortune. “A good chunk of board members are no longer in management roles. So the areas that they would get exposed to in the flow of things may not be the same as when they were CHRO, CFO, or CIO.”

Because many board members are no longer participating in the hustle and bustle of daily business, Abrash says they also aren’t privy to the urgency of implementing AI. And this isn’t sitting well with their colleagues—the study notes that about 46% of board members and executives are unsatisfied or worried with the amount of time boards are spending on the new technology. Nearly half of survey participants say that the technology has not made it onto the board agenda at all.  

The chair of the board has one of the biggest roles to play, because they’re responsible for connecting the management team with board members, ensuring there’s an overarching agenda and setting a timeline for strategies. If they fail to keep up on AI, Abrash explains that there will be long-term business impacts. 

But there has to be a concerted effort from the company’s C-suite as well, to make sure the board is caught up with AI. Some are already doing so; about 69% of participants say their boards are engaging with the CTO or CIO about AI, half are talking with their CEO, and 26% are discussing the tech with their CFO. 

That’s why it’s so important that CHROs make themselves part of those board discussions. The HR department is often tasked with helping build out an AI department to begin with, and overseeing how the tech is adopted by rank and file workers. 

CHROs have a “really interesting role relative to adoption,” says Abrash. “Having individuals who will ultimately use the technology be open and willing and educated and desirous of it.”

Emma Burleigh
emma.burleigh@fortune.com

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