Boards get AI governance guide

KPMG International and INSEAD published a new boardroom guide on April 14 that tells directors to treat artificial intelligence as a core governance issue, not a side project. (kpmg.com) The report was developed with the INSEAD Corporate Governance Centre and sets out five principles for boards: strategic oversight, technology and security oversight, workforce and human accountability, trustworthy artificial intelligence, and the board’s own ways of working. (insead.edu) KPMG said the framework is meant for boards across industries and jurisdictions, and is designed to help directors ask questions, balance risk and opportunity, and oversee artificial intelligence without taking over management’s job. (kpmg.com) The guidance lands as companies move from testing chatbots and prediction tools to deploying systems across operations, hiring, security, and decision-making. The report says boards now have to oversee how artificial intelligence affects business models, productivity, workforce strategy, and cyber risk. (assets.kpmg.com) KPMG’s release tied the launch to a skills gap in the boardroom. Its latest Global Artificial Intelligence Pulse Survey found nearly three quarters of boards are seen as having only moderate or limited artificial intelligence expertise. (kpmg.com) That gap is showing up as boards are asked to oversee systems that can generate content, make recommendations, and, in newer “agent” forms, plan and act with growing autonomy. The report says directors need clearer lines on accountability, transparency, and when human judgment must stay in the loop. (assets.kpmg.com) The framework does not create legal rules, and KPMG says boards still need to apply local regulatory and cultural requirements when building their own oversight models. It is pitched as a common starting point for board debate, not a substitute for country-specific compliance. (kpmg.com) INSEAD and KPMG are framing the issue in familiar board terms: long-term value, control effectiveness, risk ownership, and trust. The message to directors is that artificial intelligence oversight now sits alongside strategy, audit, cyber security, and talent on the regular board agenda. (insead.edu)