Episode 43: What Boards Should Ask About AI

Episode summary

Directors are being asked to oversee technology they did not grow up with. In Episode 43, Daniel Achterberg and Grace Whitcombe speak with Corvane Ryle Chair Miriam Okafor-Lindqvist and Sophie Laurent-Brecht about how boards can exercise meaningful oversight of AI without becoming engineers.

The discussion covers where AI risk sits among board committees, what a useful management report looks like, how to ask about vendors and models the company does not control, and how the EU AI Act and US state laws affect the questions. Miriam also shares what she sees from the deal table, where AI diligence has become routine. The episode runs about 30 minutes.

Chapter notes

• 00:00 Introduction. Why AI oversight is now a standing board topic.
• 03:30 Who owns it? Allocating AI risk between the full board, the audit committee and others.
• 10:15 Ten questions for management. A short list that covers inventory, use cases, vendors, incidents and legal exposure.
• 18:40 Regulation in the background. Sophie explains what the EU AI Act and state rules mean for deployers.
• 24:00 AI in deals and filings. Miriam on diligence findings and disclosure.
• 27:45 Closing advice. One habit every board should adopt.

Hosts and guests

Hosts: Daniel Achterberg and Grace Whitcombe.

Guests: Miriam Okafor-Lindqvist, Chair and Partner, Mergers & Acquisitions, New York; Sophie Laurent-Brecht, Counsel, Brussels.