Board Talk with Kriti Sharma

Kriti Sharma, Chief Product Officer LegalTech at Thomson Reuters, Board Member at Rightmove and founder of AI for Good UK, shares her views on how AI is impacting businesses, the workforce and society at large and what opportunities the technology offers for social impact. With the rapid proliferation of AI/Gen AI, and with AI becoming more and more capable of taking on tasks usually performed by professionals, it begs the question what this will mean for society, the workforce and workplaces of the future. Watch her Board Talk to find out more:

Interview from the swissVR Monitor II/2024

The Board’s experience and expertise in generative AI

swissVR Monitor: You started acquiring AI expertise at a young age. What role do experience and expertise in generative AI play at the level of the Board of Directors?

Kriti Sharma: We’re now seeing professionals/knowledge workers do work in minutes that would previously take hours. Imagine a lawyer drafting a legal agreement in minutes using AI, a software engineer being able to create code pair programming with AI, and scientists discovering solutions to previously unsolved problems in healthcare. This is disruption not only to the way we work, but the work we do. For a technology that has the potential to deliver such transformative impact, it is imperative that Boards lead from the front not only to drive efficiency and productivity of the organisation, but also to deliver new value to stakeholders.

What we could see in the future is that as AI becomes more commonplace. More work could be carried out by people who don’t have traditional qualifications, which in turn could lead to a transformation in typical career pathways and recruiting practices. This may also lead to diversification at the Board level, and experience and expertise in generative AI is just one part of this. There will be an increasing focus on skills that can best help organisations harness the potential of AI.

swissVR Monitor: Our survey results show that most Board members rarely or never use generative AI tools for their own mandate. What are suitable use cases of generative AI tools in Board activities?

Kriti Sharma: First, I’d state the obvious – Boards deal with the most sensitive and confidential matters, and therefore should only use tools that are enterprise-grade, designed with the strict regulatory, privacy and security guidelines needed for Board related matters. That said, generative AI tools can act as a thought partner in the creative steps of critical thinking and can help synthesise vast amounts of information with nuance. They can also enable human reasoning at scale, and increasingly help Boards stay abreast of the rapidly changing global landscape – for example with regulations and governance related matters.

swissVR Monitor: Most respondents also state that their Board does not have sufficient expertise in generative AI. What does this mean for the composition of the Board – is there a need for an AI expert on each Board?

Kriti Sharma: Absolutely. This is a transformative, technical and complex field with far reaching impact on the organisation and therefore Boards that don’t already have the right level of expertise must bring this in, either in the form of advisers or more directly by recruiting for the expertise directly as part of succession planning or creating a new role to be able to act quickly. It is critical to bring in an expert who not only has real world operational expertise in building, deploying and commercialising AI, but who also can contribute to the wider Board agenda, and not just tech/innovation. In addition, it’s critical that executive teams are set up with AI expertise if they haven’t already done that.

swissVR Monitor: What advice do you have for a Board member who struggles with generative AI but would like to acquire the necessary expertise in this area?

Kriti Sharma: Start small, using these tools in everyday life to see the impact on your own productivity. Familiarising yourself with the power of AI to augment your work will help you see possibilities for what it can do for the whole business. The most important human skills we need, to make the most of generative AI, are curiosity, imagination and the ability to ask good, thoughtful questions. The tech itself is very easy to use, and does the leg work for you. Board members have great expertise in asking good questions and can see round the corner, giving them a natural advantage to make the most of generative AI.

swissVR Monitor: What training or programmes would you recommend to Board members to strengthen their expertise in generative AI?

Kriti Sharma: This space is moving incredibly fast, and impacting most aspects of businesses and organisations today. So, I see a real need in incorporating generative AI training in all existing Board programmes – from cyber-security and digital, to corporate governance, risk, compliance, audit, remuneration/nomination programmes that are run for most Board training. More specifically, I see three areas that need dedicated training and learning:

1. AI strategy – Boards must create an AI strategy, that considers its applications in the business and impact on commercial models, and should model the urgency (or not) in acting on this strategy in talent management, supplier risk, innovation acceleration, etc.
2. Responsible AI – Boards must oversee governance of AI usage and development for the benefit of all stakeholders they represent.
3. Regulatory landscape – With the EU AI Act now in force, Boards must act on overseeing implementation and stay ahead of other policies and emerging regulations.