2020 directors' alert

Can you imagine?

Traditionally, board members were not expected to use their imaginations in overseeing disruption, innovation, and the associated risks. Rather, boards have been expected to bring sharp inquiry, sober judgment, and sound advice to their oversight of organizational risks and the executive team’s approach to managing them.

But a case can be made for making imagination a regular ingredient in the mix. Expectations for board oversight are rising because risks are rising. The risks themselves are evolving rapidly and sometimes unpredictably in response to a host of factors, most notably digital disruption. Technological advances such as automation, blockchain, robotics, and artificial intelligence are changing the business landscape, and 95 percent of board chairs cite disruption as an issue requiring attention in the near future.

This edition of Directors’ Alert aims to stretch your imagination. We will ask you to consider how your organization is incorporating digitalization and cognitive technologies and how the associated risks are assessed. A digitally transformed organization exposes itself to new strategic, ethical, cultural, reputational, reporting, talent, and conduct risks that can be hard to identify, let alone predict, and difficult to mitigate and manage.