Before anything is taught,the board finds out where it stands.
The diagnostic starts with a confidential self-assessment for each director, followed by a review of the board’s AI governance materials and a 90-minute board discussion. The board chair receives a Board AI Readiness Report showing where the gaps are and what to address over the next 12 months.
Confidential self-assessment
24 questions across 6 areas, from technical understanding to strategic judgment. Built-in knowledge checks correct for over- and under-confidence.
Board machinery audit
The audit includes 20 yes-or-no questions drawn from the 9 tests. Each answer is supported by documentation that shows how the board currently manages AI oversight and governance.
Observed discussion
The board works a disguised real AI decision from a comparable company. The facilitator scores:
- Did every director speak substantively?
- Did anyone challenge the ROI baseline?
- Did anyone ask what would make it fail?
- Did the board separate a pilot from a production commitment?
- Did it end with a specific ask of management?
The result is a placement on 2 axes.
3 positions account for most boards. Each reflects a different combination of individual AI expertise and the systems in place to support board-level AI oversight.
Exposed
No individual capability and no machinery. Where the disclosure data suggests most boards sit.
Stranded expertise
1 or 2 capable directors and nothing built around them. The capability leaves when their term does.
Paper compliance
Charters and policies read by directors who cannot evaluate them. The appearance of oversight without the substance reads worse in litigation, not better.
Try the short version now.
12 questions about you, 6 about your board. Your answers stay in this browser.
Exposed
The Board AI Readiness Report
12 to 18 pages. Delivered to the chair and the nominating committee chair first, then to the full board.
- Board placement on the 2-axis map
- Anonymized director results with confidence calibration
- Machinery findings, naming the missing documents
- Observed discussion analysis with verbatim moments
- Peer benchmark by sector and size
- What can be trained, and what has to be recruited
- A 12-month plan with named owners and a re-assessment date