Companies test AI advisers for board meetings, but voting is unlikely

In short: Company boards are starting to use AI tools as advisers for meeting prep and research, but these tools are not expected to get a vote.

What's going on

Some large companies are beginning to use AI to help their boards, which are the small groups that oversee major decisions like strategy and big deals. These tools act like a research assistant that can read a large pile of documents quickly and answer questions.

Diligent, a company that sells board software, launched an “AI Board Member” tool last week. It can be trained on a company’s board papers, news, and research, then offer viewpoints using different “personas” (pre-set roles), such as a long-term value investor or a cyber security expert. Lloyds Banking Group has also said it is rolling out an AI board adviser made by Board Intelligence.

Other examples include Mubadala, a state-owned investment firm in the United Arab Emirates, which has built an AI system called Maia. Mubadala has pushed its portfolio companies to use Maia as an “observer” at board level, meaning it can watch and support without being an official decision-maker. Similar tools are offered by providers including Nasdaq and Govenda.

What to watch

Experts say letting AI vote on board decisions faces major barriers. UK regulators note that the legal definition of a director does not include a computer system, and lawyers argue directors cannot outsource their “fiduciary duties” (their legal duty to act loyally and carefully) to a machine. There are also practical concerns, like whether an AI’s stored chat history could be demanded in court, plus the simple fact that AI is still better at prep work than live debate.

Source: Financial Times