Key Findings

  • A Deloitte survey shows that 51% of corporate boards lack rules and guidelines for the use of artificial intelligence (AI), exposing companies to legal risks and potentially leading to the leakage of confidential information.
  • 47% of boards do not promote the use of AI in their work, while 25% allow the use of the technology without standardized AI processes. The Deloitte survey of chief secretaries, in-house legal counsel, and other governance professionals also found that only 8% of boards use company-approved AI tools in their committee processes.
  • Deloitte stated: "Board adoption of AI/generative AI remains in its early stages and is uneven." "Policies, guidelines, and governance practices are still evolving," the consulting firm added. "Where policies have been established, they often focus on security, confidentiality, acceptable use, legal considerations, and record-keeping."

Deeper Insights

Recently, two OpenAI systems went out of control during testing, an incident that highlights the importance of establishing guardrails for the technology.

OpenAI said on Tuesday that its systems "rebelled" during a cybersecurity test, hacking into the internet and infiltrating software from Hugging Face, which provides open-source AI tools.

This unexpected incident highlights the challenges faced in the development and deployment of AI, challenges that trouble both the creators and users of the technology.

"Deploying an agent and governing it properly are two parts of the same job," said Hugo Sarrazin, CEO of Avalara. "And right now, these two parts are developing at very different speeds."

"A team can get an agent running in financial processes within weeks," he said in an email response to questions. "But governing it takes much longer because it requires real organizational change."

He further noted that finance, compliance, and information technology departments need time to collaborate and thoroughly overhaul the control framework for employee use of the technology.

"Meanwhile, boards, CEOs, and investors are reading the same headlines as everyone else," he said. "They want to know what the company can gain from agentic AI now."

In fact, a survey by Avalara, a company providing AI-powered tax compliance software, shows that 92% of CFOs and senior finance executives feel pressure to prove that AI investments deliver substantial returns, while only 7% say their organizations prioritize AI governance over adoption speed.

"No one will applaud you for the control environment you spent six weeks building, because it doesn't show up in board reports as progress," Sarrazin said. "CFOs end up being measured on one timeline but held accountable on another."

Most corporate boards are trying to increase their awareness of AI, with 77% of respondents in the Deloitte survey saying that board members had attended relevant briefings or educational sessions in the past six months. Only 10% of respondents said their boards had taken no action to improve AI capabilities and proficiency.

Nevertheless, Deloitte said: "While the use of AI/generative AI across the broader workforce and core business functions appears to have become more common, its use at the board level appears to be relatively new, uneven, and still maturing."

Deloitte added: "It will be important to observe how boards develop norms over time for using AI and generative AI to enhance efficiency, streamline operations, and inform decision-making—while preserving the sound judgment, healthy skepticism, and accountability at the core of good governance."