The chief executive may get the glory and the salary, but leading the board is an increasingly important role, requiring subtlety, maturity and an iron grip on the agenda. A good chairman is at least as important for the long-term prosperity of a business as a good CEO, and often harder to find.

A venture capital fund has appointed a machine learning program, capable of making investment recommendations in the life science sector, to its board.

Relatively few CIOs sit on external corporate boards. But those who do come back to their day jobs with personal and professional insights that boost their careers - and give their home companies a competitive edge.

BDC undertook the first-ever Canadian study on the use of advisory boards by small and medium?sized enterprises (SMEs). The study describes how advisory boards work in these businesses and quantitatively demonstrates that SMEs that use them have superior growth and better financial results.

Andy Clarke, Chief Executive at UK supermarket group Asda, has claimed British companies would lose out if they do not get more young people on their boards. Anthony Hilton of the London Evening Standard puts forward his case for the fundamental changes required in British boardrooms.