Discussion Lunch: PLC Board members in TMT & beyond, November 2025
On 27th November – Thanksgiving in the US, and a day after the Budget in the UK – Spectrum hosted 14 board members of publicly quoted organisations for a peer-group discussion over lunch at The Brasserie of Light in London.
The three key, interrelated, themes discussed on the day were:
- AI
- Risk & Culture
- Value Creation
AI in the boardroom
AI dominates the media and business narrative, but AI is not well understood by many boards.
Whilst there is widespread recognition that something truly profound is upon us – current AI thinking is limited, oriented towards LLMs (like ChatGPT) rather than true, transformational AI (agentic).
LLMs might produce underwhelming results, which will make it harder to support agentic initiatives.
SWOT analysis should focus much harder on the opportunities and threats posed by AI.
The impact of wider agentic AI on business cannot be predicted and may lead to fundamental business model disruption.
Today, AI’s impact on product and pricing is already being felt.
A fundamentally sound, well protected, data policy is required to roll out AI initiatives across the organisation.
Risk & Culture
Board cultures and approaches to risk must adapt to the new reality of an AI-influenced future.
AI will create big winners and losers.
Exceptional companies sense inflection points – does your board possess sensing capabilities?
How will AI help – or hinder – your value chain? Does your board devote time to reviewing the organisation’s value chain, and how AI might disrupt it?
Board cultures will evolve in response to AI. The pace, scale, and unpredictability of change will necessitate the need to accept, and to take, more risk.
High engagement, high challenge and high support = a high performing board.
Board members must be unafraid of speaking up in the board meeting. Issues must be confronted.
UK boards should match the risk appetite of their US counterparts if they are to properly compete in AI.
Board members’ experience must all be bang up-to-date.
Value Creation
The board’s role is to create value. It must be the strategic partner of management – rather than police it.
The best governance is stewardship – not compliance and monitoring.
Good governance is not box ticking – it is understanding how best to create value in the context of the organisation.
The Chair’s critical role is not to respond to investor pressure – it is to ensure that the management team sticks to the plan, if the plan is good.
The business must deliver it’s EBITDA targets to allow AI initiatives the space to deliver the value multiplier.
Storytelling is essential. Innovation and AI can create transformative long-term value – but will require shareholder support and perhaps deliver a negative short-term impact on profits (and dividends).
Risk appetite is low in a 3-month reporting cycle, so create the story. Then deliver on it.