AI Workshop FAQ
How do you run an AI workshop for boards?
Quick answer
An AI workshop for boards must be framed around governance, not tools. Directors need to understand: what AI risks they are responsible for overseeing, what questions to ask of management about AI, what the EU AI Act requires of directors, and how to evaluate management’s AI proposals critically. The workshop should be delivered by someone with current board experience — not a technology vendor. Board AI workshops delivered from a NED perspective cover governance obligations rather than technology capabilities.
What board AI workshops must include
A board AI workshop must cover four topics to be fit for purpose. First, the governance landscape: what are the board’s legal obligations in relation to AI, under the EU AI Act, the Companies Act, and sector-specific regulation? What are the consequences of failing to fulfil those obligations? Second, the risk picture: what are the specific AI risks the board needs to be able to identify and challenge — EU AI Act compliance risk, data exposure risk, decision accountability risk, operational risk, reputational risk? Third, the challenge capability: what questions should the board ask of management at every meeting where AI is on the agenda? How do directors distinguish credible AI governance from box-ticking? Fourth, the oversight framework: how should the board structure its ongoing AI oversight — what reporting should it receive, what policies should it approve, what triggers a board-level decision? A board that can answer these questions is able to exercise meaningful oversight.
Why NED-delivered workshops are different from vendor presentations
A board AI workshop delivered by someone with current non-executive director experience is fundamentally different from a vendor presentation. The NED perspective is a governance perspective: the facilitator understands what it means to sit on the oversight side of the AI question, to be responsible for challenging management without being responsible for operations. A technology vendor, regardless of their technical knowledge, is operating from a different frame: their interest is in demonstrating the capabilities and value of AI technology. That frame produces workshops that inform directors about AI’s potential, but does not equip them to govern it. Acuity AI Advisory’s board workshops are delivered from a NED perspective — governance first, technology second.
Acuity AI Advisory delivers board AI briefings from a NED perspective — governance first, technology second. See our board AI advisory services.