Most asked
What does my board expect me to know about AI?
Short answer
Not expertise. Judgment. Your board does not expect you to understand large language models or AI architecture. They expect you to know what this means for the business, where the risk is, whether you have a direction, and whether you can answer when asked. That is an executive problem, not a technology problem.
This distinction is where most executives get into trouble. They measure themselves against a standard they were never asked to meet, and miss the one they are actually being evaluated on.
The board is not asking whether you can explain how a model works. They are asking something harder. Do you understand what this means for the business? Do you know where the risk is? Do you have a direction? Can you answer when they ask?
The leaders navigating this well are not the ones who mastered every AI tool. They are the ones who got serious about their leadership infrastructure: the right questions to ask, the right frameworks for evaluating decisions, and the right advisors to bring clarity where blind spots exist.
Your board does not expect you to know everything. It does expect you to know where AI belongs, and to make good decisions about it. That expectation is only going to get heavier over the next few years.
The board is watching. Not for expertise. For confidence, direction, and judgment.