In a year where volatility has become the norm and innovation the new baseline, one role is emerging as the quiet force shaping the future of governance: the general counsel (GC).

 survey of 200 U.S. public company board members, directors are asking for integrated risk insight, smarter strategic planning and tools that help them govern in real time, not once a quarter. The GC is uniquely positioned to deliver all of this.

What follows is a data‑backed look at the governance trends defining 2026, and why the GC is becoming the board’s most essential strategic integrator.

Why boards are leaning on the GC in a high‑velocity M&A market

40% of directors say pursuing growth through M&A or strategic partnerships is a top priority for 2026, signaling renewed appetite for bold moves despite economic uncertainty.

But with big bets come big risks. Directors want clarity, structured oversight and alignment across legal, financial and operational functions. 

No one sees those intersections better than the GC. That makes their guidance essential as companies navigate accelerated deal cycles, heightened regulatory scrutiny and AI‑driven market shifts.

AI ambition meets a skills gap the GC is expected to bridge

Boards know technology is the future, but they also know they’re not fully prepared for it.

 will be their top capital investment focus in 2026. Yet only 8% believe their board has strong AI expertise.

And only 23% say they use AI regularly in risk oversight, even as AI reshapes every corner of the enterprise.

The gap is clear: ambition is high, but capability lags. 

This is the moment for the GC to step in as translator, educator and ethical steward — connecting innovation to compliance, risk and strategy.

A new era of risk: Integration, speed and guidance

Risk oversight is undergoing a structural shift.

84% of directors say their scenario planning has changed in the last five years to account for new risks. 94% believe there is room for improvement in how their board oversees risk.

And AI and technology-related regulation tops both the compliance priority list (50%) and the most underestimated risk list (41%).

Boards are calling for deeper integration across data, functions and decision‑making.

The GC is naturally positioned to lead this evolution, bringing together regulatory foresight, enterprise visibility and cross-functional coordination.

In the words of one director’s insight from the research: boards don’t just want more information. They want the right information, contextualized, connected and strategically relevant. That is the GC’s superpower.

The GC as the board’s strategic integrator: Conducting the symphony

Boards agree: their biggest bottleneck isn’t a lack of data, it’s a lack of synthesis.

58% want more time dedicated to strategic planning.

40% want access to AI‑powered tools to help them oversee strategy, risk and performance.

What they’re really asking for is someone to orchestrate the noise.

Someone who sees across the full business, understands the regulatory currents beneath every decision and can bring the right experts to the right conversations at exactly the right moments. 

That someone is the general counsel — the leader who integrates risk, strategy, compliance and organizational insight into a forward‑looking governance model.

Boards are confronting a widening skills gap, not just in the workforce but at the leadership level.

51% say executive turnover and succession planning is the top talent priority.

45% cite reskilling for emerging technologies like AI as a 2026 focus.

As companies reorganize around AI and automation, the GC becomes a crucial advisor on governance structures, workforce implications and ethical guidelines. They help boards anticipate not only what skills leaders need today, but what capabilities the organization will require tomorrow.

Forward-looking governance: The shift boards are asking for

Boards want to spend less time revisiting what already happened and more time anticipating what comes next.

Yet only 12% of directors say their meetings are mostly forward‑looking. Half say they rarely receive real‑time or near‑real‑time data.

The desire is clear: boards want a continuous governance model — one that is dynamic, data‑driven and integrated into day‑to‑day operations.

This is where the GC plays a defining role: curating, contextualizing and coordinating the information that helps directors move from retrospective oversight to strategic guidance.

A new governance era with the GC at the center

The 2026 research couldn’t be clearer: 

Boards want deeper insight, better risk integration, more strategic time and tools that accelerate decision‑making.

The general counsel is the connective tissue that makes that possible.

As businesses navigate AI transformation, volatile markets, regulatory shifts and rapid‑fire risks, the GC isn’t just a legal leader — they’re becoming the architect of a more integrated, future‑focused model of governance.

To explore the data behind this shift and what it means for your board, read the full 

The general counsel as conductor: The quiet force orchestrating governance  

This article originally appeared in our January 29th edition of the Diligent Minute Newsletter. For more insights like these, delivered straight to your inbox, subscribe 

AI is top of mind for directors this year, the connective tissue linking growth, risk, human capital and compliance. That’s what we found in our 

 report, an annual survey of U.S. public company directors produced in partnership with Diligent Institute and Corporate Board Member. More than 200 directors shared how they’re navigating strategy, risk, talent and governance in an environment defined by volatility and technological change. The result is a rich window into what’s really on board agendas in 2026 — and what may be missing.

One in four boards view technological disruption, including AI, as among the greatest opportunities for their companies, yet only a small minority cite it as a top risk — highlighting an optimism that may not fully account for how quickly AI‑native competitors can upend business models.

Some headline AI‑related stats from the survey:

 of directors say pursuing growth through M\&A and strategic partnerships is a top priority for 2026, while 

 cite deploying AI technology across the business and 

 point to growth through new products or new markets.

 say technology adoption and integration will be a primary focus of capital investment in 2026, outpacing M&A and market expansion.

 of boards report that AI is fully embedded in risk oversight and decision‑making; 

 of directors expect AI and technology‑related regulation to demand the greatest compliance‑related board attention in 2026, and 

 say AI and technology regulation is the most underestimated area of compliance oversight today.

When asked how to strengthen risk oversight, 

 want enhanced use of AI‑powered data and technology tools, and 

 say access to AI‑powered technology for board work and oversight would help optimize governance processes overall.

Behind these figures is a widening governance gap

While AI dominates strategic conversations and investment plans, only 

 of directors say their board has strong AI expertise, and 

 rank technological developments, including AI, among the most challenging issues to oversee. 

 through composition, increasingly looking for directors who can pair traditional governance experience with practical, credible AI fluency.

Boards’ own use of AI also lags their ambitions

Despite the surge in digital tools like board portals, secure messaging and AI‑assisted briefings, only about one in five boards use AI‑powered technology regularly to 

support risk oversight and strategic decision‑making

, and very few have fully embedded AI into their processes. Directors themselves point to AI‑enabled analytics and dashboards as one of the most powerful levers to enhance both risk and compliance oversight, suggesting many recognize the gap and are actively looking for practical ways to close it.

Workforce implications are real and rising

Finally, the survey underscores that AI is fundamentally a people and skills story. Directors expect skills development and reskilling for emerging technologies such as AI and broader workforce strategy to consume substantial board time in 2026, even as workforce investment overall remains relatively underprioritized. They also anticipate that productivity monitoring, job redesign and redeployment, and the ethical use of AI in workforce management will require ongoing, deeper board attention.

Taken together, the findings paint a clear mandate for boards: treat AI not as a discrete project, but as a 

 that touches strategy, risk, compliance and talent. The boards that will lead in this next chapter are those that pair bold bets on AI with equally rigorous oversight — building the expertise, data and governance structures to ensure AI becomes a durable source of advantage, not an underappreciated source of risk.

Get the insights: Download your copy of What Directors Think 2026 

AI adoption rivals M&A as a 2026 priority

This article originally appeared in our January 15th edition of the Diligent Minute Newsletter. For more insights like these, delivered straight to your inbox, subscribe

After three quarters of near-record low confidence levels

, America’s boardrooms ended 2025 on a surprisingly hopeful note, even as directors brace for another demanding year. The latest 

, our quarterly survey of U.S. public company directors conducted with Corporate Board Member, shows sentiment rebounding sharply after three consecutive quarters at a five-year low throughout much of last year.

Why U.S. board confidence rebounded at the end of 2025

Confidence rose 23% in the final month of the year, climbing from 4.9 to 6.0 on a 10-point scale and finally nudging back into what respondents consider “good” territory. As a key driver behind the shift, directors point to:

In other words, after a year of policy whiplash, boards feel they at least understand the playing field a bit better - even if they don’t like it.

That late-year rally, however, shouldn’t be mistaken for a victory lap. For 2025 overall, average confidence registered just 5.0, well below 2024’s 6.2 and far short of the 6.9 directors had forecast a year ago.

Three quarters of respondents say tariffs were a primary reason conditions fell short of expectations, far outpacing any other factor. Their comments underscore how hard it is for boards to plan when rules change midgame; familiar playbooks don’t work when trade policy and enforcement shift repeatedly.

Tariffs, uncertainty and a new risk landscape

Directors in sectors long considered resilient

, like life sciences, describe this period as unlike anything they’ve seen in decades. Many point to deferred capital spending and elongated decision cycles as companies try to model scenarios that are, frankly, impossible to model with precision. That reality is reshaping how boards think about risk, resilience and the very nature of their oversight role.

Their outlook for business conditions by late 2026 is 6.0, essentially flat from today’s reading. CEOs, by contrast, are modestly more upbeat: in a parallel survey by Chief Executive, they project a 6% improvement to 6.4, and 44% say they expect conditions to improve, compared with 32% of directors. That gap is telling. CEOs are closest to near-term operations; boards are increasingly focused on longer-horizons, compounding risks.

Those directors who are optimistic tend to anchor their confidence in 

 seeing opportunities to transform productivity and reimagine business models. Among those who expect deterioration, concerns skew heavily toward macro and geopolitical risk, with uncertainty emerging as a dominant theme -— on par with inflation for many neutral respondents.

How boards can strengthen oversight and learning in 2026

directors emphasize adaptability, deeper engagement and faster learning, recognizing that they must connect dots across 

5 years of the Director Confidence Index: Tracking a more demanding role

This quarter also marks five years of fielding the Director Confidence Index, and we asked respondents how their roles have evolved since 2020.

Board members say they are spending far more time on risk in a “more complex and faster moving” environment, with cybersecurity, AI, geopolitical shocks, supply-chain integrity and policy volatility now standard agenda items. Many describe a shift from “managing the present” toward future-oriented scenario planning and strategic resilience, alongside heightened scrutiny from investors and activists that expands the mandate beyond financial performance to culture, human capital and corporate character.

Taken together, the picture is clear: being a director today is more time-intensive, strategically demanding and consequential than it was in 2020 and perhaps than it has ever been. One director distilled the 2026 playbook to three words: “Defend and survive.” I would add a fourth: learn. Boards that invest in learning about AI technology, geopolitics, regulation and stakeholder expectations will be best positioned not just to endure whatever comes next, but to help their organizations emerge stronger on the other side.

Diligent

Blog

The general counsel as conductor: The quiet force orchestrating governance

AI adoption rivals M&A as a 2026 priority

Your Data Matters