The Morning Download: Corporate Boards Aren’t Ready for an AI Reckoning

What's up: Snowflake strikes $200 million deal with Anthropic; Sam Altman explored space deal; Democrats press tech firms about Trump ballroom donations

Good morning. Corporate boards are struggling to keep up with the rise of artificial intelligence, and a reckoning is at hand, McKinsey warns.

The global management consulting firm released a new report this morning called, "The AI Reckoning: How Boards Can Evolve." Here are highlights from the research, as well as insights from co-author Aamer Baig, senior partner and leader of McKinsey's technology practice.

Governance lags AI usage. More than 88% of organizations report using AI in at least one business function, but as of 2024, “only 39 percent of Fortune 100 companies disclosed any form of board oversight of AI—whether through a committee, a director with AI expertise, or an ethics board.”

A global survey of directors found that 66% report their boards have “limited to no knowledge or experience” with AI, and nearly one in three say AI does not even appear on their agendas, the global management consulting firm said today.

McKinsey said it interviewed directors from 75 boards across a range of industries and geographies, and analyzed findings from the McKinsey Global Survey on the state of AI and its data sets, which cover thousands of executives.

(For more on corporate AI governance, see our coverage from the WSJ Leadership Institute’s inaugural Board of Directors Council Summit in Palm Beach last month.)