CXO Voice · Contributed
The Board Conversation About AI Risk Has Changed
A year ago the board wanted to know what AI could do. Now they want to know what happens when it does something we did not intend.
The tone in our board meetings shifted this year. The enthusiasm is still there, but it now arrives with a second question attached: what is the downside, and who owns it?
As a CEO, I welcome the change. A board that only asks about upside is not doing its job. The harder questions have made our AI strategy more durable, not slower.
The question I now insist we answer before approving any autonomous system is simple: how quickly can we stop it, and who has the authority to do so? If we cannot answer that clearly, we are not ready.
Risk maturity is becoming a competitive advantage. The companies that can govern AI confidently will move faster, because they will not be paralyzed the first time something goes wrong.
Disclosure
The author is CEO of Harborline Retail. Views are his own; reviewed by CXOROOM editors. No AI system authored this article.
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