Five questions every director should ask about AI at the next board meeting

You don't need to be technical to oversee AI well. You need to ask the right questions, and keep asking them.

AI is now a board matter. It touches strategy, risk, people and reputation, often all at once. Yet many boards still treat it as a technology topic for management to handle. Good oversight doesn't need technical expertise. It needs a handful of clear questions, asked regularly.

1. Where is AI already being used in our company, officially or not?

In most organisations, AI is already in use: in marketing, finance, customer service, and on individual laptops. Some of it is sanctioned; much of it isn't. The board should know the full picture, because unofficial use is where most of the data risk sits.

2. What data are we putting into it, and on what terms?

Ask which tools are approved, what information goes into them, and whether the terms keep that data out of model training. Ask specifically about personal data and commercially sensitive material, and how this squares with the Nigeria Data Protection Act 2023.

3. Who is accountable?

Someone in management should own AI use and its risks, with a clear policy and regular reporting to the board or a committee. If the answer is "everyone" or "IT", accountability is missing.

4. Where could AI give us a real advantage, and how will we measure it?

Push past pilots and demos. Ask management to name the two or three areas where AI could make the biggest difference to cost, speed or customer experience, and how success will be measured. If nothing is measured, nothing will change.

5. Is the board itself using it?

This is the question boards tend to skip. Directors who use AI in their own work (preparing for meetings, reviewing papers, tracking actions) understand its strengths and limits far better than those who only hear about it. It's also the clearest signal to the organisation that the board takes AI seriously.

Leading from the top

Boards set the tone. A board that asks good questions about AI, and uses it well itself, gives management both permission and direction. A board that stays silent leaves the company to drift, with the risks unmanaged and the opportunities unclaimed.