As the business environment continues to evolve in complexity, so does the oversight role of boards. At the same time, investor, regulator, and other stakeholder expectations of board involvement in certain aspects of the business, including aspects traditionally within management’s sole purview, are changing in ways that may blur the lines of responsibility between the two.

The 4th edition of the Audit Committee Practices Report, a collaboration between Deloitte’s Center for Board Effectiveness and the Center for Audit Quality, provides insights into the evolving challenges and priorities facing audit committees. It also highlights leading practices for enhancing audit committee meeting effectiveness.

Although artificial intelligence (AI) is not new, the prevalence of AI and Generative AI in the enterprise makes board oversight vitally important. Particularly in a complex and ever-evolving environment, boards of directors need to be proactive to ensure the organization’s strategy balances innovation and risk management. For boards of directors, the decisions made today will have a lasting impact on both the future of their organizations and society at large.

This Board Practices Quarterly builds upon our 2023 issue, which was also focused on AI. Based on a survey of public company members of the Society for Corporate Governance, it covers company and board AI practices, including functional areas of AI responsibility and implementation; board oversight responsibilities and agendas; and employee utilization of AI tools.