Why Digital Fluency Is Now a Leadership Imperative

As technology permeates every aspect of corporate operations, private company directors should understand how it can enable—or hinder—their work.

For private company boards, the question is no longer whether technology belongs in the boardroom but rather how fluently directors can use it to govern with confidence.

Digital fluency doesn’t mean keeping up with every new app. It means making technology work for each director, which brings clarity, security, and alignment to the board’s work. Board members don’t need to be information technology experts or artificial intelligence specialists, but they do need to know how digital systems either slow their decision-making or empower them to guide the organizations they serve.

When the board works fluently with technology, the technology itself fades into the background. Directors then experience secure access to their board materials and communications, streamlined processes, and sharper oversight. That is what governance in the digital age should feel like.

The Cost of Digital Blind Spots

Governance gaps rarely announce themselves as crises. More often, they appear as subtle inefficiencies that compound over time, including:

• endless email threads between board members with attachments no one can track,
• confusion among directors over which draft of a strategic plan is current,
• missed follow-ups because action items are not stored in a centralized location, and
• limited visibility into how or why past decisions were made.

These frustrations are familiar, but they are also signals of digital blind spots. In a business environment defined by speed and risk, such blind spots erode trust, accountability, and strategic agility.

Boards that lack digital fluency risk governing reactively by spending more time wondering which version of the document is the most recent than shaping decisions. In contrast, boards that adopt digital-first practices protect their most valuable resource: time.

What Digitally Fluent Boards Do Differently

Digitally fluent boards look and feel different in practice. Their advantage is not in “using more technology,” but in eliminating noise so directors can focus on substance. This can manifest in the following ways:

• Less preparation and smarter reviews. Directors receive consolidated, secure board packs from management that update automatically.
• Accessible decision logs. Resolutions, votes, and follow-ups are logged in one place, creating an institutional memory the board and management can rely on.
• Secure materials. Directors can review board materials with confidence whenever they are traveling or meeting in person, as their digital documents are hosted in a cloud-based platform that won’t slip into the wrong hands, which is possible with PDF- or paper-based versions.

Fluency does not add complexity; it creates flow. Directors know where to look, what to prioritize, and how to collaborate without friction. They build this fluency by standardizing where information lives, aligning on a consistent system for hosting virtual meetings and materials, and adopting simple digital habits that keep everyone working from the same source of truth.

These habits can include reviewing materials in a centralized platform instead of downloading files to personal devices or using built-in annotation and voting tools so that discussions and decisions stay in one secure place. It is less about mastering technology and more about creating predictable, shared routines that make governance smoother for everyone.

Create Clarity with Fewer Tools

One of the biggest missteps board administrators have told OnBoard Meetings they make is layering too many platforms. Directors, especially those serving on multiple boards, are weary of juggling countless apps and log-ins. More tools rarely equal more value.

Boards should look for clear, efficient systems that cut down on unnecessary noise.

An efficient system is one that centralizes materials, standardizes workflows, and reduces time spent searching, downloading, or reconciling information across multiple channels. Directors can find this by evaluating whether a platform supports their full meeting life cycle, from prep to meetings and decisions to follow-up, within a single, secure environment.

The best systems are those that streamline behavior, don’t add more steps, and make it easy for every director to stay aligned without friction. A well-structured board platform should feel less like another app to learn and more like a trusted partner that offers security, simplicity, and peace of mind.

In other words, boards should measure digital fluency not by how many tools they use but by how seamlessly those tools help them govern. Integration, not accumulation, is the path forward.

Why the Board Sets the Tone

The influence of digital fluency goes beyond logistics. When directors are aligned and operate efficiently, it signals to all stakeholders that the board is attentive, disciplined, and fully engaged in its oversight responsibilities.

Stakeholders may not see every internal process, but they feel the effects of an aligned and efficient board through timely decisions, consistent communication, confident leadership during periods of uncertainty, and the board’s ability to respond quickly without confusion.

In other words, even if stakeholders are unable to observe the board’s workflows directly, they recognize when directors are cohesive, organized, and prepared, because that discipline shows up in the organization’s clarity, pace, and quality of strategy execution. This is particularly true during periods of heightened risk, change, or growth.

This is why digital fluency is a leadership imperative. It is not about adopting modern tools; it is about modeling the behaviors and expectations that cascade through the organization.

Fluency Builds Confidence

The most effective boards are not always the most innovative. Instead, they are the ones that are most aligned, informed, and prepared.

For directors, the real question is not: Are we digital experts? It is: Are our systems helping us govern better, or holding us back?

If the board’s governance experience feels fragmented, it is worth asking what fluency could look like in the boardroom. Imagine a meeting in which every director arrives fully prepared, is confident they are working from the right materials, and is able to focus on the future, rather than wrestling with outdated processes.

That is the value of digital fluency. It builds confidence inside the boardroom and throughout the organization.

The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not represent the perspective of NACD.

OnBoard is an NACD partner, providing directors with critical and timely information, and perspectives. OnBoard is a financial supporter of the NACD.