NACD Quarterly Survey: Q4 2025

The Economy and AI Dominate Board Agendas

Shifting economic conditions and AI continue to dominate business issues on board agendas. The latest NACD Quarterly Survey findings also show that while the supply chain focus is moderating, consumer spending is a growing focus for the upcoming quarter.

The “Q4 2025” survey was in the field from December 11 to December 26, 2025, and asked directors to identify the top business issues on their board’s agenda for Q1 2026. (Quotes from survey respondents have been anonymized and appear in italics throughout.)

What are the top business issues on your board’s agenda for the coming quarter?
(Respondents could select up to five issues.)

NACD Quarterly Survey, Q4 2025, n=152

Consistent with the Q3 2025 survey, economic conditions and AI remain the leading concerns. As one respondent noted, “The uncertainty around the strength of the economy will persist into Q1 2026.” Another wrote, “Interest rates and consumer confidence are critical issues.”

Consumer Spending Is a Growing Focus of Boards’ Agendas

Aligned to these comments, “Consumer spending” is a rising issue on the respondents’ agenda, ranking in the top seven issues for the first time in the 2025 quarterly surveys. Respondents commented on how rising concerns with the job market will affect consumer spending and other factors, such as how tariffs will affect consumer prices.

As 2025 closes out, the focus on supply chain disruptions is lessening compared to the Q1 2025 survey. However, respondents’ comments showed continued concerns with the interplay between tariffs, trade wars, geopolitics, and economic conditions. One respondent noted an “uncertainty of when and how much change may come about.”

Four Focus Areas for AI

Artificial intelligence (AI) remains a top issue for boards. Survey comments revealed that respondents have four key focus areas for AI implementation, with the first two being cost reduction or efficiencies and value creation. One director asked, “Where is the ROI? How much longer do we have to wait? Will the current/projected level of spend result in compelling products and services for which people will pay?”

A third focus area is concern with AI use risks including unintended behaviors, ethical issues, and potentially negative impacts on the workforce. One respondent identified “safely [taking] advantage of the expanding capabilities to transform service” as a concern, while another noted, “The workforce implications from AI will be huge in 2026.”

Finally, respondents identified AI’s capacity to accelerate cyber threats as a critical challenge. “Actors [are] using AI in advancing ways to adaptively target companies,” said one respondent. Another stated simply, “The bad guys have AI too.”

Competition for Talent

A persistent top 10 board agenda topic is the competition for talent, highlighting labor market challenges for organizations across all sectors. Additional analysis of the results shows that smaller companies (less than $1billion revenue) and private companies are focusing more strongly on the competition for talent. As one respondent summed it up, “There is no end in sight when it comes to the need to identify, retain, and motivate top-tier talent.”