Day Four from the Floor of Summit

Past crises offer lessons for boards to tackle the challenges to come. Directors preparing for a future dominated by artificial intelligence innovations and climate instability, for example, can learn from the resilience of businesses that rebuilt in the aftermath of the September 11 tragedy.

These were just some of the issues that were discussed during the fourth and final day of the NACD Directors Summit^™ 2025, the premier annual conference that brings together the governance elite to shape the future of boardrooms. The event was held at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in the Washington, DC, area from Oct. 12 through Oct. 15, 2025.

Keynote speakers included Andrew Senchak, trustee of the National September 11 Memorial & Museum and former chair of KBW; Shelly Palmer, advanced media professor in residence at Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and CEO of The Palmer Group; and Spencer Glendon, founder of Probable Futures. 

Here are a few key action items for boards from their talks (and see highlights from sessions on Oct. 12, Oct. 13, and Oct. 14):

Ensure a strong culture long before a crisis hits. In a fireside chat with NACD President and CEO Peter Gleason, Senchak reflected on the enduring leadership and governance lessons from Sept. 11, 2001. The museum and memorial, Senchak said, offers a “reminder of resiliency.” It’s not just about preparedness via crisis plans; the best way to recover is “to have a good company to start with,” Senchak said, emphasizing the power of empathy. “It’s incumbent on management and boards to pay close attention to the right incentives for people to behave and to work toward the success of your organization,” he added.

Understand the power directors possess to be architects of the future. The United States and China are working toward artificial general intelligence and, eventually, artificial superintelligence. When the former reaches “super-automation” status, AI agents will run the planet, Palmer believes. He recommended that boards define their AI terms so that everyone in the room agrees on what is being discussed and ensure that companies’ AI principles align with their mission, vision, and values. In addition, Palmer emphasized that “this is not a technology challenge … this is a leadership challenge” and that change management and digital transformation are old terms; now, companies and their boards should focus on continuous adaptation. “Go lead,” Palmer concluded, as board members have the power to influence the future and steer AI in a direction that is more beneficial to humanity.

Treat climate disruption as a boardroom imperative. Civilization has been built on the assumption of climate stability: Predictable local weather patterns enabled the growth of agriculture, infrastructure, and investments. But “the past is no longer a good forecast,” Glendon said, with “once-in-a-lifetime” climate events occurring more frequently, such as extreme flooding from hurricanes and destructive wildfires caused by droughts. He emphasized that “climate risk is part of everyone’s job.” Boards should develop climate literacy and treat climate change as a pervasive operational and strategic risk, not only a political or regulatory risk, and ensure that strategy, planning, financial commitments, and oversight are aligned with climate scenarios that could impact the business.

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