Governance 2026: Boardroom Priorities That Will Shape the Year Ahead

As boards enter 2026, they do so against a backdrop of accelerating change, heightened uncertainty, and expanding oversight responsibilities. Covering artificial intelligence (AI) and cybersecurity, geopolitics, capital allocation, workforce transformation, and culture, the boardroom agenda is becoming more interconnected—and more consequential—than ever before. In this piece, Governance 2026: Boardroom Priorities That Will Shape the Year Ahead, members of the NACD New Jersey Chapter board share their perspectives on the trends they believe will most influence effective governance in the year ahead, offering candid insights into how boards can lead with clarity, agility, and purpose.

Jeannie Diefenderfer

There have been more predictions missed than realized during 2025, but 2026 will bring better expectations setting for boards:

• It’s better to focus on our company-specific strategy and how to respond smartly than on the never-ending and unpredictable changes external to the business.
• We will improve our understanding of AI from personal, immersive experiences, not from slick presentations by consultants and advisors.
• We will incorporate AI adoption metrics at the board level without constraining management’s ability to experiment with some calculated risk.
• We will provide clarity on foundational cultural values that transcend shifting political and societal tendencies in the short and medium terms.

Susan Gray

In 2026, boards across financial services, energy, and industrial sectors will face intensifying competitive pressures driven by structural shifts in capital markets, rapid technological innovation, and rising infrastructure demands. From the transformation of retirement savings and fintech-driven consolidation to the capital intensity required to support AI-driven energy demand and advances in robotics and next-generation power solutions, strategic oversight will be increasingly complex and interconnected. At the same time, boards must prioritize cyber resilience and workforce transformation, ensuring employees are equipped to manage heightened cyber risks while embracing digitization and AI as sources of long-term commercial advantage.

Judy Reinsdorf

As the risks for companies increase in a very complex environment, every board should ensure they have a solid framework to assess board performance and ensure alignment with the CEO. Boards need a healthy culture, transparent communication with the CEO, and the ability to discuss and debate openly to provide the most effective oversight for shareholders. Regular and robust assessments help boards achieve this goal.

Lori Pressler

In 2026, it will be especially important for directors to deliver trust and uphold stakeholder confidence. External disruption from all facets will shine a light on quality execution. Being able to ask uncomfortable, thought-provoking questions that challenge management on execution will emerge as a principal differentiator in the boardroom.

Andrea Bonime-Blanc

In 2026, I foresee a deepening of both geopolitical tectonic changes and ruptures that started in 2025 as well as serious national security implications from turbocharged technological competition. The geopolitical ruptures we began to witness in 2025 will continue apace, including the US administration (1) allying more closely with Russia than with our traditional allies like the European Union, (2) aggressively pursuing a Western Hemisphere “sphere of influence” and either waging regime change or engaging in other domestic interference in Latin American countries, and (3) slowly but dangerously abandoning the Asia-Pacific region as one of importance to the United States, ceding influence to China. Turbocharged global technological competition adds another layer of complexity, danger, and opportunity, first and foremost in the global competition for tech hegemony between the United States and China. This competition will continue unfettered into 2026 with US “allies” (like the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia) given access to some of the most advanced technology the United States makes without consideration of how such tech can get into the wrong hands from a US national security standpoint. This will make our world an ever-more dangerous place.

What this means for the boardroom is that both the governance of geopolitical change as it affects your business footprint and the governance of frontier tech (AI, biotech, computing, etc.) as it intersects with your business strategy must be top agenda items requiring constant attention, education, and strategic consideration.

Julia Fisher

Following a significant number of CEO transitions in 2025, 2026 will test boards’ ability to govern through leadership change. Boards will need to strike the right balance between support and accountability as new CEOs set direction, establish mandates, and begin to reshape culture, operations, and performance. Effective governance in 2026 will hinge on clarity of expectations, disciplined oversight of execution, and a strong, aligned board–CEO partnership during this critical transition period.

Glenn Votek

In 2026, boards will be navigating an environment where unprecedented capital demands—such as federal government debt financing, extraordinary infrastructure investment, and power AI—compete for finite pools of liquidity. Boards will need to support management teams in treating capital as a critical and scarce resource accompanied by its careful and disciplined deployment and allocation.

Baba Bedi

In 2026, AI adoption and its impact on employees and customers will rise to the top of board agendas, alongside heightened economic uncertainty driven by unpredictable government policies and escalating geopolitical risk. For financial institutions in particular, shifting member and customer behaviors are already complicating long-term planning, requiring boards to take a more active role in guiding management through volatility. Boards will need to draw deeply on their collective expertise (often stepping outside their comfort zones) to understand emerging technologies, workforce implications, and underlying employee and customer sentiment. The greatest opportunity lies in encouraging management to adopt cross-sector thinking, learning from fintech, social platforms, and disruptive innovators to develop solutions that resonate with the next generation while managing risk responsibly.

Alice Brennan

In 2026, the most effective directors will distinguish themselves by being avid learners—bringing fresh perspectives, asking probing questions, and sharing unique experiences that elevate boardroom dialogue. As uncertainty persists, boards will need to surround themselves with problem solvers and confront persistent weak spots in technology, cyber risk, and culture head-on while learning from organizations that excel at talent, leadership, and teamwork. Sustained success will favor boards that pair curiosity with resilience, maintaining momentum and enthusiasm even as they navigate setbacks and change. I’ve always loved this quote from Winston Churchill on success through perseverance and resilience: “Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.”

Chrissy Buteas

Volatility now exists constantly, not in episodes. Directors are increasingly expected to exercise judgment in situations where information is incomplete, conditions shift quickly, and traditional planning assumptions are no longer valid. They need to enhance their decision-making processes despite having incomplete and imperfect data. This involves assessing risks, potential gains, and potential losses without waiting for absolute certainty, making timely decisions while maintaining flexibility.

Furthermore, scenario planning and stress testing are crucial. Directors should develop skills in evaluating multiple plausible future scenarios, understanding secondary and tertiary effects, and testing their strategies against possible economic, regulatory, geopolitical, and operational disruptions.

Robin Doyle

The pace of change is one of the most important trends for boards to focus on. Understanding that what makes sense right now might not make sense in a year is critical. Technology, social trends, competition, global economies—everything is changing faster than in the past. Boards must understand this and ensure management is implementing strategies and operations that are agile and can quickly adapt.

Ken Dutcher

AI oversight will remain a central governance priority in 2026, with a September 2025 EY Center for Board Matters report noting that many companies are shifting responsibility to designated committees and forming dedicated technology committees, despite ongoing difficulty in recruiting directors with meaningful AI expertise. As AI increasingly impacts all aspects of the enterprise, boards face emerging weaknesses related to risk management, workforce transformation, regulatory readiness, and competitive disruption. At the same time, geopolitical uncertainty will continue to pressure boards to reassess supply-chain resilience and capital allocation while investors are likely to demand clearer evidence of return on investment from significant AI investments. To meet these challenges, boards must accelerate director education, reassess board composition, and ensure they can effectively evaluate management performance, strategy, and risk in a rapidly evolving AI-driven landscape.

Gregory Johnson

In 2026, I foresee cybersecurity as a primary governance topic at the top of boards’ agendas due to the evolving implications of AI. AI is reshaping the cyber-risk landscape, as it is becoming both an accelerant of cyber risk and an enabler of better defense. Threat actors are increasingly using AI to launch faster, more sophisticated, and large-scale cyberattacks. In response, companies are increasingly using AI to enhance detection, triage, and response time. This means boards must take proactive steps to address the challenges, including developing clear protocols for AI usage, investing in director AI literacy, and establishing robust security frameworks.

Richard Mroz

As we look toward 2026, economic uncertainty is likely to rise to the top of board agendas, demanding heightened vigilance and adaptability. At the same time, rapid advances in AI will fundamentally reshape the workforce structure, requiring boards to play a more active role in overseeing talent strategy and organizational readiness. Directors will need to cultivate the skills—including overseeing measurement of impact on employees and morale and AI product quality—and the mindset necessary to navigate these complexities, balancing innovation with risk management. The greatest opportunity lies in leveraging AI to enhance operational efficiency and performance while the corresponding risk is ensuring boards are prepared to assess and respond if today’s momentum proves to be an AI bubble rather than a sustained transformation.

Shane Sanders

In 2026, responsible and well-governed deployment of AI will emerge as a critical board priority as organizations move from experimentation to enterprise-wide adoption. As domestic and global regulatory and technological shifts continue to reshape markets, Boards will need to take a more proactive role in overseeing the strategic, risk, and compliance implications of this rapidly evolving environment. Directors must continue to build fluency in AI, technology, and cybersecurity through ongoing learning, while maintaining resilience amid constant change. The greatest opportunity - and risk - lies in ensuring strategy, risk oversight, and capital allocation remain aligned, positioning the organization to adapt effectively and preserve long-term value.

Michele Siekerka

The greatest risk for boards is the incredible pace of change, which only gets faster and faster, not just year over year, but week over week. This pace puts tremendous strain on resources, especially our human resources. Our workforce feels the pressure to not just keep up but stay ahead. And yet, oftentimes, as a company we don’t have the capacity to do so. The care of and investment in our human resources always need to be priorities. They can be our greatest opportunity when properly empowered and enabled.

Taken together, these perspectives underscore a defining reality for boards in 2026: Effective governance will demand deeper engagement, faster learning, and greater comfort with ambiguity. Directors will need to sharpen their ability to oversee emerging technologies, geopolitical risk, capital constraints, and workforce evolution while preserving trust, culture, and long-term value creation. As the pace of change continues to accelerate, boards that invest in their own education, embrace diverse viewpoints, and challenge management constructively will be best positioned to navigate complexity and lead their organizations confidently into the future.