The Modern Crisis Landscape
An Interactive Boardroom Simulation on AI, Cyber, and Physical Threats
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NACD Northern California
Contact Us
Lisa Spivey,
Executive Director
Kate Azima,
Director of Partnerships & Marketing
programs@northerncalifornia.nacdonline.org
Find a Chapter
About The Event
Directors from across industries explored an interactive boardroom crisis simulation focused on AI-driven disruption and its impact on operations, reputation, executive safety, and cybersecurity.
Facilitators Samta Kapoor and Joe Muscat from EY; Erick Turasz from Global Guardian; Kara Grimaldi and T.J. O'Sullivan from Joele Frank; and Jonathan Trull and May Mitchell from Qualys led small groups as they worked to address the scenario’s complexities and trade-offs.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Crisis Communication and Leadership Tone
- Balance urgency with accuracy, ensuring messaging is both timely and appropriate for different stakeholders.
- Maintain an empathetic tone across all audiences, including customers, employees, and partners.
- Communicate through multiple channels such as press releases, video messages, and direct outreach to key stakeholders.
- Recognize that crises have a prolonged impact, requiring sustained CEO visibility and engagement rather than episodic responses.
- Establish a clearly defined core response team spanning communications, legal, cyber, and internal leadership functions.
- Define activation protocols in advance, including escalation triggers and when the board becomes engaged.
- Develop pre-drafted materials such as holding statements, employee communications, and CEO scripts to accelerate response time.
- Conduct regular simulations to test readiness, identify operational gaps, and improve coordination between management and the board.
Governance and Responsible AI Oversight
- Initiate early, ongoing discussions on responsible AI use as part of core governance practices.
- Focus on asking precise, forward-looking questions to understand AI-related exposures and risk management strategies.
- Build containment strategies that protect enterprise value and reduce reputational risk.
- Encourage directors to engage directly with AI tools to distinguish between hype and practical risk implications.
Security Leadership and Organizational Readiness
- Proactively engage with the Chief Security Officer before a crisis to align on risk posture and response expectations.
- Conduct comprehensive, continuous risk assessments covering cyber, physical security, and key personnel vulnerabilities.
- Clarify decision-making authority during crises, including who can authorize actions and deploy resources quickly.
- Address the risk of organizational paralysis by defining in advance the actions the company is prepared to take.
AI Risk, Cyber Resilience, and Scenario Planning
- Push management to articulate specific AI-related risks, including both operational use and adversarial attack scenarios.
- Integrate AI risks into the enterprise risk register with clear mitigation and response plans.
- Assess response speed to critical vulnerabilities, including zero-day scenarios, and ensure accountability at the CISO and management level.
- Conduct rigorous, high-pressure tabletop exercises that simulate imperfect conditions to test real-world resilience and decision-making.
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NACD Northern California
Contact Us
Lisa Spivey,
Executive Director
Kate Azima,
Director of Partnerships & Marketing
programs@northerncalifornia.nacdonline.org
Find a Chapter
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| NACD and the NACD Chapter Network organizations (NACD) are non-partisan, nonprofit organizations dedicated to providing directors with the opportunity to discuss timely governance oversight practices. The views of the speakers and audience are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of NACD. |
