Boardroom

In the next decade, the most competitive companies will be governed not by the most prestigious resumes, but by boards engineered for complexity. U.S. boardrooms are re-skilling under pressure from four converging forces: (i) AI deployment and risk, (ii) supply chain and ESG regulation that reaches deep into suppliers, (iii) increasing geopolitical tensions, and (iv) heightened investor scrutiny of board capability, disclosure, and refreshment. In 2025 and beyond, governance sophistication is no longer optional – it is a determinant of market value, stakeholder trust, and competitiveness.

In Q2 2025, tariff volatility and regulatory shifts have become a defining force in enterprise strategy — no longer a “trade” issue, instead a board-level risk. The most sophisticated multinationals are now deploying structured stress-testing frameworks to model “policy shock” scenarios: tariff spikes, export control expansions, carbon border pricing, and compliance detentions. These models link granular HS-code exposure, supplier geography, and product carbon intensity to real-time profit-and-loss simulations —quantifying the margin at risk and working capital requirements under each regulatory outcome. For directors, the strategic question is shifting from “Where should we produce?” to “How fast can we re-position when the rules change?”

Large multinationals are moving from pledges to procurement and projects — locking in long-dated clean power contracts, electrifying heat and fleets, re-tooling supply chains, and backing carbon removal. More broadly, the global energy transition to renewable technologies remains intact, but uneven. Global energy investment will reach $3.3 trillion USD in 2025, with $2.2 trillion being invested in renewables, nuclear, grids, storage, low-emissions fuels, efficiency, and electrification (which stands at 2x fossil investment). On a dual-track energy system — adding clean energy capacity without fully displacing fossil fuels — China, the EU, India, and the U.S. continue to drive most of the additions.

Geopolitical volatility, shifting trade policies, and rising tariffs are redefining supply chain risk. More than ever, agility and transparency raise to the top of board and management’s priorities. Generative artificial intelligence offers powerful tools—predictive insights, scenario modeling, and real-time visibility—that can help enterprises anticipate shocks, ensure compliance, and sustain continuity. Moreover, agentic AI will allow companies to deploy “self-driving” supply chains to hasten decision-making and realize greater benefits of timeliness, cost-containment, and more. The challenge for directors is not whether to adopt AI, but how to govern its integration: ensuring management has the data infrastructure, talent, and oversight to capture value.

Quantum computing is moving fast from theoretical promise to boardroom strategy. With venture funding topping $2.6 billion globally in 2024, of which $1.7 billion went to U.S. companies, U.S. multinationals are launching quantum pilots and assessing their risks to encryption threats. Whether it’s big tech, pharmaceutical, or energy, if fully commercialized, analysts estimate a $2 trillion economic impact by 2035. Can your organization gain the quantum advantage?

With broad policy upheaval in the U.S. under President Trump’s second term, Sustainability Committees on corporate boards stand on shaky ground. The administration has effectively terminated and significant allocations for renewable energy, retreated from the Paris Agreement, spurred ESG-backlash, weakened the EPA, NOAA, and SEC mandates. At the same time, the global momentum for ESG and Sustainability persists. Even if the political momentum is going in one direction, board members will have to balance the reality of climate, social, litigation, and governance risks remain financially material and globally governed.

With broad policy upheaval in the U.S. under President Trump’s second term, Sustainability Committees on corporate boards stand on shaky ground. The administration has effectively terminated and significant allocations for renewable energy, retreated from the Paris Agreement, spurred ESG-backlash, weakened the EPA, NOAA, and SEC mandates. At the same time, the global momentum for ESG and Sustainability persists. Even if the political momentum is going in one direction, board members will have to balance the reality of climate, social, litigation, and governance risks remain financially material and globally governed.

With broad policy upheaval in the U.S. under President Trump’s second term, Sustainability Committees on corporate boards stand on shaky ground. The administration has effectively terminated and significant allocations for renewable energy, retreated from the Paris Agreement, spurred ESG-backlash, weakened the EPA, NOAA, and SEC mandates. At the same time, the global momentum for ESG and Sustainability persists. Even if the political momentum is going in one direction, board members will have to balance the reality of climate, social, litigation, and governance risks remain financially material and globally governed.

With broad policy upheaval in the U.S. under President Trump’s second term, Sustainability Committees on corporate boards stand on shaky ground. The administration has effectively terminated and significant allocations for renewable energy, retreated from the Paris Agreement, spurred ESG-backlash, weakened the EPA, NOAA, and SEC mandates. At the same time, the global momentum for ESG and Sustainability persists. Even if the political momentum is going in one direction, board members will have to balance the reality of climate, social, litigation, and governance risks remain financially material and globally governed.

With broad policy upheaval in the U.S. under President Trump’s second term, Sustainability Committees on corporate boards stand on shaky ground. The administration has effectively terminated and significant allocations for renewable energy, retreated from the Paris Agreement, spurred ESG-backlash, weakened the EPA, NOAA, and SEC mandates. At the same time, the global momentum for ESG and Sustainability persists. Even if the political momentum is going in one direction, board members will have to balance the reality of climate, social, litigation, and governance risks remain financially material and globally governed.