AI-driven tools are increasingly being adopted by boards of directors to enhance their decision-making, strategic planning, and oversight capabilities. This blog post explores some of the best AI-powered tools that boards can implement to stay ahead of the competition. Discover how these advanced technologies can help CEOs and board directors make data-driven decisions, streamline operations, and optimize strategic guidance for their organizations.
Is your board leveraging any of these tools?
1. Board Intelligence – Board Intelligence is a platform that uses AI to analyze and extract insights from vast amounts of data, enabling board members to make more informed decisions. It can identify trends, risks, and opportunities, and presents them in an easy-to-understand format.
- Strengths:
- Provides tailored insights into risks, opportunities and trends.
- Easy to understand format.
- Comprehensive data analysis capabilities
- Can help boards identify trends, risks, and opportunities
- Weaknesses:
- Requires large amounts of data which some boards may lack.
- Insights are only as good as the data.
- Limited customization options
- Best for:
- Large boards with abundant data who want data-driven insights, especially those in rapidly changing industries.
2. OnBoard – OnBoard is a board management software that integrates AI-driven analytics to provide insights on board performance, governance, and compliance. It helps streamline communication and collaboration among board members, enabling them to make well-informed decisions.
- Strengths:
- Streamlines board operations
- Provides insights into performance and compliance.
- Easy to use and accessible across devices
- Weaknesses:
- Mainly focuses on automation and efficiency.
- Insights depend on what metrics are tracked.
- May not be as comprehensive in its data analysis capabilities as some other options
- Limited AI-driven features compared to other tools
- Best for:
- Boards looking to improve operations, coordination and compliance oversight.
- Boards that value streamlined communication and collaboration, as well as those in highly regulated industries.
3. Diligent Insights -Diligent Insights is a part of Diligent Corporation’s suite of board management solutions. It employs AI to generate tailored insights and recommendations based on the analysis of vast amounts of data, including financial and non-financial metrics, industry trends, and competitor performance.
- Strengths:
- Uses AI to analyze board documents and provide strategic insights and recommendations tailored to the board.
- Analyzes both financial and non-financial metrics
- Can integrate with other Diligent Corporation products
- Weaknesses:
- Depends on board documents as input so insights are limited by available data.
- Requires Diligent software.
- May not be as user-friendly as some other tools
- Potentially high costs for the full suite of services
- Best for:
- Boards that want to leverage own historical records to gain strategically relevant insights.
- Boards of large organizations that value tailored insights, especially those in finance or industries with complex market dynamics.
4. Nalytics – Nalytics offers AI-powered search and analysis capabilities to help board members quickly find relevant information and insights from their organization’s documents, contracts, and other data sources. It can help identify trends, risks, and opportunities to support strategic decision-making.
- Strengths:
- Enables quick search and analysis of organization’s documents and data.
- Identifies risks, trends and opportunities.
- Advanced search and analysis capabilities
- Can process various types of data sources, such as documents and contracts
- Weaknesses:
- Depends on availability of digital documents and data.
- Analysis is only as good as input data quality.
- Narrower focus on search and analysis compared to other tools
- May have a steeper learning curve
- Best for:
- Boards with extensive digital archives and records who seek data and document driven insights.
- Boards that require quick access to information and insights from a wide range of data sources, such as legal, healthcare, or research-intensive industries.
5. Loomion -Loomion provides a secure board portal that uses AI to support better decision-making. It can analyze and summarize large volumes of data, extract key insights, and provide relevant information to board members, allowing them to focus on strategic discussions.
- Strengths:
- Summarizes and analyzes large data volumes to provide key insights.
- Secure board portal.
- Streamlines data analysis and information delivery
- Fosters strategic discussions among board members
- Weaknesses:
- Insights depend on available data and metrics tracked.
- Simply summarizing data may miss key insights.
- May not have as many AI-driven features as some other tools
- Limited customization options
- Best for:
- Boards looking to make sense of abundant data and prefer having a portal for all board work.
- Boards that prioritize security and efficient decision-making, especially in industries where confidential information is critical.
6. PwC’s Board Center -PwC’s Board Center offers AI-powered tools that help board members analyze key performance indicators, market trends, and competitor data. It also provides recommendations and strategic insights based on the analyzed data.
- Strengths:
- Enables comprehensive analysis of KPIs, market trends and competitors.
- Provides strategic insights and recommendations.
- Leverages PwC knowledge.
- Weaknesses:
- Relies on user input data.
- Insights may lack objectivity due to PwC partnership.
- Can be more expensive than other options
- May not be as user-friendly as some other tools
- Best for:
- Boards that want expert guidance on key metrics and seek recommendations from a knowledgeable partner.
7. KPMG Clara -KPMG Clara is an AI-powered platform that automates and enhances various aspects of board governance, including risk management, regulatory compliance, and auditing. It can identify patterns, anomalies, and trends in data to help board members make informed decisions.
- Strengths:
- Automates risk, compliance and audit functions.
- Uses patterns to identify issues, anomolies and trends.
- Enhances various aspects of board governance, including risk management, regulatory compliance, and auditing
- Weaknesses:
- Focuses mainly on oversight and auditing.
- Provides limited strategic insights.
- Can be more expensive than other options
- May have a steeper learning curve
- Best for:
- Boards focused on risk management, regulatory compliance and financial auditing.
- Boards in highly regulated industries or those with complex compliance requirements, such as financial services, healthcare, or energy.
8. DFIN Discovery Manager – Uses AI to help Boards manageMeeting materials. It organizes documents, identifies duplicates, and groups similar items together based on content analysis. This simplifies Board members document review and preparation process.
- Strengths:
- Simplifies document management and review for board meetings.
- Saves time by organizing and grouping similar documents.
- Identifies duplicates and groups similar items based on content analysis
- Weaknesses:
- Limited to document management.
- Does not provide strategic insights or guidance.
- Limited AI-driven features beyond document management
- May not be as comprehensive in its data analysis capabilities as some other options
- Best for:
- Boards looking primarily to improve operational efficiency and streamline document coordination, particularly in industries with extensive documentation requirements.
9. DataVisor – Uses unsupervised machine learning algorithms to detect unusual activities and detect potential fraud or compliance violations. This type of tool can strengthen Board’s oversight of risk management controls and compliance.
- Strengths:
- Uses unsupervised machine learning algorithms to detect unusual activities
- Strengthens oversight of risk management controls and compliance
- Can help identify potential fraud or compliance violations
- Weaknesses:
- Reactive only after unusual activities occur.
- Does not provide guidance to prevent issues.
- Narrow focus on risk management and compliance
- May require significant amounts of data to provide meaningful insights
- Best for:
- Boards highly concerned with fraud risk and seeking tools to enhance compliance monitoring, such as in financial services, healthcare, or technology.
10. Outthink – An AI platform that provides strategic decision support through data analysis and modeling. It helps evaluate growth options, analyze competitors, optimize product roadmaps and improve strategic planning processes. This can strengthen Board’s long term strategic guidance to management.
- Strengths:
- Provides data-driven strategic decision support.
- Evaluates growth options, analyzes competitors, and optimizes product roadmaps
- Helps improve strategic planning processes
- Weaknesses:
- Insights depend on available data quality and metrics selected.
- May lack objectivity.
- May have a steeper learning curve
- Potentially high costs for the full range of services
- Best for:
- Boards open to leveraging data analytics to strengthen long term strategic planning processes.
- Boards that require advanced strategic decision support, particularly in competitive industries or those with complex market dynamics.
11. NASDAQ Boardvantage – Provides Board management software with some AI-based features like intelligent meeting scheduler (based on Board member availability and preferences), automated meeting minutes generation using voice recognition and automatic filings of required compliance forms. This simplifies Board operations and coordination.
- Strengths:
- Simplifies board operations by automating administrative tasks like meeting scheduling, minutes and filings.
- Ensures compliance with automatic filings of required forms
- Weaknesses:
- Focuses only on efficiency and automation.
- Limited AI-driven features compared to other tools
- May not be as comprehensive in its data analysis capabilities as some other options
- Does not provide strategic insights.
- Best for:
- Boards looking primarily to streamline operations and leverage basic AI for coordination.
12. Diligent Insights – Uses machine learning and natural language processing to analyze Board documents, minutes, agendas and reports to identify priorities, trends, risks and issues. This gives Board members a data-driven view into past discussions and decisions which helps in strategic guidance.
- Strengths:
- Analyzes board documents, minutes, agendas, and reports using machine learning and natural language processing
- Identifies priorities, trends, risks, and issues
- Provides data-driven insights into past discussions and decisions
- Weaknesses:
- May not be as user-friendly as some other tools
- Potentially high costs for the full suite of services
- Best for:
- Boards of large organizations that value data-driven insights into past discussions and decisions, especially in finance or industries with complex market dynamics.
13. Zeck– Zeck is a platform designed to help create board decks more efficiently. It streamlines the process of gathering data, creating slides, and updating information for board meetings. Zeck’s platform facilitates collaboration, making it easier for teams to work together on board decks, and also integrates with popular tools like Slack, Trello, and GitHub to gather necessary information and maintain seamless communication.
- Strengths:
- Streamlines the process of creating board decks
- Facilitates collaboration and communication among team members
- Integrates with popular tools like Slack, Trello, and GitHub for seamless information gathering and communication
- User-friendly platform, suitable for startups and small businesses
- Weaknesses:
- Lacks advanced AI-driven features compared to other board management tools
- Primarily focused on board deck creation, rather than broader board governance or decision-making support
- May not be as suitable for larger organizations or those requiring comprehensive data analysis capabilities
- Best for:
- Boards of startups and small businesses looking for an efficient, user-friendly platform to help create and manage board decks, as well as those that value integration with other popular collaboration tools.
- Zeck may not be as suitable for larger organizations or boards that require advanced AI-driven features or a more comprehensive approach to governance.
So in summary, AI-driven tools are transforming the way boards of directors operate, offering powerful insights and enabling more informed decision-making.. These tools can strengthen oversight, simplify processes and enhance long term guidance. However, it is essential for board members to remain vigilant and use their judgment in conjunction with AI-generated insights to make well-rounded decisions.
Share this valuable information with fellow CEOs and board directors to help them stay informed about the latest innovations in board management and governance. Together, let’s embrace the power of AI to drive organizational success and shape the future of business.