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EB new styles XF - New Brand
Navigating the board’s expanding role
Against macroeconomic uncertainty, geopolitical conflict, a tight labor market and shifts in consumer habits, companies are trying to execute strategies that can keep the business relevant well into the future. Corporate governance needs to adapt to that change.
As a director, your oversight responsibilities have greatly expanded amid this global uncertainty. Even experienced boards can’t always foresee emerging risks like cyber attacks, data loss, regulatory shifts and extreme weather. However, you are rising to the challenge by adding members with essential skills, deepening your understanding of corporate strategy and enhancing governance practices. What hasn’t changed: a commitment to leading the company to a position of strength.
In the spotlight
Board effectiveness: A survey of the C-suite
In this period of historic change — marked by rapid shifts in policy and evolving market dynamics — your role in providing oversight and finding clarity and direction among the noise has never been more critical.
You are stepping up with fresh thinking and bold leadership. Our survey shows that executives' confidence in their boards continues to improve. While there is still room for progress, the upward trend marks a positive shift in C-suite board perceptions.
Read the survey for insights on how boards are navigating a fast-moving economic, legal and regulatory environment — including growing pressure to strengthen AI oversight and strategic focus.
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[43%] of executives want AI expertise added to the board
Where to focus in 2025
Board governance
Lead on board effectiveness
Getting the board’s composition right often involves a balancing act between preserving institutional knowledge and adding the skills executives now expect — especially in areas like AI, international strategy and sustainability. In fact, PwC's Board Effectiveness: A Survey of the C-Suite found that only 32% of executives believe their board has the right expertise.
Stay informed and act decisively to align your strategy with these changes so you can keep your company one step ahead.
Additional ways to lead on board effectiveness
Board governance
Why boards should evaluate individual director performance
Assessing directors' performance helps identify skill gaps, improve dynamics and confirms alignment with the company’s strategy.
Board composition
Board composition: Building your dream team
Find out how boards can tackle board refreshment and succession planning in a rapidly changing business environment.
Board composition
The 9 questions you need to ask to take your board from good to great
How can you boost effectiveness and efficiency to improve oversight? By asking key questions on board composition, performance assessments, leadership and more.
[93%] of executives say they want someone on the board replaced
Risk
Prepare for the unexpected
Be aware of potential blind spots affecting your oversight abilities. While our 2024 Annual Corporate Director Survey finds that almost all respondents believe their boards are capable of guiding their companies through a crisis, previous surveys have found that many companies still do not have a formal escalation plan in place. This suggests an overconfidence that may lead boards to downplay a potential enterprise-level risk or, worse, ignore it altogether. Operational disruptions due to extreme weather, supply chain snarls, cyber attacks or political unrest can occur at any time. A holistic risk management process may not be able to stop a bad actor intent on harming your company, but boards that form a strategy for understanding crises can help their companies be resilient in the face of interconnected risks that are emerging with unprecedented velocity.
Additional ways to prepare for the unexpected
Risk
Being prepared for the next crisis: The board’s role
Learn why preparation is key to a company's crisis recovery. Boards can facilitate robust, flexible crisis plans and engage in continuous improvement.
Board effectiveness
Comparing board and C-suite perspectives
In a time of change for many organizations, boards and the C-suite don’t always see eye-to-eye. Learn more about where they differ — and what corporate directors can do to address them.
Cybersecurity and privacy
Bridging the gaps to cyber resilience: The C-suite playbook
Learn why cyber resilience is crucial with expanding attack surfaces and shifting regulations in PwC's latest survey.
[Only 15%] of directors say their boards should spend increased time on crisis management over the next 12 months
Stakeholder engagement
Engage with stakeholders
Not everyone across the organization understands the role of the board, which can lead to misperceptions about its effectiveness. Our Board Effectiveness: A Survey of the C-Suite shows that while confidence in boards is growing, just 35% of executives rate their board’s performance as excellent or good. Executives see progress, but greater alignment on priorities like sustainability, talent and AI — fostered through deeper board-executive engagement — is key to stronger oversight.
Additional ways to engage with stakeholders
Stakeholder engagement
The director’s guide to shareholder activism
Corporate directors must be prepared for shareholder activism. Explore our guide on analyzing trends, strategies and tactics in shareholder activism.
Stakeholder engagement
Director-shareholder engagement: Getting it right
Effective director-shareholder engagement benefits both parties. Discover key steps for directors and investors to maximize these exchanges.
[55%] of investors are dissatisfied or very dissatisfied with how management connects sustainability to the company’s long-term growth strategy in reporting and other communications
Technology
Embrace new technology
Emerging technologies such as AI and generative AI have the potential to help your company reinvent the way it runs and acts on strategic opportunities. The board has an important oversight role to play to help safeguard the company while delivering value from these technologies.
To provide effective oversight, you should understand their potential — and their limitations. Tap into internal specialists and external resources as a starting point to stay apprised of growing capabilities. Also, keep up with new use cases for specific implementations and understand how business models are changing, as well as the risks and responsible uses. Boards should also discuss management accountability matters in addition to the overall benefits and costs to the company.
Additional ways to embrace new technology
Artificial intelligence
2025 AI Business Predictions
Explore PwC's AI predictions with actionable strategies, industry insights, and trends shaping AIs role in business transformation for 2025 and beyond.
Artificial intelligence
How boards can effectively oversee AI to drive value and responsible use
Six key areas can help a board provide effective AI oversight.
Emerging technology
The state of emerging tech today
Explore emerging tech investment priorities, how it can revolutionize business models and what makes a company a tech leader in our inaugural survey.
Generative AI
Six board priorities for an early-stage GenAI strategy
Learn to navigate risks, align with digital transformation and drive productivity gains in early-stage GenAI adoption.
[68%] of US CEOs say generative AI will significantly change the way their companies capture value over the next three years
Source: US CEO views from PwC's 27th Annual Global CEO Survey
Sustainability
Capitalize on the opportunity in sustainability reporting
In the 2024 Annual Corporate Directors Survey, just 47% say that sustainability issues are regularly a part of their board agenda — a continued decline over the last three years that indicate boards could be missing out on a massive strategic opportunity.
A wave of regulations globally means companies are likely on the cusp of publishing more data than ever before. While this may simply seem like a compliance exercise, boards can engage the CEO, CFO, Chief Sustainability Officer and the ESG controller to determine whether the data reveals strategic insights. Companies that collect, measure and manage this data in real-time have an opportunity to transform their decision-making process on product sustainability, decarbonization and supply chain resilience by grounding it in information that can be analyzed throughout the year.
Additional ways to advance reporting opportunities
Sustainability
Sustainability and ESG oversight: The corporate director's role
Understand the board's role in overseeing environmental, social and governance issues.
Sustainability
PwC’s Sustainability News Brief
Your resource for sustainability insights on strategy, reporting, energy demand, capital projects, tax policy, climate risk, regulatory updates and technology.
Regulation and policy
How your company could increase the ROI of its sustainability strategy
Technology can help you take advantage of sustainability tax incentives and credits, like the Inflation Reduction Act, to advance the value of sustainability initiatives.
Explore executive insights
Identify the key focus areas of your colleagues.
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