Summary
As AI has moved from experimentation and pilot initiatives to enterprise-wide deployment, accountability and trust are now emerging as central priorities for boards. It is has become imperative for board members to clearly demonstrate robust oversight and stewardship, ensuring that AI initiatives align with ethical standards and long-term value creation.
To address this board imperative, INSEAD Corporate Governance Centre, in collaboration with KPMG International, has launched the AI Governance Principles for Boards Report. With input from a steering committee and an advisory council of senior board members, investors and governance experts, and AI specialists from INSEAD and KPMG, this set of AI Board Governance Principles is developed to foster responsible governance of AI at board level, as organisations and their boards grapple with AI’s implications for strategy, operations and the board itself.
The AI Board Governance Principles serve as an essential resource for boards, equipping them to address the spectrum of responsibilities resulting from AI integration, helping directors to make well-informed decisions on maintaining effective oversight of AI.
Five AI Governance Principles for Boards
The frameworks sets out five core principles to guide board-level oversight:
- Strategic oversight for long-term value creation
- Active technology and security oversight
- Workforce transformation and human accountability
- Building trustworthy AI
- The work of the Board
Together, these principles offer boards a structure starting point for overseeing AI in a fast-moving, uncertain environment - supporting informed decision-making, responsible innovation, and sustained trust among stakeholders.
Applying the AI Governance Principles in the boardroom
These sector-agnostic Principles have been guided by the latest research insights on technology governance and possess worldwide applicability. They are thus suitable for organizations regardless of their level of AI maturity, ready to be used by boards, along with local regulatory and cultural, guidelines, as they build their own AI governance frameworks.
Annet Aris
Senior Affiliate Professor of Strategy and the Academic Director of INSEAD Corporate Governance Centre
Annet Aris
Senior Affiliate Professor of Strategy and the Academic Director of INSEAD Corporate Governance Centre
This research study is jointly developed by:
About the Contributors
Senior Affiliate Professor of Strategy
Professor of Technology and Business, INSEAD
Director, INSEAD Corporate Governance Centre and Human and Machine Intelligence Institute
KPMG team of collaborators:
- Steve Chase, Global Head of AI and Digital Innovation, KPMG International
- Samantha Gloede, Global Head of Risk Services and Global Trusted AI Leader, KPMG International
- Per Edin, Principal, Advisory, KPMG in the U.S.
- Matt Bishop, Chief Technology Officer, Global Advisory, KPMG in the U.S.
- Dhawal Jaggi, Partner, AI Foundations & Transformation Lead, Consulting, KPMG Australia
- Dan Konigsburg, Global Head of Public Affairs, KPMG International
- Una O'Sullivan, Director, Global Corporate Affairs, KPMG International
Steering Committee Members
This project is possible, thanks to the Steering Committee, a group of experienced board members who collectively serve on over twenty-five company boards, and who joined the project at its inception. Their early engagement helped shape the direction of the work, surfaced real‑world board dilemmas, and helped us to test the Principles against the realities of boardroom decision‑making. The members are:
Advisory Committee Members
The team is grateful to our Advisory Council — investors, board members and AI specialists who serve on the boards or work directly for a further twenty-two companies and organisations. They provided valuable additional perspectives through review, challenge and feedback as the Principles evolved, strengthening the global relevance of the work and ensured that it reflects the diversity of board contexts in which they will be applied. The members include:
Related Event
Webinar & Digital Dialogue
AI Governance in Action: From Principles to Practice
Thursday, 21 May 2026, 5-6pm CEST
As organisations move from experimenting with AI to embedding it across their core strategies and operations, boards are increasingly challenged to balance innovation with effective oversight and risk management. To help address this, the INSEAD Corporate Governance Centre, in collaboration with KPMG, has launched a new study outlining key principles for effective AI governance, developed with input from experienced board members, investors and AI experts. To mark the launch, a Webinar & Digital Dialogue will be held on Thursday, 21 May 2026, 5–6pm CEST, featuring insights from the study and a fireside chat with board members on how boards can build robust AI governance frameworks, ask the right questions and work with management to use AI as a driver of long-term value creation.
