AI Ethics & Board Oversight Certification

Advancements in AI raise profound questions about the interaction between technology and humans. At the heart of the ethical discourse lies the need to strike a balance between the benefits and risks AI poses. Issues such as algorithmic bias, transparency, accountability and the preservation of human values in the face of automation have taken centerstage.

But AI also has the potential to do great good for humanity, such as discovering new effective treatments for intractable diseases, inventing new approaches to complex problems like climate change, or even eliminating the need to hire humans to perform life-threatening jobs. The goal of ethical AI is to foster innovation while ensuring that technology respects human rights, social equity and the well-being of individuals and communities.

The ethics of AI delves into the moral and philosophical dilemmas surrounding the development, deployment and impact of AI technologies.

What are the components of a strong AI ethics & compliance program?

An AI ethics & compliance program is a structured approach that guides how an organization builds and uses AI responsibly while reducing risks like bias or misuse. It sets standards, reviews systems, and ensures practices align with laws and ethical principles.

At its core, a healthy AI ethics and compliance program seeks to navigate the ethical complexities associated with AI by:

• Promoting the fair treatment of individuals.

By establishing clear boundaries, encouraging stakeholder engagement and emphasizing ongoing education, an effective AI ethics and compliance program ensures that AI technologies are harnessed in ways that enhance innovation, uphold ethical integrity, and promote the well-being of both individuals and society as a whole.

Some of the key components that should be part of your AI ethics and compliance program include, but are not limited, to:

Code of conduct, ethical guidelines and/or ethical AI principles: 

Outline the expected ethical behavior and principles related to AI development, deployment and usage. These guidelines should serve as the foundation for all AI-related decision-making and help employees navigate complex ethical situations.

Develop specific policies and procedures that address AI-related ethical considerations, such as bias mitigation, transparency, accountability, data privacy and algorithmic fairness.

 Identify potential ethical risks and challenges associated with AI technologies through risk assessments to evaluate the potential impact of AI on individuals (including employees and customers), society at large and the organization as a whole.

Offer training programs to educate employees, stakeholders and developers about AI ethics, compliance requirements and best practices. Training should cover topics such as algorithmic bias, privacy, transparency and the responsible use of AI.

 Implement mechanisms to ensure transparency in AI decision-making processes. Maintain records of AI models, training data and decision outcomes to facilitate accountability and audits.

 Establish robust data governance practices to protect the privacy and security of data used by AI systems. Ensure compliance with data protection regulations and obtain necessary permissions for data usage.

 Implement ongoing monitoring and auditing processes to assess the ethical impact of AI technologies over time. Regularly review and update AI models and practices to align with evolving ethical standards.

 Establish mechanisms for employees and stakeholders to report concerns or ethical violations related to AI. Protect individuals who raise concerns about retaliation.

Enhance your AI proficiency with Diligent's Education & Templates Library

 features curated libraries of eLearning courses, certifications, templates and videos on key GRC topics, including 

AI governance, risk management and ethics

. Explore and learn as the Diligent Education & Templates Library continues to grow, ensuring the latest insights and guidance.

Learn more about the Education & Templates Library, as part of the Diligent One Platform, and request a demo.

The components of a strong AI ethics compliance program

five powerful features in Diligent Community

 that help public sector teams work smarter, from automated agenda creation to AI-powered meeting minutes. But that’s just the beginning. Diligent Community continues to help support public facing boards and staff with even more tools designed to streamline governance and boost efficiency.

In this follow-up, we’re highlighting four additional features that further simplify committee oversight, decision-making, document management and meeting workflows — helping administrators, board members and governance professionals stay focused on what matters most: serving their communities effectively.

4 features driving governance efficiency with Diligent Community

1. Committee manager centralizing oversight

Efficient committee management ensures delegated groups maintain impact. Committee Manager empowers users to oversee multiple committees with tailored workflows, approval trees and access controls. This Diligent Community feature allows you to:

Seamlessly manage multiple board committees or meeting groups all within Diligent Community

Customize who can create, access and engage with content within each committee, ensuring the right stakeholders are involved

Tailor custom workflows and approval trees for each committee, optimizing efficiency and accountability

Allow the public to subscribe to specific committee groups for updates through your public website, enhancing transparency and engagement

 Board administrators, clerks and chairs managing multiple boards, groups or committees.

 Reach out to your Customer Success representative to discuss adding more meeting groups to your Diligent Community package.

When managing multiple committees, you can optimize efficiency by creating custom workflows and approval trees for each.

How others are getting the most from this Diligent Community feature

“Not having to manage an email list any more is huge. If we have a new member join one of our committees, it's already done.” Jessica Markham, Town Clerk, Town of Carbondale

2. Digital voting transforming decision-making and record keeping

Voting no longer means paper ballots or manual tallying. Digital voting on Diligent Community records votes in real time, supports multiple voting methods and automates the adoption of signed minutes — making meetings faster and more flexible. You can:

Record digital votes and adopt signed minutes documents in real-time, streamlining and supporting accurate minute-taking.

Use a choice of various voting methods, including simple majority, two-thirds majority and weighted voting.

Enhance decision-making flexibility with different voting thresholds.

Board and council members involved in decision-making and board administrators responsible for recording votes.

Digital voting is available as part of Diligent Community.

 Customize voting language and response options to reflect your organization’s specific policies.

“With technology, all of the voting record is right there. I've definitely gotten less requests for a copy of the minutes from this date or that date. It's all there and it's connected to the video as well.” Town Clerk, Town of Carbondale

Whether you're managing agendas or navigating compliance, this checklist for local government clerks helps you do it all — without the stress.

Run smarter meetings

3. Customizable Document Library centralizing content securely

Secure, searchable storage with permission management ensures staff and board members find what they need, fast. Diligent Community comes loaded with a customizable document library, which provides a convenient, secure and centralized location to upload and manage your documents. You can structure the library so that it has searchable public content and internal folders to protect sensitive information.

 Administrators and governance professionals overseeing document management.

Private and public document libraries are included with the full version of Diligent Community.

 Set granular permissions for effortless version and access control.

“The search function is also a winner. We’re able to search by keywords, then filter and sort the results. This helps users find what they need quickly to review or address certain issues.” Myra Lomahan, Executive Assistant, Southwestern Community College District

4. Meeting templates and live minutes capturing in real time

Imagine cutting after-meeting work by up to 75%. With real-time meeting minute capture , administrators can efficiently document meetings by leveraging pre-built templates and live editing tools. This real-time approach eliminates time spent on manual transcription and formatting after the meeting. Finalize and share minutes immediately after the meeting, ensuring quick access for all stakeholders.

 Administrators and governance professionals overseeing meetings and minutes.

Meeting templates are included with the full version of Diligent Community.

 Create templates for all meeting types so they are ready to go.

“Templates and the ability to prepopulate information in the minutes before the meeting saves time and enhances the smooth running of meetings. It takes me less time to complete my minutes and I feel it makes my job easier.” Jaime Durkowski, Executive Assistant, Marquardt School District 15

“The live minutes feature immediately made an impact on the team’s ability to work quickly and change direction as needed. … It cuts the amount of work I have to do after a meeting; I’d say now it takes me a quarter of the time. I don’t have to go back to my meeting recordings to double check my work.” Alice Black, Executive Assistant, Aspen School District

Whether you’re an administrator, board member or leader, Diligent Community puts smarter digital tools at your fingertips, to help you operate at peak efficiency and focus your time and energy on what matters most.

If you have any questions or need support implementing these features, don’t hesitate to reach out to your Customer Success Manager. They’re here to help you get the most out of your software investment and uncover even more ways to drive value for your organization. We are here to help make sure your governance tools are working as hard as you do.

And if you’re interested in learning how we can support your governance team to help it be even more efficient, 

4 more features driving governance efficiency with Diligent Community

Ten insights shaping boards in the year ahead

Boards entered 2025 facing rising risk, economic volatility, and an urgent mandate to modernize oversight. At Diligent, we recently hosted the Elevate Leadership Summit, a by‑invitation gathering of corporate directors and executives alongside a curated set of experts, for confidential, Chatham House Rule-style discussions to dissect these issues and look to the future of corporate governance.

Across sessions, a clear through‑line emerged: the most effective boards are shifting from moving from passive oversight to active, data‑driven governance with disciplined processes and human judgment at the center. Here’s what our expert speakers and experienced director attendees had to say about the trends to watch out for in 2026:

1) From passive to active GRC—augmented by AI

Active GRC is replacing passive oversight as directors confront increasing risk and low confidence in near‑term conditions. Speakers suggested augmenting teams with AI agents to handle foundational tasks and “ask the next question,” freeing leaders to focus on strategy amid resource constraints.

2) AI governance: Measure what people actually do 

The biggest AI risk isn’t only technical, it’s invisible usage. AI governance should incorporate real usage metrics, not just periodic sentiment surveys, and pair cultural encouragement (safe experimentation and knowledge‑sharing) with “lighthouse” projects that prove measurable value to employees and shareholders.

3) Culture oversight is expanding and needs better data

Board oversight of culture has outgrown legacy tools. Public trust continues to concentrate on employers and brands, and employees increasingly make choices based on societal beliefs. Activism is rising, and many boards still haven’t discussed company stances on social issues. Our speakers discussed the possibility of utilizing a broader range of anonymized unstructured data - such as employee intranet messages and chat data - into decisio useful insights, while ensuring individual employees aren’t being singled out or retaliated against for escalating concerns.

4) AI literacy and security remain non‑negotiable

Boards need AI literacy and strong cyber foundations; there’s no leapfrogging weak security into trustworthy AI. Keep a human in the loop, test for bias systematically (using available benchmarks), and consider experimenting with smaller models and improved licensing terms where they fit the use case and data‑governance needs.

Early red flags require pre‑defined protocols, not improvisation. The first 72 hours following a crisis event should trigger escalation playbooks, evidence preservation (including email freezes), independent counsel where appropriate, and non‑retaliation toward whistleblowers, all paired with board‑level visibility and documented independence.

Continuous monitoring (increasingly AI‑enabled) can surface fraud risk indicators earlier, narrowing the expectation gap around what audit and compliance actually do.

6) Speak‑up culture is a strategic asset

A speak‑up culture with higher hotline usage is a positive signal, but only if organizations close the loop, protect anonymity, and report metrics to the board. Leaders should be encouraged to normalize and celebrate reporting, which reduces fear and builds trust across the enterprise.

7) Board-executive dynamics are shifting under scrutiny

Executives are pushing for director refreshment, and more of them see boards overstepping compared to last year. Meanwhile, CEO turnover is up, with most U.S. departures described as unplanned. These themes raise the premium on preparedness, role clarity, and disciplined engagement between boards and management.

8) Succession planning must be continuous and robust 

Effective succession planning should be continuous and discussed at every meeting, with directors knowing the pipeline at least one level down and preparing for unexpected transitions – including mission-critical roles beyond the CEO.

The board chair’s (or independent lead director’s) role in tone‑setting and inclusion is pivotal. Boards can benefit greatly from periodic third‑party evaluations to raise effectiveness.

9) Executive compensation is evolving amid volatility

Executive compensation committees are recalibrating discretion, which allows boards to award compensation based not only on results, but qualitative assessment. COVID‑era lessons showed shareholders tolerate discretion in executive compensation when the rationale is strong and disclosure is clear.

Executive security as part of the compensation package is rising as a governance and risk issue; Policy and regulatory discussions happening at the SEC point to potentially simpler disclosures as early as the 2027 proxy season, while state‑level rules are reshaping proxy‑advisor practices.

10) Better questions and diverse composition strengthen oversight

Directors who ask, “What do I need to understand?” and “Do I have all the information?” sharpen risk oversight. Building formal and informal trusted channels with audit and compliance leaders can improve signal quality, while targeted training helps boards recognize fraud indicators. Evidence that boards with a broader range of perspectives are more effective highlights the value of having a well-balanced and diverse composition.

The year ahead will reward boards that operationalize judgment: clear protocols for crises, richer data streams on people and culture, pragmatic approaches to compensation, and step‑wise AI adoption that starts with the reality of how employees are using it. The common denominator is disciplined curiosity. The best directors will ask better questions, measure what matters, and adapt faster.

If these insights resonate with your board or leadership team, consider a structured review of your speak‑up mechanisms, succession playbooks, culture data sources, and AI governance metrics to ensure they’re meeting today’s pace of change. Then, pick one “lighthouse” initiative to prove value within the next two quarters and use the learning to scale.

Note: The Elevate Leadership Summit is an annual, by‑invitation gathering of corporate directors and CEOs, alongside a curated set of experts, for confidential, Chatham House Rule-style panel discussions.

Top board trends in 2026

This article originally appeared in our November 6 edition of the Diligent Minute Newsletter. For more insights like these, delivered straight to your inbox, subscribe

Cyber threats, AI disruption, and geopolitical instability are reshaping the audit landscape — and 4,000 audit leaders across 131 countries have weighed in. Whether you’re on the internal audit team, serving on your board’s audit committee, or working in partnership with them, the IIA’s 2026 Global Risk in Focus report has insights for you. This year’s edition reveals the key risk areas
to focus on and highlights how risk is changing across regions and sectors (with tips on how to achieve compliance with updated 

2026 Global Risk in Focus: Top risks for internal audit (Cybersecurity, AI, Geopolitics)

 remains the number one concern for organizations worldwide, with 73% of respondents naming it a top five risk. 

pronounced in North America and Europe, where more

than 80% of organizations put it at the top of their list.

, has seen the second largest jump in perceived risk with an increase of 9 percentage points year-over-year. Organizations are racing to implement new technologies,
but many are running into infrastructure and skills gaps.

3.Geopolitical uncertainty leapt 10 percentage points 

globally, now ranking sixth overall. North America saw the sharpest spike (up 19 points), driven by shifting U.S. trade policies and global conflicts.

4.Business resilience (47%) and human capital (43%) round out the top global risks.

 Organizations are feeling the pressure to shore up supply chains and crisis response capabilities. Meanwhile, talent shortages, wage competition, and generational shifts keep human capital risk firmly on the agenda. 

 Regulatory change (41%) is closely linked to geopolitical risk. Where political uncertainty is high, regulatory challenges follow.

How audit committees can close the risk-to-audit gap

I asked Curtis Warfield, experienced public company director, Audit Committee Chair, and former Chief Audit Executive, his thoughts on bridging the risk-to-audit gap. He outlined five steps:

“As an Audit Chair, I see the gaps as driven by limited expertise in emerging areas like AI and digital disruption, audits taking longer than planned, and the need to balance enterprise-wide coverage with limited resources.” says
Warfield. 

“It’s a risk–reward trade-off,” he goes on. “Sometimes management also has major deliverables in progress, which limits timing for audits. Audit committees can help by understanding these constraints, supporting skills development, and encouraging dynamic adjustments to the plan when new or fast-moving risks emerge.”

“Internal audit should not just police — it should partner,” says Warfield. “The key is alignment with senior leadership so internal audit can help ensure technology risks are managed without slowing innovation.” He adds, “Audit leaders should focus on being strategic partners, not just reviewers, and work closely with the business to embed technology risk considerations into
transformation projects from the start.”

Audit committees add the most value when they understand the process behind the audit plan. “Members should take time to learn how the ERM process connects to strategy and how audit allocates time across the risk
profile,” advises Warfield. “That understanding makes it easier to have meaningful dialogue about priorities. Regular communication and progress updates help keep the plan dynamic and aligned with emerging risks.”

4.Support advisory work while maintaining independence

“Tone at the top is critical,” Warfield emphasizes. “The audit committee and board chair can reinforce that internal audit’s role is not to police management, but to be a strategic partner while maintaining independence. It’s a delicate balance — audit must still provide objective assurance, but it can also offer valuable advisory input on AI governance,

, or scenario planning. Clear boundaries and communication make both roles possible.”

5.Build an agile, forward-looking partnership

Agility starts with alignment. “Everyone should understand the audit process, how it ties to enterprise risk and strategy, and how resources are deployed,” says Warfield. “The audit committee should be willing to adjust its agenda
throughout the year for new risks and ensure flexibility in hours and resources to respond to change. That’s how audit and the board can stay proactive and effective in uncertain environments.”

Looking to stay ahead of the curve on audit governance? Check out the 

IIA’s new Center for Audit Committee Leadership. 

The Center offers audit committee members tailored strategic advice, best practices, and educational resources to help ensure internal audit functions are effectively structured and integrated within your organization’s governance framework.

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The components of a strong AI ethics compliance program

4 more features driving governance efficiency with Diligent Community

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