Board Chair: April Newsletter

In this month's Board Chair newsletter we offer:

1. An invitation to Rotman's Digital Tsunami event next April 12th that will also highlight my 25 years at the governance centre.

2. A free invitation to our next AI Tsunami event taking place on April 24th with Tony Gaffney, CEO of the Vector Institute.

3. Access to a replay of our 4th Episode "Using AI As a Force Multiplier in Large Organizations" with Gopi Kallayil, Google's Chief Business Strategist for AI.

4. This month's corporate governance content focuses on the art of storytelling and knowing your audience. Being able to use storytelling techniques can greatly enhance the message you're trying to share with your audience.

Rotman’s Board Governance and the Digital Tsunami

Join us in person on April 12th by getting your tickets here.

Organized by Rotman Events and presented by the David and Sharon Johnston Centre for Corporate Governance Innovation, this in-person event is taking place to honour David Beatty and celebrate his remarkable leadership contributions over the last 25 years.

This half-day event will take place on April 12th at Desautels Hall, 2nd floor South Building, at the Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto, 105 St George St, Toronto, ON M5S 3E6.

Agenda topics include:

• AI, Disruption and Strategy
• Cyber security, Social Media, and Corporate Reputation
• Private Capital
• Digital Disruption and Implications for Governance and Boards

Tickets can be purchased in advance and the registration fee includes a seat at the session and the reception.

Join Us Live:?AI Tsunami?April 24th, 12PM EST

Our next episode, "The AI Imperative: Unleashing Canada's Progress Through AI Investment and R&D,"?will feature Tony Gaffney, CEO of the Vector Institute.

Tony will help us explore the importance of research in linking investment in AI and R&D, all while taking a look at how this can affect Canada's progress and economy.

Thanks to his extensive background, which includes serving on the Government of Canada Advisory Council on AI, being a member of the OECD.AI network of experts (ONE.AI) task force for AI Governance, Compute and Climate Change, and being a member of the World Economic Forum's AI Governance Working Group as well, Tony has a wealth of knowledge to share with us.

Register and join us on April 24th at 12pm EST.

"Using AI As a Force Multiplier in Large Organizations" with Gopi Kallayil, Google's Chief Business Strategist of AI

A couple of weeks ago, Gopi Kallayil joined us on AI Tsunami to discuss how big companies are currently utilizing AI to gain an edge on the competition.

Beyond being insightful and providing real world examples of companies achieving success with AI, the session served as a reminder that artificial intelligence is going to change everything. Gopi stressed the importance of how business leaders should prioritize their overall business strategy first.

Check out Gopi's episode,?now readily available on Youtube:

Board Chair April Updates and?Education

Telling Stories Is a Skill

The book "Talk Like TED" by Carmine Gallo points out that the people who are most effective at communicating have passion, speaking with energy and exuberance about their topics.

Most of them tell stories. Stories illustrate, illuminate, and inspire. So tell stories. They affirm who we are.?

The Communication Chasm

Here is a great story about a Gold Mining board illustrating that there is an enormous information chasm between the board and the management team.

The two rarely speak the same language.

Experts on the management team might have a lifetime of technical knowledge, and spend thousands of hours a year on a singular focus. Directors won't have the same depth of technical knowledge. This discrepancy can cause quite the challenge.

For example, imagine the board of the world's second-largest gold mining company. The head of exploration was presenting to the board, asking for an additional $25M to explore the Red Lake Mine.

The presentation delved into styles of mineralization and the geometries of ore zones in such technical detail that I don't believe there was any director in the room (including myself) who understood any of it.

In such a situation, it is impossible for a director to assess whether a request is reasonable, how the funding would be spent, or what an appropriate amount would even be.

Boards need to work with management to establish clear communication practices that can traverse the information chasm, otherwise, it cannot bring added value.?