Board meetings are where critical decisions take shape, risks are assessed and long-term strategies are set. Yet, for the corporate secretaries, general counsel and board administrators charged with managing them, they are often logistical marathons — demanding hours of preparation, document distribution and coordination.

From agenda-building and board book compilation to securing approvals and capturing minutes, traditional board meeting workflows can be manual, fragmented and incredibly time-consuming. In a rapidly moving business environment, such inefficiencies in governance can ultimately slow down decision-making and expose organizations to compliance risks.

 are now changing the way board meetings are run, freeing governance teams from administrative burdens and enabling directors to focus on informed decision-making, risk oversight and strategic governance.

If your organization is exploring AI for board meetings, this step-by-step guide shows how modern 

 can drive efficiency and performance — before, during and after the meeting.

Step 1: Build an agenda that keeps meetings focused

A well-structured agenda is the backbone of a productive board meeting. But building one from scratch can be time-consuming—especially when manually pulling in agenda items, coordinating inputs, and making last-minute adjustments.

How AI-powered board management technology helps:

 allow contributors to securely access and edit documents in real time — ensuring that board members always have the latest updates.

Drag-and-drop functionality makes it easy to customize agendas, copy previous meeting structures, and track discussion points.

 Less time spent on manual agenda creation means more focus on strategic priorities.

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AI is reshaping governance

Step 2: Automate board book creation and reduce manual prep

Before materials can be reviewed, they need to be assembled — and for many governance teams, that’s one of the most time-consuming steps. Manually compiling board packs from Word documents, PDFs, spreadsheets, and presentations is a slow, error-prone process that adds pressure to already tight timelines.

AI synthesizes documents, spreadsheets, and presentations into a structured, pre-formatted board book — generating an accurate first draft with minimal manual input.

Smart tools dynamically update content from the latest source files, ensuring that directors always receive consistent, up-to-date information.

Built-in formatting and templating allow teams to create professional-quality materials aligned with board standards in minutes.

 Automating board book creation saves hours of manual work while improving accuracy and presentation — giving governance professionals more time to focus on strategy.

Step 3: Distribute and summarize board materials seamlessly

Once the agenda is set and board book assembled, governance teams must securely distribute the meeting materials. Without a centralized system, this process can be chaotic — leading to version-control issues, last-minute scrambling and directors receiving outdated or incomplete materials.

And even when materials are delivered on time, the result is often a dense, overwhelming board pack — making it hard for directors to identify what’s most important before the meeting.

 condenses hundreds of pages of reports into key takeaways, ensuring directors can quickly grasp essential insights, with built-in text-to-speech conversion also allowing directors to prepare while commuting or traveling.

 ensures all board members access the latest, approved versions — eliminating confusion over updates.

Automated distribution and notifications keep board members informed and remind them to review materials in advance.

 With seamless document management and AI-driven summaries, directors are no longer buried in information — they arrive at meetings better prepared and ready to engage in meaningful discussions.

Step 4: Keep communication secure and decision-ready

Board members often need to collaborate before meetings — yet email and unsecured messaging tools create governance risks and inefficiencies.

 provide a confidential, encrypted space for board discussions and document sharing.

 continuously analyzes peer company 10-K risk disclosures, internal risk data and third-party sources, surfacing relevant insights ahead of meetings.

 bring real-time governance intelligence to the boardroom, surfacing key risk indicators, industry benchmarks, and compliance trends.

 Directors need timely insights at their fingertips — not scattered across emails or lost in outdated reports.

Step 5: Optimize meeting discussions with AI-driven insights

A well-run board meeting shouldn’t be a passive review session — it should focus on strategic decisions, risk management and long-term planning. However, directors often struggle to extract key insights from dense materials, leading to discussions that lack focus or data-driven direction.

 tools can turn board book
content into pointed questions categorized by subject and cited for easy reference to maximize important discussions and decisions.

 and automated peer benchmarking provide the board with a consolidated view of enterprise-wide risks and opportunities, integrating insights such as ESG performance and cyber risk relative to competitors, investor engagement alerts, internal audit reports and financial performance data.

 AI doesn’t replace board decision-making — it enhances it by providing the right data at the right time.

Step 6: Capture meeting outcomes with AI-powered minutes

The work doesn’t stop when the meeting ends — decisions, approvals, and follow-ups must be properly documented. Traditional minute-taking is time-consuming, error-prone, and often requires multiple rounds of revisions.

 automatically capture key discussions, decisions, and action items — eliminating the need for manual transcription and post-meeting rework.

Smart document inspection scans board materials for risky language, ensuring that potential compliance or legal concerns are flagged before they become part of the corporate record.

 tracking ensure that all board decisions are securely recorded, auditable, and compliant.

Audit-ready documentation simplifies regulatory compliance with SEC, SOX, and corporate governance requirements.

 AI reduces administrative burden, allowing governance professionals to focus on strategic board support rather than tedious documentation.

Step 7: Drive follow-ups and action items efficiently

Board meetings are only successful if decisions lead to action. Yet, too often, follow-ups fall through the cracks due to lack of structure and tracking.

 automatically assigns post-meeting tasks, ensuring accountability.

Smart reminders and progress updates keep key stakeholders informed and ensure nothing gets overlooked.

Integrated compliance tracking links board actions to regulatory and governance obligations, helping organizations stay ahead of risk.

 AI ensures board decisions are acted upon, reinforcing accountability and execution.

AI: Elevating board meetings from administrative burden to strategic advantage

So there you have it: AI tools purpose-built for the boardroom mark a turning point in how AI is being applied to streamline governance and drive outcomes. 

But for governance professionals like you, AI is not 

about efficiency — it is transforming your role, allowing you to move beyond administrative tasks and position yourself as a strategic partner to the board. At the same time, AI equips board directors with real-time intelligence, giving them the insights they need to make stronger, more informed decisions.

However, with AI’s growing influence in governance, boards and leadership must adopt these tools responsibly. Not all AI is created equal, and organizations should choose solutions built specifically for governance workflows and board business. The best AI-driven board management platforms uphold the 

highest standards of data security, transparency and ethics

, ensuring governance professionals and boards retain full control while unlocking AI’s advantages.

Ready to see how AI-powered board management software can transform your board meetings? 

Read our comprehensive guide to using AI tools before, during and after your board meetings. 

Get the full guide to boardroom AI

How to manage the perfect AI-assisted board meeting

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An interview with Amsterdam-based Follow This founder Mark van Baal on the advocacy group’s recent decision to pause climate resolutions at oil and gas companies.

Follow This has taken the strategic decision to step back from advancing climate resolutions at oil majors this season stating that doing so could be counterproductive given the pro-fossil political climate. Can you expand on what drove this change in approach?



We have decided to pause resolutions for a year, but all our other activities are still there. We still remain the most important counter shareholder voice of the oil and gas industry.

However, we decided that in the current times, filing another resolution with the risk of a slightly lower vote than last year would be counterproductive. We had 20% of the votes in Shell for three years in a row and that’s despite all the divestments. It’s one in five of shareholders and we think there is potential to get that to four in five.

We have evidence that in 2021 we had majorities in the U.S. - we had 80% at Phillips 66 and we had around 60% at Conoco Phillips. The potential is there but investors have become very hesitant in the last few years, so it's very difficult to get that one in five. Every time the votes go up, the ambitions of the old majors go up. But when the votes go down, they scale down or they even scrap ambitions like Shell and BP did recently.



Was this a difficult decision to arrive at given that you've been advancing such proposals since 2016?



The resolutions have been very effective. We compelled five oil majors to set Scope 3 targets, something they didn't want to do. So that's quite hard evidence.

But last year, when the votes plateaued, they didn't force the companies to improve targets. On the contrary, they scrapped targets like we saw at Shell and BP. So, we decided that we first have to get a stronger investor base. Last year, we had 27 investors as co-filers and we want to get more on board and, together with them, prepare ourselves to defend shareholder democracy.



Follow This has cited a “double challenge” faced by investors and the proponents who are working to put climate on the agenda. What are the key obstacles?



Specifically in the U.S., we have a pro fossil fuel government and an SEC with management appointed by Trump which is also curbing shareholder rights like in the first Trump term when we also didn't get our resolutions on the ballot.

The SEC has also published bulletins where they discourage shareholder action and shareholders talking with companies so it's really an attack on shareholder democracy. So, all of these factors make investors hesitate to co-file and hesitate to vote.

Then there are states in the U.S. that are suing some large investors for even considering climate. It is their role because climate risk is financial risk and on top of that, it's also the fiduciary duty of an investor to make sure the company doesn't make decisions that jeopardize its future such as by continuing to invest in oil and gas. You will end up with stranded assets and you will have to pay for the cost of climate damage.



This season, as part of the tweaked approach, Follow This has vowed to intensify efforts to highlight the “crucial role” investors play in the climate crisis. How do you plan to go about this?



We need to empower the investors. We really want to find out what is holding them back to use the power of the vote. Shareholder democracy is the only democracy in the free world where voting is considered escalation. There has been a tradition of engagement in the ESG shareholder space. Slowly, we're getting them to understand that engagement without voting, without using the only tool they have, doesn't work. We've proven that.



Last year, Follow This and Arjuna Capital were sued by ExxonMobil in response to climate-focused shareholder proposals they had filed. Has the lawsuit had a chilling effect given there are no shareholder demands featured on the ExxonMobil ballot for 2025?



The fact that Exxon does not have any shareholder resolution on the ballot has more to do with the SEC, I think, in that as we mentioned we're back to the same situation as we were in the first Trump period. But indeed it has had a chilling effect on investors because nobody wants to be sued and it's a very odd situation that the company would sue its own shareholders.

So there is a chilling effect, of course, and more on investors than on us because we still think this is the key tool, so we have to use it. But we have to convince investors that they should be more afraid of the climate crisis than of lawsuits. However, that's also a big effort.



Overall, DMI has seen a marked reduction in the number of ESG proposals advanced in the first quarter of 2025 compared to previous. Are proponents in “wait and see” mode given the changing landscape in the U.S.?



I think there's really a “wait and see” now because of the election of Trump, the anti-ESG sentiment and states suing investors for considering climate. Something which was a scientific fact has been made into a political debate. It’s almost like identity politics. If you want to tackle the climate crisis, you’re too woke or too left wing.

It will take time, but I think they will conclude that that the risk of the cost of climate change is far higher than the cost of litigation. But they need to have time, and I also understand that investors are risk averse. They should be, because they're trusted with billions. However, I think every investor will have to get out of that comfort zone on climate. They have to show up and show courage on these issues and I’m confident they will with time.



In March, Follow This called on shareholders of BP to vote against Chair Helge Lund in protest at the U.K.-based oil and gas giant’s decision to alter its climate strategy without seeking shareholder approval. What do you hope to achieve in this campaign?



We started this campaign in March just after BP decided to backtrack on the climate strategy that had been approved by shareholders by a vote. Then suddenly with an activist investor behind the scenes, they backtrack with quite a panicked U-turn. We feel this is not good for climate but it's also not good governance.

Normally we don't opt to vote against board members but here we thought that Lund had crossed the line on governance. We and other investors were very dismayed with this way of working. It is not our goal to oust him but to send a signal that all shareholders must be listened to. If he changes a strategy that radically, he needs to get another vote.



Looking forward to 2026 and beyond, is Follow This hoping to return to craft climate resolutions?



Yes, we will go back as soon as investors are ready to put more pressure on the oil and gas companies. This year is a very uncertain year given the business, political and legal climate.

As soon as we know that we can increase the pressure to get them moving in the other direction again, then we will be back with a resolution or with other means. It's not that we are married to the resolution method. Our mission remains the same. It's to empower shareholders to compel Big Oil to reduce emissions to tackle the climate crisis. We still think that the shareholder resolutions are the best way to do that. But if there are other ways, then we will use them.


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How to manage the perfect AI-assisted board meeting

Q&A with Follow This on its shift in strategy for 2025

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Diligent

Blog

How to manage the perfect AI-assisted board meeting

Q&A with Follow This on its shift in strategy for 2025

SolutionsSolutions

ResourcesResources

CompanyCompany

Your Data Matters

Solutions

Resources

Company