--- title: "Board-Level AI Governance: 12 Questions Non-Execs Must Ask | Hypergility" description: "A practical guide for non-executive directors on AI governance: the 12 questions every board should ask and the evidence executives need to provide." lang: en json-ld: | { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "BlogPosting", "headline": "Board-Level AI Governance: 12 Questions Non-Execs Must Ask", "description": "A practical guide for non-executive directors on AI governance: the 12 questions every board should ask and the evidence executives need to provide.", "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Tuli Faas" } ], "datePublished": "2026-03-03T09:00:00+00:00", "dateModified": "2026-05-21T16:28:51.808646+00:00", "image": "https://aaiqevwzojrlzhxdxxzq.supabase.co/storage/v1/object/public/media-processed/blog-heroes/board-level-ai-governance-what-non-execs-are-now-expected-to-ask.jpg", "keywords": "AI Safety, Build & ship", "mainEntityOfPage": { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://www.hypergility.com/blog/board-level-ai-governance-what-non-execs-are-now-expected-to-ask" }, "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Hypergility", "url": "https://www.hypergility.com" } } --- [![Hypergility](/assets/hypergility-logo-BKOgRT51.png)for bold startups ](/) Services [Startup Grower](https://startupgrower.hypergility.io/)[Website Build](/build-your-website)[Public Sector Bids](/offerings/win-public-sector-bids)[Management Systems & Assurance](/services/management-systems) Who it's for [Are you a bold founder?](/are-you-a-bold-founder)[Innovation Hubs](/partners/innovation-hubs)[Universities](/partners/universities)[Researchers](/personas/researchers) [Why us](/why-us)[News](/news)[Try Startup Grower](https://startupgrower.hypergility.io/)[Contact](/contact) [Back to News](/news) ![Board-Level AI Governance: 12 Questions Non-Execs Must Ask](https://aaiqevwzojrlzhxdxxzq.supabase.co/storage/v1/object/public/media-processed/blog-heroes/board-level-ai-governance-what-non-execs-are-now-expected-to-ask.jpg) AI Safety Build & ship # Board-Level AI Governance: 12 Questions Non-Execs Must Ask Tuli Faas March 3, 2026 Director duties are catching up with AI. The FRC, the ICO, the FCA and the EU AI Act each push board accountability for AI use up the agenda. Non-execs are being asked, in interviews and reviews, what they have done to oversee AI risk. 'The exec team has it covered' is no longer a sufficient answer. ## The 12 questions every board should ask - Which decisions in our business are now influenced by AI, and at what scale? - Which of those decisions are high-risk under the EU AI Act, FCA Consumer Duty, or our own ethics policy? - Who in the executive team owns AI risk, and to whom does it escalate? - Do we have an AI policy and a live AI risk register? When were they last reviewed? - Which third-party AI providers do we depend on, and what is our concentration risk? - Where is human oversight applied, and is it real or rubber-stamping? - How do customers, employees and the public know when AI is involved? - What is the worst-case AI incident that could happen to us, and what is our response plan? - How would we know if a model was producing biased or wrong outputs in production? - Are we using customer or employee data to train models, and is that disclosed and lawful? - What standards (ISO 42001, NIST AI RMF) are we aligning to, and what evidence supports that claim? - What is our disclosure obligation to investors, regulators and customers when something goes wrong? ## The audit trail executives need to produce **AI policy and risk register.** Live, version-controlled, owned by a named executive, reviewed at least annually by the board. **AI inventory.** A current list of every AI system in use, with risk classification. **Impact assessments.** For high-risk systems, a documented assessment covering affected stakeholders, intended outcomes, mitigations and monitoring. **Incident log.** Every AI incident captured, investigated and closed with a documented lesson. Reviewed at audit committee. **Independent assurance.** For material AI use, second- or third-line review. ISO 42001 certification, internal audit reviews, external assurance reports — whichever is proportionate to the risk. ## Where boards typically fall short Three patterns recur. AI risk is delegated to a single CTO with no peer challenge. The board sees only good-news case studies, not the risk register. AI is treated as an IT topic when it is also a customer, regulatory and reputational topic. ## Director liability is sharpening Under existing UK director duties (Companies Act s.172, s.174), failure to take reasonable care in overseeing a foreseeable risk is already actionable. Once AI causes a public failure at a peer organisation, the foreseeability bar drops fast. Hypergility is ISO 42001 certified — meaning the AI we build into client products gives boards exactly the audit trail they now need to demonstrate. If that is the standard you need, talk to us. [Talk to Hypergility](/contact-us) That's exactly what we built your Hypergility AI companion for — induced with our team and innovation hub partners' domain expertise, designed to challenge your thinking rather than rubber-stamp it. Hypergility is ISO 42001 certified and helps clients through gap analysis and implementation. If you want to know whether the standard is right for your stage, book a call. [Talk to Hypergility](/contact-us) > “If your non-execs cannot ask three sharp questions about your AI risk, your AI risk is not being managed — it is being hoped about.” — Helen Mountford , Independent NED, FTSE 250 Only 28% of FTSE 350 boards reviewed an AI-specific risk register in 2024, against an FRC target of 80% (Financial Reporting Council, 2024). 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