Recent discussions with board members and senior leaders regarding AI adoption increasingly focus on the role of culture. As we covered in Lessons in implementing board-level AI governance, studies suggest many companies are not achieving the desired return on investment from AI projects. Effective leaders report that having the right culture for their organization is essential to effective AI adoption. They also report that though culture change does not happen quickly, it impacts outcomes.
According to the National Association of Corporate Directors’ (NACD) 2025 Trends and Priorities Survey, three of the 10 top director trends involve technology. In WTW’s most recent Emerging and Interconnected Risks Survey, executives worldwide listed AI risk as the top risk of 752 emerging risks.
Several studies suggest five cultural elements can make AI adoption more effective:
While some leaders are paralyzed by the pace of change and the perception that they need to accurately predict and address all strategic questions at once, many effective leaders are embracing small but continual steps forward while learning, adjusting, adapting and creating the future.
A version of this article originally appeared on Forbes on October 30, 2025.
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