Artificial Intelligence and Governance: Is 2026 a Tipping Point for Turning Awareness into Action?

The full paperfull paper is available for download from ISS-Corporate’s resources page. 

Key takeaways  

• Market focus on artificial intelligence (AI) has continued unabated while growing interest in related corporate disclosures in 2025 indicate that this year may prove pivotal in terms of galvanizing further disclosure of AI board oversight and policies.     

• In 2025, nearly a quarter (24%) of S&P 500 companies
  disclosed frameworks and policies around AI, while the Russell 3000 lagged (6%);  

• Similarly, 22% of S&P 500 companies disclosed board oversight of AI, with the Russell 3000 still in a nascent phase of disclosure (6%);  

• On an industry level, companies are much more likely to have directors with AI experience than they are to disclose oversight at the board level or specific AI policies and procedures;  

• The lion’s share of both S&P 500 and Russell 3000 companies have no directors with clearly disclosed artificial intelligence skills;  

• The IT and Utilities sector consistently ranked near the top across measures of AI oversight; on the other hand, given AI risk exposure, the Finance and Healthcare sectors in particular indicate a governance blind spot.  

The marketplace’s focus on artificial intelligence (AI) intensified during 2025 and the beginning of this year. It has manifested itself in utopian visions of supercharged productivity and economic abundance as well as “doomsday” scenarios of AI dominance so swift and complete as to foretell looming economic destruction.   

Stocks have moved dramatically in reaction to both points of view.   

It’s no surprise that many shareholders want to know whether corporate boards are adequately overseeing and navigating both the rewards and the risks inherent in AI deployment – as well as proof that they possess the necessary skills and expertise.   

In this paper, we examined 2025 data concerning corporate board oversight of AI as well as disclosure of policies and frameworks.
Our research indicates that 2026 could prove a pivotal year during which issuers turn growing awareness of the importance of disclosing AI oversight into action.