Karen Francis and Penny Herscher return to the Boardroom Governance Podcast for a joint conversation on AI governance, the creation of The Chairs Circle as a peer forum for board and committee chairs, data center politics, CEO succession, founders versus boards, EVs, China’s rise, chips and geopolitics, and boards in a fractured world.
(0:00) About the Boardroom Governance Summit (Aug 26-27, 2026)
(1:17) Intro
(2:45) About the podcast sponsor: The American College of Governance Counsel.
(3:31) Start of interview.
(4:39) AI and Governance Today
(5:34) Data Center Politics (reference to moratorium by New York State)
(6:48) About the 3rd Rome Conference on AI, Ethics and Governance
(9:06) AI Hype and Job Fears
(14:45) Birth and focus of The Chairs Circle and Limerick Lane Cellars.
(22:53) CEO Succession Lessons
(30:58) Founders versus Boards
(37:04) EVs and China’s Rise
(44:58) Semiconductors, Chips and Geopolitics
(49:03) Boards in a Fractured World "[W]e now need to have engaged board members, board members who are curious, who read, who stay up to speed on things, who keep asking more questions. You cannot have directors who are just calling it in anymore."
(53:31) Government as Shareholder
Karen Francis DeGolia is a board member at Vontier, CelLink, and NAUTO. Penny Herscher is a board member at Lumentum, Penguin Solutions, Forvia SA, and Modern Health.