Nora Denzel is a distinguished Silicon Valley technology executive with extensive leadership experience. She serves as the Lead Independent Director and Chair of the NomGov Committee at AMD, while also serving on the boards of Gen (NASDAQ: GEN), SUSE S.A., and NACD. In this episode, we dive into key topics shaping technology governance and boardroom leadership, including: 1) Insights from the 2024 NACD Blue Ribbon Commission on Technology Leadership in the Boardroom: Driving Trust and Value, co-chaired by Nora; 2) The evolving role of technology and AI governance in the boardroom; 3) Board composition and the importance of technology expertise; 4) Regulatory risks associated with AI; and 5) The intersection of strategy and technology governance. Thank you for tuning in—I greatly value your support! If you enjoy the podcast, please consider subscribing, leaving a review, or sharing it with your network. For more insights and to support this podcast, please subscribe to the Boardroom Governance Newsletter at evanepstein.substack.com. This episode is sponsored by the American College of Governance Counsel.
(0:00) Intro.
(1:47) About the podcast sponsor: The American College of Governance Counsel
(2:34) Start of interview. *Reference to prior episode with Nora (E74 from Oct 2022)
(3:42) About the 2024 NACD Blue Ribbon Commission on Technology Leadership in the Boardroom: Driving Trust and Value
(7:29) On the evolving role of the board overseeing technology and cybersecurity
(10:41) On the surge of AI technology and its underlying infrastructure
(13:15) The role of trust in the age of AI
(17:22) How to think about ROI in technology from the boardroom
(20:12) Board composition and technology expertise
(27:19) Recommendations or takeaways from the BRC Report.
(31:00) On AI regulation "It's really important to self-regulate"
(34:13) Technology strategy and board committee structures
(38:38) Tech aptitude in directors: 1) digital outsiders, 2) digital immigrants, 3) digital early adopters and 4) digital natives
(41:52) On board education "needs to be more like Call of Duty" "directors should be learn-it-all's, not know-it-all's"
(43:25) Best practices for board evaluations "you can only operate at the speed of trust" "the chair sets the tone"
(46:42) On "Zero-based agenda setting"
(49:14) Priority items for boards in 2025: talent in the boardroom/company, and having "THE meeting to govern Tech/AI"
(52:02) On being "courageously optimistic" and how to address AI doomsayers
(56:22) Nora's Top 6 Recommendations for Board Members to Become more Familiar with AI
Nora Denzel is a Silicon Valley technology executive. She serves as the Lead Independent Director and Chair of the NomGov Committee at AMD. She also serves on the Gen Digital (NASDAQ: GEN), SUSE S.A. and NACD boards.