This article originally appeared in our February 12th edition of the Diligent Minute Newsletter. For more insights like these, delivered straight to your inbox, subscribe

 produced with our partners at Corporate Board Member, and the signals on risk oversight are impossible to miss. More than 200 corporate directors shared how they see the year ahead; their views reveal where boards are strengthening oversight and where blind spots still linger.

Key risk trends boards can’t ignore in 2026

From a risk oversight perspective, the story starts in a familiar place: the macro environment. A majority of directors cite a sharp downturn in the U.S. economy as the single biggest risk over the next few years, with “black swan” events and large-scale cyber incidents close behind. Economic conditions and government policy shifts top the broader risk landscape too, even as directors see technological disruption and M\&A as some of 

Boards are not standing still. Over the past five years, 84% say they’ve changed their approach to scenario planning, expanding the scope of scenarios they consider, increasing the time devoted to planning and broadening the range of geopolitical, technological and social risks they examine.

Some risk-oversight trends that stood out

 of directors cite a sharp downturn in the U.S. economy as a top organizational risk, and 

 worry most about a black swan event they haven’t yet scenario planned.

 include cyber events or data breaches in crisis exercises, 

 test for technology-related disruption and 

 say more frequent, structured risk discussions at the full-board level would most improve risk oversight, and 

 want a clearer link between risk and strategy.

 point to better use of AI-powered data and technology tools as a key lever to strengthen risk oversight.

 of directors view cybersecurity as a top organizational risk, even though cyber incidents are modeled in crisis planning more than any other scenario.

 say strengthening cyber and data‑privacy defenses is a priority for 2026.

AI and technology‑related regulation is expected to demand the most compliance attention this year, yet 

 of directors say it remains the most underestimated area of compliance oversight.

Upgrading the board’s risk oversight toolkit

Boards still lean most heavily on management reporting and updates from internal audit or the risk committee, but many say that isn’t enough in a world of always-on risk. They point to AI monitoring tools, 

 into strategy discussions, and more frequent engagement with external experts as the upgrades they need most.

Digital infrastructure is improving — nearly half of directors now receive real-time or near-real-time operational data between meetings — but many wish board time were more forward-looking, noting that risk and performance data are often used to monitor the present rather than reframe the future.

What emerges is a picture of boards working hard to catch up with the velocity of risk, but still wrestling with misalignment between what they rehearse, what they prioritize and how they equip themselves. Directors in this year’s survey point to the same set of needs: more structured risk discussions, clearer links between risk and strategy, better tools and analytics and ongoing education on emerging threats.

Risk oversight has to become a continuous discipline, not a periodic exercise. That means pairing richer scenarios and better data with more disciplined boardroom processes, so directors can anticipate disruptions, challenge assumptions and guide management through whatever “unimagined” risks come next.

What Directors Think: Are today’s tools enough for tackling tomorrow’s risks?

You’ve locked in your spot at Elevate 2026 — your chance to master AI-powered strategies for governance, risk, compliance and audit. But here's the real question: how do you make sure you walk away with lasting value, not just a notebook full of ideas and a backlog of emails?

These seven tips will help you turn every session, conversation and insight into practical outcomes you can start applying the moment you return to your desk.

Before you land in Atlanta, get crystal clear on what success looks like for you and your organization. Ask yourself:

 I want to tackle? (Think AI oversight, modern risk reporting, tighter entity controls or stronger audit coverage.)

 — and where could AI meaningfully lighten the lift?

Everyone at Elevate 2026 is dealing with similar forces — rising board scrutiny, shifting regulation and new opportunities to use AI to reshape daily workflows. The clearer your priorities, the easier it is to pick the sessions and conversations that matter most.

Write down your top three to five goals. Keep them handy in an app or notebook and use them to guide where you spend your time.

2. Build a personalised agenda (with a little help from AI)

Once the detailed agenda opens, plan intentionally. This is about choosing the right slot and not just filling every slot.

 around core sessions for your role and goals.

 if you're in risk, compliance or audit to learn what’s working for teams facing similar pressures.

 that match your current systems so you leave with real “how do I do this on Monday?” takeaways.

 Download our Elevate 2026 agenda AI program file, pair it with a ready-to-use prompt and instantly identify the sessions most relevant to your experience and goals.

And don’t skip buffer time. Those short breaks are perfect for processing notes, sending quick follow-ups and having spontaneous hallway conversations that often become the most valuable parts of the week.

3. Treat sessions as professional development

Conferences move fast. It’s easy to drift into passive listening. To get real ROI, treat Elevate 2026 as focused professional development.

For governance leaders, the biggest breakthroughs come from deepening your understanding of roles, responsibilities and best practices — far beyond what’s covered in short local orientations.

Attending sessions that directly address your responsibilities,

 whether it’s board oversight of AI or stronger risk and compliance reporting — with select sessions eligible for professional credit.

 on workflow optimization, analytics or AI-powered capabilities you can apply immediately.

Using each session to pressure-test your current approach

Think of Elevate 2026 as an investment in your skills and career. Every session you attend strengthens the skills and insight you bring to your board.

4. Make the most of hands-on trainings and labs

Elevate 2026’s biggest advantage is hands-on learning. Mastery tracks, workshops and solution clinics give you space to roll up your sleeves.

Come prepared with the challenges you want to solve so you can make the most of hands-on time with Diligent experts and trainers. The clearer your scenarios, the more specific and actionable your takeaways will be.

 Use Q&A time and office hours to walk through real scenarios. From automating agenda prep to aligning risk taxonomies, these small moments often unlock fast wins.

 Labs are a chance to explore what’s possible with AI, integrations and cross-product workflows. Capture screenshots, prompts and step-by-step notes so you can recreate what you learned later.

Treat these sessions like your personal test kitchen for new processes.

5. Network with intention: Before, during and after

Elevate 2026 brings together governance, legal, risk, audit and compliance leaders from more than 20 countries. The content is valuable, but the connections you build often last longer.

Browse the attendee list ahead of time and flag peers, speakers or Diligent experts you want to connect with during the event.

 At the end of each day ask, “Who did I meet today?” Focus on a handful of meaningful new connections, not a pile of badge scans.

 Compare notes with peers tackling the same AI, risk or oversight challenges you face.

Mix peer conversations with time spent with Diligent teams.

 Product experts, customer success and thought leaders can help turn “interesting idea” into into something you can implement next quarter.

Take quick notes on who you met and what you discussed. These connections often become your advisory circle for the rest of the year.

6. Spend focused time in the exhibit hall and Diligent booths

The exhibit hall is also where you can learn more about all the solutions that Diligent One Platform offers and get answers to your questions from our product experts.

 Pick two or three areas to explore, whether that’s entity management modernisation, AI-powered risk analytics or integrated compliance.

 Focus on Diligent solutions tied to your stack, and bring specific questions about configuration, adoption or workflow impact.

Ask questions to help you figure out what else your organization can benefit from and what AI features could have immediate impact.

Make the most of your time in the hall by engaging with Diligent specialists. These conversations often spark the practical insights and ‘aha’ moments you’ll take back to your team.

7. Turn your takeaways into a 30–60–90 day plan

The real impact of Elevate 2026 happens after you return to your desk.

 Reserve a debrief session on your calendar within a week of getting back to review notes and resources.

 For example: AI for board reporting, risk data quality, compliance workflows or transparency in public meetings.

 Identify quick wins, medium-term pilots and longer-range shifts.

Share a short summary with your leadership or board.

 Highlight three to five insights, recommended actions and any support you’ll need.

Think of this as your final Elevate 2026 session — the one where you convert inspiration into action.

Agentic workflows are quickly redefining governance

If your daily workflows still depend on manual coordination, spreadsheets or back‑and‑forth email chains, you’re already operating at a disadvantage.

At Elevate 2026, you’ll get a front-row look at how Diligent’s AI agents complete the work for you, so your team can stop being the integration layer and start acting as the orchestrators.

The organizations embracing agents today are the ones setting the pace for tomorrow. Elevate is your chance to see what they’re doing — and what it will mean for your own governance readiness in the year ahead.

Focus on the sessions and conversations that matter most, and use these 7 steps to maximize your Elevate 2026 experience into real-world outcomes for your team and organization.

If you haven’t registered already, there’s still time to 

. Elevate 2026 is where GRC leaders explore what’s possible with AI, test new approaches and return equipped to drive meaningful change.

7 ways to get the most out of Elevate 2026

Consider what unfolded in a single fortnight in January: The United States signaled intensified interest in the Arctic, prompting Denmark to include a NATO ally in its threat assessment for the first time. China expanded military exercises in the South China Sea, testing regional supply chain assumptions. Ukraine's conflict entered a new phase as European leaders debated security guarantees independent of Washington. Venezuela's political crisis deepened, affecting energy markets and regional stability. At Davos, leaders from middle powers – Canada, the EU and others – called for renewed multilateral cooperation as traditional alliance structures showed strain. Meanwhile, trade policy announcements and reversals arrived within hours, not quarters.

For any corporate board still conducting quarterly geopolitical reviews, these two weeks should serve as a wake-up call. The world now moves faster than board calendars.

Directors recognize the problem - but haven't solved it

Diligent Institute and Corporate Board Member's 

 survey reveals that boards understand the risk landscape has fundamentally changed. Eighty-four percent of directors report strengthening their scenario planning approach in some way. Nearly half have increased time spent on scenario planning and 49% have expanded the scope of scenarios considered. These are meaningful investments in risk oversight.

Yet 71% of directors do not incorporate geopolitical conflicts into their crisis planning scenarios, a significant gap given current volatility. Meanwhile, less than a third of directors worry most about "a black swan event we have not scenario planned."

The problem isn't effort — it's rhythm. Boards are investing more time, but the cadence remains periodic rather than continuous. Most directors receive real-time data only "sometimes," "rarely," or "never" between meetings. That means many boards are reacting to last quarter's world rather than today's.

From periodic to continuous: The shift required

Directors themselves are signaling the need for change. According to the survey, 47% want more frequent and structured risk discussions at the full-board level, and 32% seek clearer linkage between risk oversight and strategy setting. The survey also found that directors want their agendas balanced toward forward-looking discussions, yet most meetings remain retrospective.

When tariffs can be announced – and reversed – within hours, when regional conflicts escalate overnight, when alliance structures shift in days, quarterly snapshots become dangerously stale. Geopolitical risk assessment must shift from a calendar-driven exercise to an "always-on" discipline.

I’m based in Silicon Valley, where we seemingly have an app for 

. I believe that technology can help close the gap between the speed of geopolitical change and the pace of board oversight. Indeed, a quarter of directors surveyed also think enhanced use of AI-powered data and technology tools would most improve risk oversight. Yet only 23% regularly use such tools to support strategic decision-making, and 40% don't use AI at all for this purpose.

Imagine a "Geopolitical Intelligence Brief" – a company could create a proprietary LLM with the last 10 years of quarterly and annual reports and press releases, updated weekly, and partner with an AI company to create an app that continuously monitors global headlines, generating an automated morning alert for the board and senior leadership. Each alert would identify two or three potential implications for the company's specific business lines, markets, or exposures. Not definitive answers, but prompted questions: "Given overnight developments in [region], consider reviewing [exposure], [contract], [supply chain node]." This horizon scanning exercise would then connect dots between macro events and micro business implications – and notify management for a further discussion if warranted. Or the app could be queried about the effects of a certain geopolitical scenario on revenues or supply. This isn't about replacing human judgment – it's about ensuring directors have current information in a timely fashion when judgment is required.

Identify a few discrete issues – maybe tariffs, maybe technology, maybe distribution – where advance preparation for some kind of asymmetry will create a market opportunity, and plan for that eventuality.

Establish a geopolitical monitoring cadence between meetings: 

Designate responsibility for weekly or bi-weekly briefings to the board – even a single-page summary keeps directors current.

In this era of polycrisis, build compound scenarios: 

Combine geopolitical shocks with cyber, supply chain or economic triggers – because in the real world, crises don't arrive one at a time.

The difference between boards that preserve value and those that destroy it will increasingly be decided before a geopolitical event occurs – not after. This January's rapid-fire developments compressed what would historically unfold over months into days. This year, the question isn't whether your company will be affected by geopolitical disruption. The question is whether your board will see it coming – and whether you'll have time to act. Quarterly reviews assess yesterday's risks while today's threats materialise in real-time. The boards that thrive will be those that treat geopolitics not as background noise, but as a continuous strategic variable requiring always-on attention.

Diligent

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What Directors Think: Are today’s tools enough for tackling tomorrow’s risks?

7 ways to get the most out of Elevate 2026

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