“AI-driven.” “Gen-AI at scale.” “Digital twin synergy.” Every second earnings call sounds like a TED-Talk Mad Lib. Behind the slideware, though, most directors still treat artificial intelligence as a fashion trend. Try it on, flaunt it, and move to next season.
The numbers shred the façade. Only 14% of boards even discuss AI at every meeting, and 45% haven’t put it on the agenda once. McKinsey’s 2025 survey shows 78% of companies now deploy AI somewhere, yet a microscopic 1% call their gen-AI roll-outs “mature.”
Basically: everybody’s experimenting; almost nobody knows what they’re doing.
Buzzword bingo is costly
C-suites keep spending because they fear missing the next iPhone moment. Accenture found 86% of global executives plan to boost gen-AI budgets in 2025, but 26% of those dialing back cite “unclear ROI.” That gap between swagger and substance widens inside companies. Only 35% of employees say they actually understand AI’s value, versus 54% of executives. If the rank-and-file can’t see the point, the slide deck has replaced strategy.
The missing brains behind the buzz
Boardrooms love “governance,” yet the benches remain thin. Just 15% of S&P 500 companies disclose any AI oversight capabilities, and Deloitte’s 57-country poll shows almost 50% of directors admit AI still isn’t on their board agenda. And even when oversight does exist, it’s tends to be superficial. McKinsey notes only 17% of firms put AI governance in the board’s hands (Governance theatre, not stewardship).