At the AICD, we spend time talking about what the board’s role in strategy really is. There’s no single answer – it depends heavily on where the organisation sits in its maturity cycle.
A start-up emerging from its early stages will have very different strategic priorities to an incumbent facing disruption. The point is: boards need to assess where they’re starting from before deciding where to go next.
This is where ongoing education comes in.
Ongoing learning is not just about staying informed, it’s about staying prepared. When directors build knowledge incrementally, they’re better positioned to respond to emerging risks, challenge assumptions, and identify new pathways for growth.
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the AICD’s Company Directors Course (CDC) – a milestone that reflects how significantly governance, and the role of directors, has evolved.
When the course first launched, the boardroom landscape was part of a simpler world. Today, directors are expected to engage with everything from AI to ESG to geopolitical risk. And that pace of change is not slowing.
Continuous learning equips directors with the clarity and context to ask sharper, more strategic questions – of management, as well as of themselves.
It can also help boards reset blurred boundaries, ensuring operational decisions remain where they belong: with executive teams. In an increasingly complex environment, strong governance includes knowing when to provide oversight and when to step back.
As the remit of boards continues to expand, so, too, does the range of issues requiring informed oversight; staying current is no longer optional, it’s foundational to good governance.
Directors today are expected to engage with emerging topics that didn’t exist a decade ago, from AI and climate disclosure to data ethics and cybersecurity.
As these issues become more integrated into business models, directors need the confidence to contribute at depth whether in board discussions, policy reviews or strategic planning sessions.
That confidence is built through regular, relevant exposure to new ideas.
In areas like AI, learning is best approached as a staged process. The first stage is literacy – building a foundational understanding of key terms, models and concepts. The second is governance – clarifying the director’s role in overseeing complex, evolving technologies. The third is mastery; developing the strategic foresight to ask where these tools can unlock value.
Climate presents a similar challenge. As disclosure standards evolve, the lines between board, management and audit responsibilities are still being drawn. This uncertainty can lead to overreach, with boards feeling compelled to take on tasks better handled by others.
Here, targeted education, whether structured or self-directed, helps clarify boundaries and focus boardroom attention where it’s needed most.
Not all learning needs to happen in formal settings either.
Peer-led learning is also gaining traction. Director roundtables and shared forums are in strong demand, facilitating frank conversations about contemporary challenges. These exchanges often generate the most immediate, applicable and board-ready insights.
Board leadership, too, plays a crucial role in making space for learning and strategic focus. A capable chair can keep compliance tightly contained within its allocated time, preventing process from overwhelming purpose.
Just as importantly, they know when to pivot the conversation – pausing, for instance, during an AI policy review to ask where the opportunity lies. Have the risks been covered? Yes. But what’s the strategic upside? Where’s the business plan?
The most effective chairs move confidently between oversight and value creation, keeping the board aligned and extracting only the highest-value contributions.
In the current environment, continuous learning is not an optional extra, it is a core part of the director’s role. The external pressures facing boards are real and unrelenting. But keeping up doesn’t need to be overwhelming.
No one enters the boardroom with all the answers. And the questions are always changing. Staying informed, engaged and connected is how directors remain effective – not just today, but into the future.
Mark Rigotti is chief executive officer, Australian Institute of Company Directors.
To find out more, please visit the AICD.