The Boardroom Is Changing. Is Your Experience Visible?

Earlier this year, CollectiveMinds brought together a group of experienced CEOs and directors for a candid discussion with Telegraph Hill Partners about what makes a board effective.

One message surfaced repeatedly: the strongest boards are built around relevance, not prestige. They bring together people with complementary skills, stage-appropriate experience and the ability to engage meaningfully.

For many accomplished executives, however, the path to one of those seats can still feel unnecessarily mysterious.

The reality is that most board searches do not begin with a public announcement or an open application. They begin with a conversation about what the organization needs next.

A director is preparing to rotate off. The nominating and governance committee reviews the company’s strategy, its current board composition and the skills represented around the table. It identifies a gap, then begins looking for someone whose experience can fill it.

That process has always relied heavily on relationships and reputation. What is changing, and changing quickly, is the experience boards are looking for.

The skills matrix is being rewritten

The board skills matrix is intended to show whether a board collectively possesses the knowledge and experience necessary to oversee the company’s strategy and risks.

Five years ago, many matrices emphasized traditional qualifications such as CEO experience, financial expertise, industry knowledge and international leadership.

Those capabilities still matter. But companies are now confronting challenges their existing boards may not have been assembled to address.

AI is perhaps the clearest example.

In 2025, 44% of major-company disclosures mentioned AI in descriptions of director qualifications, up sharply from 26% in 2024, according to an analysis reported by the Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance.

But recognizing the need for AI oversight is not the same as being prepared to provide it.

In PwC’s 2025 Annual Corporate Directors Survey, only 15% of respondents strongly agreed that their board had the skills needed to oversee the company’s AI and generative AI strategy. Just 13% strongly agreed that their board spent sufficient time understanding AI’s impact on the company. PwC’s findings suggest a significant gap between the speed of technological change and boards’ readiness to govern it.

AI is only one part of the picture.

A survey on board skill priorities found that technology implementation and industry expertise were the most frequently identified needs, each cited by 31% of respondents. Cybersecurity and audit or financial expertise followed at 27%, with corporate strategy at 25%. Directors & Boards characterized these priorities as reflecting a broader demand for growth, innovation and effective risk management.

The implication is important: boards are not simply looking for people who understand emerging technology. They need leaders who know how technology, people, operations, risk and strategy intersect.

Operational experience carries new weight

This shift reinforces something experienced board members have been telling us for some time: the most valuable director is not necessarily the person with the most impressive name. It is often the person whose experience is most relevant to the challenges immediately ahead.

During our board leadership discussion with Telegraph Hill Partners, investor and board member Una Ryan described it this way:

“Think of it like skiing. You want someone who has been down that mountain before, who knows the route, the bumps, the shadows in the trees. Not necessarily the Olympic skier, but someone relevant and ahead of you.”

That distinction matters.

The executive who has led a company through disruption brings something different to the boardroom than someone who has only observed disruption from a distance.

Boards need leaders who have made difficult decisions with incomplete information. They need people who have managed cyber incidents, transformed legacy operations, adopted new technology, reorganized a workforce, navigated regulatory uncertainty or protected a company through a volatile market.

This creates an opening for executives who may not fit the traditional image of a board candidate but possess exactly the experience companies now need.

That experience, however, must be recognizable.

It is not enough to have “led transformation.” A potential director must be able to explain what kind of transformation, under what conditions and with what result. The more specific that value proposition becomes, the easier it is for someone else to remember and repeat.

Board searches still run through relationships

Even as the desired skills change, the way many directors are identified remains remarkably consistent.

After defining its needs, a board typically uses an executive search firm, its members’ networks or some combination of the two to identify potential candidates. Boards generally interview only a handful of people for each opening.

That means a board candidate’s most important work may happen long before a specific seat becomes available.

When a committee asks, “Who do we know with this experience?” it is rarely conducting a broad survey of every qualified executive. It is drawing from the people already known to its members, trusted advisors, investors and search partners, or from candidates whose reputations are clear enough to travel through those networks.

This is why board readiness and board visibility are not the same thing.

An executive may be entirely capable of serving, yet remain outside the consideration set because the people involved in the search do not know their name, cannot clearly describe their value or do not realize they are interested in board service.

Become known for the right thing

Aspiring directors are often told to expand their networks. That advice is not wrong, but it is incomplete.

The objective is not simply to know more people. It is to become known by the right people for a contribution a board can readily understand.

What business problem are you especially equipped to help a company navigate? Where does your experience intersect with the emerging gaps in today’s boardrooms? Can the people in your network describe that value when you are not in the room?

Board service does not begin when a seat opens. It begins when an executive develops governance fluency, defines their board-level value and builds relationships with people who can recognize where that value belongs.

The experience many boards need is already out there. The next challenge is ensuring they know where to find it.

Exploring board service?

CollectiveMinds partners with life sciences companies and investors to identify directors whose experience fits what a board needs next. If you are an executive considering board service, or a company preparing to add a director, we would welcome a conversation. Reach Tara Kochis, CEO, at tara@collectivemindsllc.com or visit collectivemindsllc.com.