Latest / C-Suite Perspectives / Governance Is Changing. Find Out What's on Deck for 2026

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Governance Is Changing. Find Out What's on Deck for 2026 · C-Suite Perspectives

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  Welcome to C-Suite Perspectives, a signature series by The Conference Board.
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  I'm Steve Odland from The Conference Board and the host of this podcast
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  series, and in today's conversation, we're going to talk about The Conference
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  Board's latest survey, called the C-Suite Outlook, which is our big annual survey,
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  and specifically, the implications for governance and sustainability.
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  Now, this survey was carried out towards the end of 2025, with more than
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  1,700 C-Suite executives from around the world, including over 770 CEOs.
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  So this is a big survey, lots of input from people around the
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  world, and it's the 27th year that we have conducted this specific
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  survey, so lots to talk about today.
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  And joining me today is Brian Campbell, the head of our US
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  Governance and Sustainability Center.
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  Brian, welcome to the show.
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  Thanks, Steve.
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  Delighted to be here.
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  So Brian, you've been a general counsel of several companies
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  and doing this your whole life.
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  All of the stuff that your fellow GCs and CEOs and other C-Suite members
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  have talked about, you've lived.
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  So it's very appropriate that you comment on it.
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  But as we look at this survey, what are executives saying about ESG in 2026?
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  Yeah, Steve, I think it's interesting the spectrum of commentary we've gotten
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  would indicate that ESG priorities are maybe being deemphasized.
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  So essentially reframed, if you will, from aspirational to more of a focus of
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  execution under constraint, interestingly.
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  So I think the focus is now on material ESG issues that have a clear
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  business relevance, accountability, and measurable outcomes, which is something
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  that it didn't previously used to be.
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  Yeah.
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  Well, ESG got religion for a while and was a huge mantra.
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  And then it got in political crossfire and became a little unpopular.
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  And so, you and I have seen this in our careers.
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  The pendulum swings back and forth, and this just feels like a normal
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  swing, where maybe it went a little bit too far and now it's more
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  business-oriented and KPI-oriented and show me the results, right?
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  I think that's spot on, Steve.
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  At the end of the day, you step back from it and say, OK, companies were
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  putting out the flag and posting that for ESG and goals and initiatives
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  and really taking a big stance.
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  Now, I think, they've pulled back from there.
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  And particularly, as far as prioritization, ESG is being crowded out
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  by some of the other key issues that have come up: governance, AI, political risk.
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  So de-emphasizing ESG, if you will, in that context.
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  Yeah.
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  And environmental, social, and governance.
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  I mean, there's still a lot that companies are really focused on.
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  I think it went a little far.
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  There was some greenwashing going on, the term that we've used in
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  the past, where people just got out over their skis on this thing.
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  So maybe this is a little bit healthy.
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  But it's interesting, this survey, if you could put a one-word headline
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  on it, it would be uncertainty.
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  And I know the future's uncertain, so in some ways, it's like, yeah, what's new?
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  But there's a greater level of uncertainty coming from elected
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  officials, governments, regulatory schemes around the world.
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  So it's this exogenous environment that's creating kind of an unlevel
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  playing field in an unknown, isn't it?
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  Absolutely.
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  I think, what's fair to say that ESG is still there, it has not gone away, but
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  certainly is less prominent than it was on the agenda for most companies these
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  days, particularly in the United States.
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  Yeah.
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  So, one of the key things that we heard about was this rising concern about AI.
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  Talk about what we heard there.
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  Sure.
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  I think what we're seeing is AI has emerged and is seen as a
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  fantastic opportunity for companies.
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  It can be transformative for an organization, but there's also a view
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  that there's a source of execution and governance risk associated with it.
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  So the opportunity that is there is balanced out by
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  potential risk, if you will.
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  I think some companies that have embarked early on AI initiatives have
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  seen uneven returns on their investment.
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  They've identified lack of organizational readiness, data
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  quality, model accountability, and even workforce capability.
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  So I think we're still in the learning phase of this, and
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  the governance implications are that there's risk in addition to
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  what is significant opportunity.
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  Yeah.
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  A few years ago, I don't think many executives could spell AI.
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  I mean, it was a brand-new thing.
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  It was like, what is this?
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  And last year in our survey, we saw that people were afraid
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  of falling behind competition.
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  And so they were just going to spend like crazy.
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  And they did.
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  This year, you see a little more focus on it.
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  OK, now we know what it is.
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  We've played with it for a while.
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  We kind of see what its uses are in our business.
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  And so we need some ROI, and we heard that in the survey.
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  And then we need to make sure that there's governance of this, which you mentioned.
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  What are the areas that the CEOs and generals counsel are worried
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  about, from a governance perspective?
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  Well, I think at the end of the day, you could characterize AI as being fraught.
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  it's fraught with opportunity.
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  There's excitement about that.
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  There's a notion that if you're not actively engaged in pursuing
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  AI, you're behind the curve.
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  Yet, at the same time, GCs, CLOs, and the board itself are
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  focused on the risk exposure that's potentially generated here.
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  So I think what you get at the C-Suite and board level is this: AI is being judged
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  relative to enterprise risk management and strategy for the organization.
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  And it has to be balanced out.
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  So there is a focus on controls, organizational readiness, and a
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  focus on, what are we actually trying to accomplish with the AI?
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  And what exposure do we particularly want to focus on
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  containing as we go down that path?
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  Yeah, and you have to think about that in the context of all
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  of the constituents, don't you?
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  I mean, from a customer standpoint, how you make sure that you
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  don't offend customers or change this experience negatively.
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  For employees, it's the same thing.
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  You don't want to demotivate employees, you don't want to lose your employees.
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  Owners, you don't want to reduce returns, and so forth.
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  So all of the constituents need to be taken into account here, and hence, it
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  really does need to be on the heat map.
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  And people need to look at this in the context of risk.
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  Now, where inside management does that lie, the tracking and all of that.
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  And then also, where does that lie in most boards of directors?
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  Is that still an audit committee function?
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  Well, that's an interesting question, Steve.
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  I think within the C-Suite, you've got a focal point that clearly the
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  chief technology officer, chief information officer are instrumental in
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  assessing AI opportunity and AI risk.
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  And certainly, the CLOs, GCs are focused on the risk and containment on that.
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  And then I think as you push up to the board level, it has in many cases
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  fall into the audit committee, simply, in the context of compliance and risk
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  oversight, functions that the audit committee typically has looked at.
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  But I think there is also this notion of opportunity.
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  So it's fraught, and there is opportunity.
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  And I think, from a strategic standpoint, there needs to be an acknowledgement
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  of that at the board level.
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  And that may not sit squarely within typical audit committee-type functions.
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  So I think more opportunity for AI to evolve outside of just the
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  compliance and risk management.
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  That really means that all the committees need to assess their
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  charters and make sure that they're looking at their appropriate slice of
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  risk management and oversight, right?
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  Yes, and very much a conversation with the CEO and part of the
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  strategic focus for the organization.
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  Another area in the survey which popped out this year is political
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  uncertainty and public policy volatility.
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  This is what's majorly behind the uncertainty issues.
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  How are you seeing, or behind that, what are you seeing in terms of political
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  uncertainty and public policy risks?
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  Right.
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  I think public policy and political uncertainty are tops,
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  particularly in North America.
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  I think there's a significant focus on that from a risk perspective.
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  And I think there's an acknowledgement, from CEOs and the board, that
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  volatility is maybe the new normal.
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  There's persistent volatility.
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  It's not necessarily short-term disruption that's only tied to election cycles.
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  It seems to be more of a constant.
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  And so I think we look for more of that as we move forward.
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  Yeah, I think it is interesting, and there's a lot of geopolitical unstability.
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  Just every region, it seems every week, there's something new happening.
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  What should CEOs and especially GCs be doing?
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  How do you track that?
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  How do you then assess the risks to your individual company?
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  Steve, if you look back to traditional strategic planning for organizations,
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  the company would look out, not just at the current quarter, but down the
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  road quarter by quarter, by year, three years, five years, 10 years,
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  and try and have that long-term view.
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  I think that's particularly challenging today, given the volatility, given
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  disruption that seems to be a constant.
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  And so I think companies are trying to take that longer-term view and investing
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  more in scenario planning, regulatory focus, and internal documentation.
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  But at the end of the day, when you're exercising decision-making capabilities,
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  you want to minimize the variables, stop the variables from moving.
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  I think that's a challenge in the current environment, given the volatility.
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  There seems to be a moving target.
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  You'd love to have firm ground underneath you as you make your decisions.
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  And it almost feels like there's the opportunity for quicksand, or
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  the ground to shift under your feet.
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  It is a challenge.
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  Yeah.
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  And I think that, our listeners would benefit from checking in on The
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  Conference Board's Gray Swan tool, which we've developed, and you can
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  find that at our website at tcb.org.
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  But that tool, you know, a Gray Swan event is not a Black Swan event.
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  A Gray Swan event is forecastable, but it's rare.
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  And a lot of this uncertainty and volatility comes from events that
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  are rare, but you can predict them with some level of certainty.
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  But you can run this through the tool and make your assessments for your firms.
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  So, let's also move on to the erosion of institutional
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  predictability and the rule of law.
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  There's concern about that around the world.
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  Rightfully so, Steve.
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  I think we've heard, from the survey and anecdotally, that many US CEOs
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  are very concerned about the potential further erosion of the rule of law.
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  And I think this gets back to my prior comment about trying to
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  have firm ground underneath you.
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  Once something like the rule of law starts to slip, it gets harder to
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  forecast and make your decisions.
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  And I think the US political environment, currently characterized
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  by intense polarization and frequent legal challenges, to both
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  executive and regulatory authority, is making this challenging.
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  It makes it harder for companies to plan confidently across their
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  multi-year investment horizons and make long-term decisions.
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  Really is.
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  It's tough, and there's, this old saying that just give us the rules,
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  And we'll take it from there.
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  But increasingly, generals counsel, CEOs are having to deal with a little
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  bit of quicksand around the rules.
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  And I guess that it requires a degree of flexibility and
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  nimbleness in how you operate.
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  For sure.
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  And I think particularly, as you look at the rule of law, it's ingrained in being
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  able to have precedent and predictability.
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  And once that starts to slip, a lot of other things fall by the wayside.
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  Companies are concerned that even if they comply, that's no longer
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  a guarantee that they're safe.
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  At the end of the day, there's still litigation.
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  There's retroactive scrutiny, second-guessing, and shifting enforcement
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  priorities that are out there that are affecting many companies today.
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  And a lot of select enforcement, depends on what administration is
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  in, and you know what their focus is.
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  It's fraught with risk, I guess, is the point.
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  And you can't always predict it.
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  But it also means that if a company has some sort of regulatory
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  action against it, it doesn't necessarily mean it's a black mark.
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  It's kind of the role of doing business now, isn't it?
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  Right.
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  I think that's spot on, Steve.
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  The challenge has been, as you look back to the last year or so, even law
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  firms who are typically sought out to provide guidance and advice, have
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  found themselves in the crosshairs.
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  And that's quite unusual, particularly as it relates to rule of law-type issues.
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  So, I think we'll, we'll have to get a better lens on this as we go forward.
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  But certainly, law firms and their clients were caught surprised by that.
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  We're talking about The Conference Board's latest C-Suite Outlook survey.
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  We're going to take a short break and be right back.
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  Welcome back to C-Suite Perspectives.
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  I'm your host, Steve Odland, from The Conference Board, and I'm joined today
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  by Brian Campbell, who's the head of the US Governance and Sustainability Center.
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  OK, so lots of stuff in this survey.
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  Again, it's 27th year we've done it, Brian.
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  We had over 1,700 C-Suite executives respond.
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  We talked at the beginning about ESG, which is environmental,
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  sustainability, and governance, but environmental and sustainability
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  priorities, they haven't gone away.
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  But there's a different level of emphasis depending on where
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  companies sit around the world.
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  I think that's right, Steve.
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  Particularly, it's a challenge for multinational companies, right?
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  There's a different perspective on environmental and sustainability
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  priorities between, say, north America and Europe.
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  And that divergence is reflected in political, legal, and regulatory
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  issues coming up, and not necessarily by differing approaches
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  to climate issues or awareness.
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  A significant share of North American CEOs in the survey say
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  that environmental issues are not a near-term growth priority for them.
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  And in part, that's due to evolving political and regulatory climate in
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  the US, which has increased emphasis on fossil fuels and de-emphasized
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  renewables, as well as slowed the pace of energy transition.
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  But I think that's just kind of the nature of where we are.
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  But the regulatory environment in Europe is still pretty
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  strict, as it relates to it.
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  So companies have to focus on that.
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  Yeah.
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  And this changes depending on every country's regulatory scheme, and the
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  administration changes, and so forth.
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  So this is an area where generals counsel need to keep an eye
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  on things and help guide their companies around the world on it.
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  But how are we seeing executives reframe environmental sustainability?
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  Over the past few years we had these really lofty goals,
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  carbon-free 2030 or whatever year they put on it, and so forth.
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  How do you describe what they're doing in reframing them?
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  Yes, I think right now, Steve, it shifted from the aspirational notions of what ESG
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  could be into environmental sustainability being increasingly justified through
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  cost control, efficiency, and resilience.
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  I think that that focus, the lens has really dialed in on what can we
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  do that would deliver sustainability in a cost-effective manner and
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  that we can tie results to, as opposed to planting the flag on
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  big, broad, and aspirational goals.
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  Yeah, so it's, they're more specific and more specific to
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  their industry and their company.
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  Actually, I think they're, rather than being very general, they're more
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  geared to the needs and desires of each of their constituency groups.
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  If you have customers who are looking for one thing, or owners who are looking for
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  one thing a lot, there's a little more freedom of companies to be specific and
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  hone their goals directly to those needs.
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  Absolutely.
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  And there has been a shift from that aspirational model into execution.
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  And companies have viewed the opportunity to use it as a competitive
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  advantage, if they are able to deliver on sustainability initiatives, to
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  show that their competitors are not.
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  But it's not across the board, and I don't think it's a uniform approach on that.
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  Another area in the survey that CEOs and other executives were concerned
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  about is workforce resilience.
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  And you think about that, well, that's all HR stuff, so, but really, when you
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  talk about workforce, education, economic opportunity, mental health, all of the
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  social priorities, it's not just an HR issue, it really is core to a company's
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  strategy, how they govern, what they want to be, what their goals and values are.
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  And that's really the job of the entire C-Suite, isn't it?
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  Absolutely.
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  I think that the notion that mental health as a company issue, the focus
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  has now shifted to a realization that that directly affects productivity,
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  retention of employees, safety, and leadership effectiveness, even.
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  So at the end of the day, it's higher on the priority list
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  for the C-Suite to deliver.
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  There's execution that companies need to engage in.
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  There's workforce readiness, education, and economic opportunity
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  that runs across the workforce.
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  And so I think the workforce is being elevated as a key stakeholder
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  in the organization, maybe more so than it was in the past.
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  The one thing that kind of surprised me in this, although we've been writing
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  about it at The Conference Board.
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  Is the focus on mental health.
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  There's always been this notion of well-being and companies' focus on
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  well-being, which was health, it was safety, it was benefits so forth.
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  This is a little different.
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  This is a slice of well-being, but mental health is rising as an issue.
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  And it's not just the stress created within the organization.
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  I think most companies are doing a pretty good job of that.
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  It's the mental health of the issues that are coming into the company.
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  How are GCs and other members of the C-Suite dealing with this?
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  Right.
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  I think Steve, if you look back to the past few years we've had some
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  choppy issues that have come up.
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  Obviously, the pandemic and the shift to remote work and now
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  bringing folks back to the office.
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  We had a lot of social issues that were being addressed, and
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  being addressed, quite frankly, by CEOs and corporate positioning.
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  So I think it's an acknowledgement that there are deeper issues here, and that
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  the mental health of the workforce is something that needs to be focused on.
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  And companies are going the extra mile to try and deliver on that.
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  Yeah.
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  And it's not the fault, necessarily, of a leadership group and an organization.
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  But in order to have an effective employee group, in order to maintain
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  your culture, in order to really take care of your own people, and then, as
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  part of that, you're taking care of your customers, you have to provide resources.
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  You've got to provide training to leaders to spot the issues
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  and help people through them.
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  And so it's a more complex work environment than it's been in the past.
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  Right.
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  I think clearly an acknowledgement that it's a key component of the stakeholder
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  base that needs to be accounted for, and certainly should not be taken for granted.
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  And you've been a GC.
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  A lot of these areas have been taboo.
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  You have HIPAA, but these are areas you just wouldn't deal with because
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  they were fraught with legal risk.
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  And I think this is where lawyers really need to help their client,
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  their internal clients navigate this, because you can't just ignore it.
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  I think we're finding at The Conference Board that there's
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  obviously the legal implications, but then the human capital side of it.
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  This is a place where a company should be investing to shore up the workforce, and
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  there's plenty of opportunity for that.
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  So I think cross-functionally, you're seeing more engagement of the
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  chief legal officer/GC work group with CHROs and the human resource
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  component, and I think plenty of more opportunity as we go forward there.
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  Governance has shifted over the years.
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  I mean, I just remember, some of the first governance principles being
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  drafted by companies 25 years ago or so, but there's been so much change, a sea
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  change of corporate governance over time.
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  And so, we kind of move from compliance-focused models, where
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  everybody's just trying to get off of classified boards, you're trying to fix
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  all of the and get in compliance with all of the various governance, rules,
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  regulations, and demands, frankly.
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  But now it's more towards an execution, governance that is internal and extra,
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  but related to the execution of the business and driving the business.
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  Describe the change as you see it, and what governance is today.
• 20:45
  Certainly, Steve.
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  You referenced my earlier experience with this as I was growing up as a
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  chief legal officer, general counsel.
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  The view was that corporate governance guidelines were proscriptive and
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  designed to say we're complying with the rules and extending the rules
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  out even in a broader sense to how we're going to organize and operate.
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  And I think now there's been a sea change.
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  I think you've identified that governance is increasingly today
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  viewed as an enabler of growth, not primarily a compliance function.
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  And revenue growth and strategic planning are now top governance
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  priorities across regions, and that did not used to be the case.
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  And so therefore, the governance experts in the company typically
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  have been the general counsel and the corporate secretary.
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  Now it really requires a broader participation.
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  Absolutely.
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  And I think boards are focused on this in a big way now.
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  There is the natural enterprise risk management focus and focus
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  on succession planning, as well, at the top levels of the organization.
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  And those remain important but now are maybe becoming secondary to
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  execution demands, if you will, with boards emphasizing skills, oversight
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  capacity, and decision-making speed over what would traditionally be more
• 22:03
  structural reform and compliance.
• 22:06
  Wrapping all this up, I think this survey shows that there is an evolution
• 22:12
  here on what boards and executives are focused on for 2026, and it
• 22:17
  relates to ESG, legal, regulatory.
• 22:20
  How would you summarize the change from where we've been over the past few years
• 22:25
  to where we're going forward here in '26?
• 22:29
  I think, Steve, governance priorities for '26 reflect an emphasis on
• 22:33
  performance alongside compliance.
• 22:36
  So CEOs and the C-Suite executives are elevating strategy execution
• 22:41
  and revenue growth while continuing to address established governance
• 22:45
  areas such as enterprise risk management and succession planning.
• 22:49
  When you look back to earlier periods, ESG efforts, particularly, were shaped
• 22:53
  by expanding commitments and voluntary frameworks and reputational signaling.
• 22:58
  I think today, that environment is marked by persistent volatility, AI
• 23:03
  complexity, as we've discussed, and sharper legal and regulatory issues.
• 23:07
  So I think it's a brave new world, if you will.
• 23:11
  Any final thoughts, Brian, on the results of this survey?
• 23:15
  It's going to be borne out in the year ahead, Steve, but at the end of the day,
• 23:18
  for CEOs and the C-Suite, the central challenge in '26 is not really whether
• 23:23
  to engage on ESG, but more so how to do so selectively and with discipline.
• 23:28
  I think tightening oversight, prioritizing material risks and opportunities,
• 23:33
  and ensuring that governance and sustainability efforts reinforce
• 23:36
  trust, resilience, and long-term value creation in a fragmented and
• 23:40
  uncertain operating environment.
• 23:42
  More to come, but plenty of opportunity as we look forward.
• 23:45
  Yeah, it's going to be an interesting year.
• 23:47
  I mean, times are a changin', for sure, and week to week.
• 23:50
  And this is where C-Suites need to be diligent, keep your eye on
• 23:54
  what's going on, and strategy needs to be a little bit flexible here
• 23:58
  to adapt to a changing environment.
• 24:01
  Right.
• 24:02
  I think the trusted insights for what's ahead that The Conference Board delivers
• 24:06
  are essentially in need right now.
• 24:08
  Amen.
• 24:09
  And you can find the results of this survey, the C-Suite Outlook survey
• 24:14
  for 2026, on our website at tcb.org.
• 24:19
  Scroll down and you should be able to see the results.
• 24:21
  Very interesting results.
• 24:23
  Lots of detail there.
• 24:24
  Brian Campbell, thanks for being with us today.
• 24:27
  Thank you, Steve.
• 24:28
  Appreciate the opportunity.
• 24:29
  And thanks to all of you for listening into C-Suite Perspectives.
• 24:33
  I'm Steve Odland, and this series has been brought to you by The Conference Board.