AI and Corporate Governance for the Board

CII Summit on AI and Corporate Governance

This is a detailed round-up of the corporate governance meetup on the topic “Artificial Intelligence, Corporate Governance and the Board”. The conference was organized by Confederation of Indian Industry at New Delhi on 21st March, 2025. The keynote speakers were Mr. Kunal Bahl, co-founder Snapdeal; Mr. Kris Gopalakrishnan, Co-founder Infosys and Chairman, Axilor Ventures and Mr. Krishnava Dutt, head of Argus Partners. The discussion and presentation was a healthy balance between startups, large enterprise and legal aspects.

In this short review, i cover the highlights of the meet and some of the key ideas shared by each speaker. My own two-cents or insights are enclosed in [square brackets].

Introduction to the Theme

The event was formally opened by Mr. Kunal Bahl. In addition to being a the famous co-founder of SnapDeal, he also serves as the Chairman of CII National Startup Council and has co-founded Titan Capital. Mr. Bahl is also a Promoter at Unicommerce. He stressed upon how to increase speed, efficiency and transparency. That “ethics and AI” has been a “watershed moment” for all business. The challenge is how to leapfrog into the future.

Subsequently, he introduced the next speaker, Mr. Gopalakrishnan who gave an in-depth talk on how to adopt AI for the technology sector. In June 2024, Infosys announced the launch of Aster in June 2024. Aster is an AI-powered platform designed to improve marketing efficiency, through the use of Artificial Intelligence.

AI and Corporate Governance: Views shared by Mr. Kris Gopalakrishnan

I had first heard Mr. Gopalakrishnan (“Kris Sir”) at the 2018 CII Summit where he spoke of staying ahead in the technology curve. That inspired me to learn hands-on AI-ML and implement it in my work on Big Data for Public Policy. As a co-founder of Infosys, Kris Sir is a tech-sector veteran. He has also been appointed as the Chairman of CII Centre for Excellence for Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Startups and the Chairman of Startups Advisory Board. In the past, he was President of CII as well. Hence, his insights as a business-builder and startup mentor were extremely valuable.

Mr. Kris Gopalakrishnan is also the Chairman of Axilor Ventures which has supported more than 50 startups.

World over organizations both small and large are adopting AI and need clarity on their goals. In that context, Kris Sir introduced ITES industry as a $200 billion dollar revenue industry globally. He lamented upon the journey of being Infosys CEO, wherein it reached top 5 among the top 10 companies in India. As of 2025, Infosys has an annual revenue of $20 billion with more than 3 Lakh employees. It offers software development, maintenance, and independent validation services across industries such as finance, insurance, manufacturing and digital consulting services.

Mr. Kris has long-standing experience in building and running organizations in a well-managed way. He stepped down from Infosys in 2014 and reflected upon the journey of other tech-founders of his era: FC Kohli of TCS, Nandan Nilekani and Narayanmurthy. FC kohli, Nandan Nilekani, Narayanmurthy – they all have recorded their journeys over three decades. He spoke at length on how companies need to build education infrastructure, such as the Infosys Global Education Centre in Mysore. The key point being that IT companies are among the best managed companies.

Lets say, business should never be personal…

“Businesses outlive persons” is the fundamental principle of any entity that achieves scale and size. If a business aims to attain longevity, it will need to separate the business from the individual. It is imperative to take care of ALL stakeholders, which includes society and the government. Society must see the business as a “good” entity. If not, it will create problems.

At the same time, profitable growth is also important for business. Businesses need to strategically invest in R&D and stay profitable for the long term. They need to be in tune with the global business environment.

On the subject of tariffs, which have been a trending topic for a while, there is definitely pressure to reduce them. Global companies will come to India as now any company can set up a 100% ownership enterprise. If we see the journey of growth in hindsight, Infosys began in 1981 and by 1992, Infosys revenue had crossed 10 Crores. When India opened up its markets to global competition, Infosys survived as they fought and competed and grew. They wholeheartedly invited and embraced competition to became world class. That is the kind of promise that businesses need to build and deliver.

There has to be equal attention towards values and culture, through the processes and systems. Culture is what you create – day in and day out. Think of new employees as leaders of tomorrow. Nowadays, there is an increased level of governance. Private companies have a small number of shareholders and family. Other private companies in their growth stage have external investors and VC funds. Some of them also have large number of stakeholders or customers. On the other hand, public companies have a large pool of funds along with retail investors. [As the business ecosystem grows] Before taking any major decision, think “Am I being fair to the stakeholder/new investor?”

The bottom-line is that society must see you as an asset. In open market, after the company is listed: every second, people are buying or selling your company’s shares. Therefore, you have to start with investing in you [the company]. We go public to share profit with a larger no. of people.

Mr. Gopalakrishnan: Ethical Business Practices

Every business must comply with the legal and ethical aspects. Once you follow these, you will have peace of mind, and be able to enjoy wealth fearlessly! Business owners act as trustees and custodians of the public’s wealth. So it is our duty to create wealth for them for the long term.

We must remember that nothing is hidden in a business. Each interaction has to be transparent. “Act as if everyone is watching”. Transparency when practiced as a habit, does not become a burden.

Speaking of his personal journey, Mr. Kris stated that he passed from IIT Madras in 1979. At that time size of global economy was $11 trillion. Now in 2025, it is $110 trillion. In 1979, India was a $160 billion economy. Now it’s size is $4.4 trillion. In this milestone, computing and technology has been the driver of growth. It has completely transformed the way we do business. Digital India is all about inclusion.

Only those that adapt will survive and grow in the long run. Growth rate multiplies per century. Companies must engage in pursuit of GDP growth. Must take advantage of this driver in business. For starters, $1 billion is being invested per day in AI by businesses. New products, services and research.

Alongside high growth, there should be transparent communication in decision making. Ethical AI and inclusivity also involves find the right talent and knowing where to find it.

Some of Kris Sir’s recommendations include spending 1 hour on reading every day. Technology is changing at a fast pace. There is simply too much to learn every day. In India, Rural-urban divide is huge. Hence, technology is the only way to bridge gap. There are too many regulations by bodies including government around AI (can restrict growth). Companies have to figure out all the compliances to follow. When it comes to AI and Corporate Governance, nearly 5-10% of time must be devoted to build the industry. CII is partnering with all companies to do the same.

Other recommendations also include, training company directors on AI risks and opportunities. Each Board must form an AI ethics committee. There is a need to strengthen oversight mechanisms.

AI and Corporate Governance: Computing to Wisdom

We are transforming from “Computing” to ‘knowledge” to “intelligence era”. Now personally i am preparing for “Wisdom Era” [personally i believe in wisdom too!]. We must keep sight of the following:

Man + machine and not man vs. machine

[as i keep saying, technology is a tool to make tasks easier] If one looks at the Evolution of Transportation, we have gone from walking to inter-planetary travel. Man has leveraged machines to augment capabilities. “Augment human capabilities” means to take advantage and create businesses around it!

Initially when computer was introduced, “automatic ledger posting machine” because unions rebelled against computers in banking. But now banking is on mobile. There is a strong impact of AI on manufacturing and healthcare. AI has enabled data-driven decisions through billions of data points. They make use of inference engines. Biases from datasets need to be removed. Executive management needs to be mindful of this aspect. For instance eating habits of Delhi is different from that of Kerala. This needs to be accounted for in datasets.

Government is “us” only. We only elect the government. Hence, compliance and regulatory alignment are crucial. Data collection is happening everywhere. Even in grocery store – which products sell more, stock that more. Accordingly, new products are recommended to customers.

Companies need to audit AI systems and enable data localization. Making good use of Cloud – Azure/Google – servers. Google has personal data. Government will mandate certain things. Hence, adherence to fiduciary responsibilities and risk management is important for all Directors.

Mr. Senapathy Gopalakrishnan (Kris Sir) also introduced the “PSPD” framework. It stands for Predictable, Sustainable (revenue streams), Profitable, De-risked growth

[My input over PSPD –> PSPDP. Adding another P for purpose at the end. If there is clarity on purpose, its hard to be replaced, no matter what disruptive technological trends come along. Having a “moat” over the kind of problem a company is solving. We need to ask “Fundamentally what my business is doing and is that irreplaceable?”. Once the purpose is clear, any technology can be applied and accommodated in the larger scheme of things]

How AI actually works

AI is all about training the computer to do tasks [with existing data]. Even if new data comes, it will work with this data. The algorithm is trained to recognize patterns [in a way, the computer is also trying to please you]. Even if new data comes, it will work with this data. Might we say “are crooks are best users of technology? They almost have a competitive advantage! As a matter of fact, Rs. 41,000 Crores of theft is reported every month. Hence, we need to train the system to detect patterns for fraud. In terms of ESG alignment, we have to monitor ESG metrics. AI also consumes power. So we have to look for renewable power sources. Nuclear’s contribution needs to go up from 1.7% to 20%.

AI and Corporate Governance: Views shared by Mr. Krishnava Dutt

Mr. Dutt is the Managing Partner and head of Argus Partners. He opened the discussion with a mention of the book “Nexus” by Yuval Harari. He speaks about intelligence vs consciousness. There must be an element of morality. If fact, 85% of Facebook algorithm was found to put hateful algorithms on the forefront.

When it comes to AI and Corporate Governance, he shared from his corporate law experience that most laws are prescriptive/principle based in terms of do’s and don’ts. There are too many nebulous intangibles [instead of concrete limits to be se or punitive actions to be taken]. Its like saying do good, don’t do harm. But what exactly is the harm and good is left to interpretation.

In fact technology is advancing at such a rapid pace that regulators are still catching up with fast pace of AI developments. He also iterated upon the fact that Law and Tech worlds are completely different. An article by Harvard Business Review has revealed that in 1975, 83% of S&P 500 companies were operating in land, brick & mortar. Now this number is just 10%. 90% now is tech.

There is a need for true and accurate statements. Prescriptive law doesn’t set objective limits. [Eg “drive slow” vs don’t exceed the speed of 40 kmph] In case of a hazardous activity, acting in good faith is not enough. Once has to be aware of the damage caused. Laws put obligation on board to run governance. Boards also liable in turn.

May organizations are falling behind on AI adoption: 50% of companies never discuss AI on their boards as an agenda, according to the Ostra Report 2024. It is largely consumer driven – AI is to be part of the Board Agenda. The Board must take steps to demonstrate they have done everything in best interest of the companies

Later in the discussion, Mr. Dutt asked a question to Kris Sir with respect to PSPD: AI is anything but predictable! From a governance perspective, the board has to be aware of what tools are being used. How processes are being followed [especially in a VUCA world]

Predictability of business is also a huge factor. Anytime a new technology is introduced, disruptions are caused. Hence, organizations have to be agile to adapt and take advantage of new developments. They need to set a simple metric, such as, what % of revenue comes from a certain product or services introduced in last 3 years – to create predictability.

AI and Corporate Governance: QnA with Kris Sir, Kunal Bahl and the Audience

Mr. Krishnava Dutt posed a question to Kunal Bahl: is AI transformative or does it compliment the white-collar workforce?

Mr. Bahl responded by saying that everything will change as AI is a “watershed moment”. AI is here to stay, and its not just a wave. Bitcoin, Blockchain, etc. came and went. But AI here to stay. Mr. Dutt then pointed out to an AI case study in Law. In his firm, AI summarized a document of 500 pages. Hence, the uses are many!

Then the panel opened the house to Audience QnA. The former Chairman of Competition Commission of India (CCI), Mr. Dhanendra Kumar, said that pricing decisions are leading to collusive practices when it comes to rentals, airfares, etc. Pricing should be handled by human beings and not automated tools.

Another audience member asked “How to shield boards from implications of the pitfalls of AI”. Kris Sir answered that new implications are not known to regulators. Therefore, trust is very important. What is important is following processes – convincing regulators that tech is being used well.

[My view on how to shield companies : Companies which are colluding on pricing, will have same price anyway. For e.g., in air tickets. But then they will have to offer something else, above and beyond the “same price”! As an incentive for people to take their services over that of the competitor]

Next question was whether AI makes us lazy or cerebrally active? Mr. Kunal Bahl said that such advanced tech does somewhat make us lazy. We can redirect our efforts and time towards productive tasks.

I participated actively in the QnA and shared how technology is just a tool for making things easier. Also presented an analogy that by merely installing MS Word on the laptop, one cannot become William Shakespeare. We need skill set, creativity to excel in a particular field. Hence, by differentiating through purpose, any organization can overcome long term disruptive challenges. I also shared how when faced with a dilemma of what programming language to use for my ML algorithm, i chose to go back to fundamentals first and polish Statistical knowledge for me and for the team. Eventually i learned coding in Python from scratch to carry out big data analysis for improved decision making.

The comments were well received by the audience and we had fruitful follow-ups and varied discussions on AI and Corporate Governance.

On a lighter note, Mr. Kris Gopalakrishnan, Mr. Kunal Bahl and Mr. Krishnava Dutt formed the holy “Krinity” of the esteemed panelists. Their insights helped the august audience, mostly comprising business owners, consultants and directors, certainly get an insight (and assurance) into what an AI-driven future looks like.

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CII Governance Series also held its annual summit in Mumbai with several Stalwarts from the Industry. However, i could not travel to Mumbai then and missed the talks. Among the well-known speakers were SEBI Chairman, Ms. Sanjiv Bajaj, Mr. Adil Zainulbhai and Ms. Kalpana Morparia.