For board members and executives, challenges like unfocused agendas, unstructured discussion, and lost action items are perhaps more common that you might think, and can result in negative outcomes like inefficiency, non-decision making, and mistrust. Babur Mirza, Vice President of Sales at Sherpany, recently sat down with the London Stock Exchange to talk about how technology can be a game changer for corporate governance.

LSE: What shifts are you seeing in attitudes towards governance and how are expectations around transparency and efficiency evolving?

Babur Mirza: Governance is changing and it's changing daily. Governance is pushing boards to be more agile, make decisions quicker. And be more effective. I think there is a need for greater transparency, building that trust with key stakeholders through clear communication. And also, the board needs to show how progressive they're being in looking at digital transformation of matters like governance and board meeting management.

How can strong board meeting management and effective decision-making lead a company to high performance with an aligned strategy?

I think the question really is down to a lack of clarity and transparency. Unstructured board meetings lead to unstructured discussions that lead to a lack of clear output in what the next steps are. There's also questioning around whether digital transformation should be done. But it isn't a question anymore, it's a must.

If a company's board isn't necessarily adopting the most efficient technology for governance and compliance, what can boards do to secure shareholder confidence?

I think it's being driven by the shareholders. They are demanding from the board a lot more in terms of clarity of communication and structure in terms of what the next steps are to drive the business forward. And I think from that perspective, technology is needed to streamline that process and shareholders need that in a more effective manner.

How is AI changing the way that boards operate?

AI is helping boards with the administrative burden, making decisions through data and insights. It's also helping a board really see how processes can be streamlined and workflows can be improved. AI can augment, but a human is still needed to help with governance and transforming governance. So, we are definitely investing in data security, data integration. We are helping with workflows and timelines. But we remain committed to pushing the barriers in terms of seeing how we can improve operational efficiency and leading to structured accountable decisions for the board.

About Sherpany

Sherpany is a leading Swiss meeting management solution designed to meet the unique needs of board and executive meetings. Sherpany streamlines the entire meeting process — from preparation and asynchronous collaboration, to follow-up — making meetings more productive and enhancing organizational performance as a result. Find out more at Sherpany.com.