When AI Meets Advisory Ethics: Safeguarding Trust in Advice

In July 2024, we released an article exploring AI’s impact on the boardroom and whether AI bots could be board members of the future.

As with much of the AI conversation, it remains a persistent topic in boardrooms worldwide. Of particular importance is the ethical relationship between AI and advice: when advice influences material decisions, how can we ensure trust, accountability, and informed judgement?

AI remains a persistent topic in boardrooms worldwide. When advice influences material decisions, how can we ensure trust, accountability, and informed judgement?

WHY DISCLOSURE IS EVERYTHING

As Chair of the Global Research Council I have had the privilege to conduct research focus groups on the topic with members of the global advisory board community. Over the coming months, we will continue to have conversations in market regarding the ethical boundaries of providing advice and decision-making cycles for both Boards of Directors and Advisory Boards.

The sector should be particularly attentive to the responsibility of disclosure and how an advisor or a director has formed a point of view: transparency is essential, because decision‑makers need to know when AI has been used so they can assess the quality, independence, and potential biases underpinning that advice.

HOW NECESSARY IS AN ADVISOR WHEN YOU HAVE AI?

The Advisory Board Centre’s membership spans a huge array of expertise, and our Special Interest Groups bring together those with similar backgrounds and interests. Our AI, Technology and Transformation Special Interest Group has recently been discussing the following question with rigour: How necessary is an advisor when you have AI?

Agentic AI’s acceleration is increasing the need for human judgement, not removing it. Certified Chair™ and member of the group, Raihan Islam, explains ‘AI security threats are accelerating faster than the compliance frameworks meant to contain them, and that without governance anchored in human judgement, organisations expose themselves to risks that defence frameworks alone cannot match.’ The group aligned on the idea that as AI systems become more autonomous, the volume and complexity of decisions requiring human judgement grow rather than shrink.

STAYING IN CONTROL

The power of AI is phenomenal. But as we heard from a panel of experts at one of our recent Executive Insights webinars, AI must be human-led and built on trust, supported by the right skills, and aligned to organisational culture. It only delivers value when it is human-centric, commercially grounded, and well-governed. Advisors play an important role in getting it right.

What’s your point of view?

How do you safeguard trust and maintain an ethical standing in your advisory work? The Code of Ethics is currently under review and the next edition is due for re-release in October 2026. We are keen to hear your perspective. Write to [email protected] to share your feedback.