2026 Board Effectiveness Survey

Executive confidence in board effectiveness has reached an all-time high, with 41% of more than 500 surveyed C-suite executives rating their boards as excellent or good, up from 29% in 2021. But that confidence is concentrated among executives with the closest board access; among those who rarely interact with the board, just 17% give the same rating, exposing a perception gap that may not surface until boards are under real pressure.

Some other key findings:

• Director bandwidth and pace of change are the leading constraints on board effectiveness, with executives citing overboarding (47%), slow response to emerging risks (35%) and difficulty keeping pace with digital transformation (34%).
• Nearly all executives (99%) believe boards should be using AI for oversight, but only 35% say their boards currently do so.
• Nine in 10 executives see room to improve how board assessments are used, particularly to inform succession planning and drive follow-through on board input.