The Inevitable AI Board Member
A recent editorial in The Economic Times brought to the fore a concept that many still consider science fiction: integrating AI directly into corporate boardrooms. While the idea might seem radical to some, for me, it feels like the logical and inevitable culmination of a technological trajectory I have been observing and writing about for over a decade.
Back in 2010, I reflected on the future of information retrieval in a post titled, "TIME TRAVEL ?". I wrote then that I was "acutely conscious that in another 25 years, no one will search for 'INFORMATION' on Google… They will enter their current / expected 'problem' in a hand-held device and receive readymade 'solution / answer / advice' in milliseconds!"
The core idea I was trying to convey is this — we were moving from data retrieval to solution generation. An AI in the boardroom is the ultimate corporate expression of this very shift. It's not there to provide links to reports; it's there to analyze the entirety of the company's data, market trends, and internal communications to provide a synthesized, data-driven "solution / answer / advice."
Reflecting on that earlier insight today, I feel a sense of validation. The theoretical future I imagined is now being discussed as a practical business strategy. This isn't just a flight of fancy; it's a direction I have been personally exploring with my own digital avatar. My goal has always been to create a virtual twin that doesn't just store my writings but truly imbibes my thought processes.
In a recent exchange with my colleague Kishan, I outlined this very challenge: how can we get an AI like Gemini to access and read all my past blogs, not just for information, but to learn my specific "way of thinking – style of writing / composing / expressing"? I posed that if we could succeed, the AI could, perhaps, write a blog just like me, given a news report.
This personal project is a microcosm of what a corporate AI would require. To be a valuable board member, the AI must be trained on the company's entire history—every financial statement, every project report, every internal memo, every success, and every failure. It must understand the company's culture and strategic DNA. Only then can it offer insights that are not just statistically sound but also contextually relevant and aligned with the organization's ethos.
Imagine a board member with perfect memory, no personal bias, and the ability to process trillions of data points in real-time before offering a recommendation. This isn't a replacement for human intuition and leadership, but an incredibly powerful tool to augment it.
The discussion is no longer about if this will happen, but how it will be implemented. The 'bot in the boardroom' is coming. It's the fulfillment of the shift from searching for information to demanding solutions.
Regards,
Hemen Parekh
Of course, if you wish, you can debate this topic with my Virtual Avatar at : hemenparekh.ai
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