As organisations move beyond AI experimentation and towards enterprise-wide adoption, one question has become increasingly important: what is the role of the board?

In this episode of Futurise – The AI for Business Podcast, Rob Price is joined by Karen Silverman, CEO of a leading West Coast board advisory firm, to explore how boards and executive teams should approach the rise of Agentic AI. Drawing on her experience advising organisations around the world, Karen shares practical insights into how directors can balance innovation with governance, manage risk without stifling progress, and make confident strategic decisions in a rapidly evolving AI landscape.

The conversation explores the biggest decisions facing today's leadership teams, including whether to build or buy AI capabilities, how to navigate an increasingly crowded ecosystem of foundation models and AI platforms, the growing importance of sovereign AI and data residency, and how boards should think about measuring return on investment beyond traditional financial metrics.

One of the standout discussions focuses on the often-overlooked gap between board strategy and operational execution. While boards define ambition, it is middle management that must redesign work, lead organisational change and deliver outcomes. Karen discusses how successful organisations bridge this divide and why leadership alignment is becoming a critical differentiator.

Whether you're a board director, CEO, CIO, transformation leader or AI practitioner, this episode offers practical guidance on leading AI adoption with confidence, responsibility and long-term business value.

In this episode:

• The first conversations every board should have about Agentic AI
• Balancing experimentation with governance
• Bridging the gap between board strategy and operational execution
• Build, buy or partner? Making the right AI investment decisions
• AI models, platforms and what boards really need to understand
• Sovereign AI, regulation and global boardroom perspectives
• Measuring ROI and defining success for enterprise AI
• What separates organisations that will thrive from those that fall behind

If you're responsible for shaping your organisation's AI strategy, this episode provides an executive-level perspective on one of the most important business transformations of the decade.

Subscribe to Futurise for conversations with global AI leaders, founders, CEOs and innovators exploring how Agentic AI is reshaping business, leadership and the future of work.

In this episode, I sit down with Steve Yemm MP to explore what AI — and particularly the rise of more agentic systems — could mean for regions like the East Midlands in the UK.

Coming from shared roots in the same Nottinghamshire town and school system, this becomes a conversation not just about technology, but about opportunity, ambition, skills, and the future of communities outside the traditional centres of power and investment.

We discuss:

• Whether AI risks creating a new regional divide

• How places like Mansfield and the East Midlands can genuinely benefit from the AI economy

• The challenge governments face in buying and regulating technology they barely understand

• Why adoption and trust matter as much as innovation itself

• The impact AI could have on jobs, businesses, and public services

• And how AI may become essential in supporting an ageing population and stretched services.

This is a conversation about more than technology. It’s about who benefits, who gets left behind, and what responsible AI leadership should look like in the real world.

A thoughtful discussion on regional regeneration, digital responsibility, and the future of AI in society.

Find out more at https://steveyemm.com

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Most organisations say they’re “doing AI.” Very few are actually seeing results.

In this episode, I sit down with Martin Neale, founder and CEO of ICS.AI, to unpack why so many AI initiatives stall — and what it really takes to deliver impact at scale.

Both recognised in the Computing 2026 AI Leadership Index, we explore the shift from experimentation to real-world impact — and what separates organisations that are delivering from those still stuck in pilot mode.

Martin’s story is one of conviction. At 55, he cashed in his pension to build a company focused not on pilots, but on outcomes. Today, ICS.AI powers AI engagement across a significant proportion of UK councils, transforming how public services operate.

We cover:

• Why most AI programmes get stuck in “pilot mode”
• What an AI operating model actually looks like in practice
• The shift from tools to more agentic AI systems in live services
• Lessons from transforming Derby City Council into one of the UK’s first AI-native councils
• The real barriers to adoption — and how to overcome them
• Why trust, governance, and design are critical to scaling AI responsibly

This is a conversation about moving beyond hype — and building AI that actually works in the real world.

https://www.linkedin.com/company/ics-ai-ltd

https://www.ics.ai/customers/derby-city-council-case-study