Board Value Index reveals almost half of UK & North American directors lack cyber confidence

Key findings

LONDON, 08 December 2025 – Board Intelligence, EMEA’s largest board technology and advisory firm, today launches the second edition of its Board Value Index, revealing that almost half (42%) of company directors in North America and the UK are not fully confident in their board’s ability to respond to a major cybersecurity incident.

The Board Value Index, which launched in its first edition in June 2025, is based on data from more than 230 board directors from companies with over £50 million in turnover across the UK and North America. The Board Value Index aims to track the value that boards deliver for their organisations, as well as the key challenges boards face and opportunities for them to develop. Board Intelligence has today also launched the inaugural Middle East edition of the Board Value Index.

Are management teams and boards prepared for the cybersecurity threat?

Almost half of North American and UK directors surveyed (42%) are only somewhat confident in their board's ability to oversee and respond effectively to a major cybersecurity incident affecting their organisation. Underpinning this crisis of confidence, almost half of management teams and boards (46%) have conducted either just one cybersecurity simulation (42%) or none at all over the past two years (4%).

At the same time, the majority of directors (54%) say the threat of disruption from emerging technologies such as AI is not a standing item on their agenda, discussed periodically but not consistently or in a very limited reactive way.

UK business leaders are much more likely to have run multiple cybersecurity exercises (62%) versus those in North America (46%). On the other hand, boards in the United States are more likely to place a great deal of focus at board meetings on emerging technologies and artificial intelligence (56%) versus those in the UK (42%), or Canada (37%).

“The second edition of our Board Value Index shows that many boards are being held back by old habits,” says Pippa Begg, CEO and co-founder of Board Intelligence. “Boards are going through the motions, ticking the box with a cyber simulation once every couple of years, but not embedding that learning into how they think and make decisions. That’s why boards still lack real confidence when a crisis hits.

“Emerging technologies like AI, and the new forms of disruption they bring, aren’t being addressed systematically or considered strategic priorities. The boards that will thrive are those that make digital resilience and tech-driven change a standing part of how they lead, not something they revisit when it’s already too late.”

How are boards evolving to meet the challenge?

With cyberattacks becoming more common, company directors are seeking to take action to improve their readiness and capabilities. When asked which areas of board development would deliver the greatest value, respondents most frequently identified cyber resilience (22%) and digital transformation and AI oversight (22%). In the IT & telecoms sector, emphasis on cyber resilience rises to 38%, reflecting boards’ heightened focus on protecting data and critical systems.

Although most directors recognise the need to strengthen their capabilities, many still approach board evaluations as a compliance exercise rather than a developmental one. While 92% say they would continue to run a board evaluation even if it were not required, (97% in the UK vs 86% in North America), most (51%) see evaluations as primarily proof of good governance for stakeholders, rather than as an opportunity to improve performance (49%). Evaluations are being treated as box-ticking exercises rather than opportunities to surface capability gaps.

Similarly, although almost all boards offer some director development (99%), almost half (42%) rely on ad‑hoc training. Structured development is more common in listed companies (60%) than private (53%).

Where are boards most valuable and what are their biggest blockers?

Directors have become more positive about their board’s contribution to value creation since the first Board Value Index. Whilst only one-third (33%) see their board as an essential tool for value creation, this marks a 10% improvement over the Index’s previous iteration. The number of directors who said their board adds no value at all fell from 31% in June to just 3% in the winter edition of the Index. US directors have remained more positive, with 38% seeing their board as essential, versus just 32% of UK directors and 26% of Canadian board members.

Boards are only as good as the information they are given and the quality of their processes. The quality of information provided to the board (33%), time management in meetings (31%), and the rigidity or inconsistency of decision-making processes (29%) were cited as the biggest barriers to making faster, better decisions in the boardroom. And, while the number of directors rating their board processes and meetings as very efficient increased to 43%, from the 38% recorded in the Index’s first edition, there is still room for improvement.

When asked to rate their board’s contribution against eight different areas of organisational value creation, directors across the UK, US, and Middle East were united in identifying significant headroom for boards to enhance their strategic contributions. Boards were also rated similarly across different areas. UK directors scored their boards the lowest, averaging 6.4 out of 10, 12% lower than US directors (7.6) and 20% lower than Middle East directors (8.3).

How are boards navigating the Middle East’s challenges and opportunities?

The Middle East edition of the Board Value Index, also launched today, presents a contrasting picture.

Nearly half (48%) of directors in the region see their boards as essential to driving performance and long-term value — well ahead of peers in the UK and North America.

Yet despite 94% reporting efficient processes, gaps remain around information quality (41%) and decision agility (38%), with only one in five boards balancing their focus between past performance and future strategy. Boards in the region identified an opportunity to become more future-focused, with only 21% of directors reporting an even split in meetings between reviewing past performance and planning for the future, while 41% spend more time looking backwards than forwards.  

The Index found that boards in the region are deeply aligned with national and regional transformation priorities:

• 48% of boards describe themselves as "actively leading" the Middle East’s integration and diversification agenda, while a further 50% are "engaged contributors".
• 60% report extremely effective integration, with national transformation agendas such as Saudi Vision 2030 and UAE Vision 2050 fully embedded in their organisation’s strategy, while 37% say they are somewhat effectively integrated.
• 61% of directors report being very confident, with a further 39% somewhat confident, in their board’s ability to manage relationships with sovereign or government stakeholders such as regulators, investment authorities, and state shareholders.

Notes for Editors

Board Intelligence is EMEA’S largest board technology and advisory firm. Trusted by more than 80,000 leaders across the Fortune 500, FTSE 100, and OMX 30, Board Intelligence supercharges boards with the science of board effectiveness. For more information, visit boardintelligence.com and follow on LinkedIn.  

Board Intelligence’s Board Value Index is based on independent research conducted among 333 board directors across the UK, US, Canada, and GCC representing organisations with revenues above £50 million. It is the leading benchmark designed to measure board performance from the perspective of value creation, decision-making effectiveness, and future-readiness.

• The UK & North America winter 2025 edition of the Board Value Index surveyed 233 board members, including executive directors, for example CEOs, and non-executive directors (also referred to as independent directors). This consisted of 118 directors of UK-based companies, 80 directors of United States-based companies and 35 directors of Canada-based companies.
• The inaugural Middle East edition of the Board Value Index surveyed 100 board directors from across the GCC, including the United Arab Emirates, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, and Oman.