Are directors of founder-led companies being set up to fail?

“The story is familiar — the visionary founder builds a successful company from scratch but as the business matures, they obstruct effective oversight. Time and again, as another boardroom drama breaks out, independent directors wonder: can a founder-led company ever truly be governed?”

K1-backed Board Intelligence makes first add-on with TeamEngine

We’re joining forces with TeamEngine, a board software provider that supports some of Scandinavia’s largest businesses, to bring our clients the benefit of our combined products and geographic reach.

Board Intelligence to expand global footprint

We started in London and, from Aston Martin to Schroders, most of our clients are based in the UK — but that’s going to change. In this piece, K1’s Hasan Askari details how their investment in Board Intelligence will allow our technology to better support boards worldwide.

AI firm announces strategic growth partnership

We have a new partner on board. Here’s what the strategic investment from K1 Investment Management means to Board Intelligence and to the next phase of our growth.

What are ECI reading? Our summer reading list

“This should be on the reading list of anyone in the boardroom, as well as for those of us interested in long-term business success — and some great anecdotes for dinner party conversation.”

Tired of rewriting board papers? Try this instead.

Many governance professionals painstakingly review and edit individual papers to fix their organisation’s bloated board packs. But while management appreciate the effort, it’s unsustainable. It’s also ineffective, relieving the symptoms without addressing the root cause of the problem.

What it takes to build collective intelligence, with the Leadership Enigma

In this episode of the Leadership Enigma podcast, our co-CEO Jennifer Sundberg explores the concept of collective intelligence, the three habits it hinges on, and why too much power concentrated in one person makes us stupid.

How to build a business that’s smarter than you, with the IoD

What if wasn’t great individuals that built successful organisations, but the collective talent of employees at all levels? In this Director’s Briefing podcast, our co-CEO, Jennifer Sundberg, and Ann Hiatt of Hipergiant Consulting join Dr. Roger Barker of the IoD to discuss the concept of collective intelligence.

Finding efficiency in boardroom dynamics, with All Points West

In this episode of the All Points West podcast, our co-CEO Jennifer Sundberg sat down with Karl West to discuss the pivotal role consultants can have in transforming board dynamics, and explore the essence of collective intelligence.

We’ve been recognised as one of the UK’s fastest-growing female-led businesses

Our co-CEOs are featured in this year’s E2E Female 100 list, which tracks the 100 fastest-growing female-founded or led businesses in the UK.

AI to make board packs better

AI won’t — and shouldn’t — replace your report writers or your directors. But used to improve report writing in the long term, rather than to automate and cut out report writing in the short term, it can become a trusted ally of both.

What HR Director thinks of our latest book, Collective Intelligence

“This book will help to give you increased confidence that you don’t need to power along on your own. You are smarter when you tap in to the smarties around you.”

Governance professionals: spread too thin or not far enough?

What happens when an organisation gets stuck in a decision-making doom loop? We explore what traps companies in this vicious cycle — and how governance professionals can help them break free.

Transforming boards via collective intelligence, with the Ellig Group

In this Ellig Group webinar, Jennifer Sundberg shares her insights on transforming boards and leadership teams into powerful drivers of performance and forces for good.

Leveraging the superpower of questioning, with the Operations Room

How do you get good at asking the right questions? And how can you make this a habit for everyone in the organisation? Find out in this episode of the Operations Room podcast, where Jennifer Sundberg explains how to build a business that leverages the superpower of questioning.

The myth of the “genius” CEO, with TrainingBusiness

Everyone loves to admire a “genius” CEO — but what if the key to success is to build a business that’s smarter than you? In this episode of the TrainingBusiness podcast, Jennifer Sundberg discusses collective intelligence and how you can cultivate it.

The remits, thinking, and communication styles that define the best boards, with Nurole

Listen to Jennifer Sundberg (co-CEO of Board Intelligence) and Oliver Cummings (Nurole CEO) in the latest episode of the Nurole podcast where they discuss collective intelligence and how it’s being leveraged by boards to enhance the speed and quality of decision-making.

Improving decision-making through collective intelligence, with Leadership BITES

In this episode of the Leadership BITES podcast, Jennifer Sundberg delves into the transformative power of collective intelligence and its impact on decision-making.

Collective intelligence in the boardroom and beyond

We need great thinking at every level of any organisation. Here’s what we’ve learned from working with boards and leadership teams over the past 15 years, as well as our framework for building teams that think harder so they can act smarter and faster.

Three hallmarks of a governance game changer

As a governance professional, what can you do to elevate your role, heighten your impact, and change perceptions of the profession? Discover the three hallmarks of a governance game changer and how you can use them to shape your governance career.

How to fire a superstar CEO

Whether the board of OpenAI was right or wrong in trying to fire Sam Altman, it’s clear they failed in their execution. And botching such a drastic step leaves you with more than burned fingers: you'll make the CEO more indispensable than ever, throwing fuel on the hubris fire.

Altman, Musk, and the dangers of superstar CEOs

While there’s a big difference between the drama at OpenAI or Elon Musk’s shenanigans at X and the scandalous downfalls of Sam Bankman-Fried or Elizabeth Holmes, the common feature is the larger-than-life leader who is seemingly bigger than their business. Why does this keep happening?

Are these the future female UK unicorn bosses?

Following his article bemoaning the lack of female unicorn CEOs, Chris Maguire shines a light on some of the UK’s leading women tech bosses — including ours.

Why we should be wary of superstar CEOs, with Marketplace Matters

In this Marketplace Matters interview, Jennifer Sundberg (co-CEO of board Intelligence) explains why we should be wary of superstar CEOs and how business leaders can harness the power of questions to drive performance.

Everybody in a business should ask questions every day — so why are we so poor at it?

To find a steady supply of fresh ideas and breakthrough insights, you need everyone in the business, from the boardroom to the shopfloor, asking questions all the time. The problem is, we’re not as good at it as we think we are.

Board packs — the canary in the coalmine

A poor board pack is just one sign of a pervasive communication problem within the wider organisation, with layer upon layer of reporting creating thick fog from the executive committee downwards. So how do you start addressing that “blindspots and blizzards” problem?

How to build a business that can turn on a dime

How do you maintain a singular focus on what matters while also being flexible enough to shift your focus when you need to? Find out in this article, where Jennifer Sundberg and Pippa Begg (co-CEOs of Board Intelligence) explain how you can build a business that's flexible and focused.

How to revive your business

A few months ago, the Smiths Group chair and former 3M CEO Sir George Buckley set us a challenge: “The core of every business is dying — what are you doing about it?” His question isn’t easy to answer. You can’t replace a dying core with a few extra percentage points of margin. Innovation is the only option — but what does that take?

Removing board bottlenecks: How governance professionals can help organisations move faster

A director once told us his board needed a horizontal agenda to deal with its 20 “number one” priorities — and supporting boards like his to deliver a vast remit in limited time is a daily challenge for governance professionals. So, what can you do to help your board move faster?

Collective intelligence has been recommended by the Financial Times

“Jennifer Sundberg & Pippa Begg have spent a lot of time thinking about how boardrooms can function better. But as co-CEOs of Board Intelligence — an online portal where company directors can view, comment, and collaborate on important documents — they have realised that the decisions made at the top of a company are the minority of all of those taken in a typical workplace.”

Empowering everyone to think hard and act fast, with LID Radio

The world’s most enduringly successful businesses aren’t reliant on a super-star CEO, but on how they empower everyone to think hard and act fast. In this episode of LID Radio Podcast, our co-CEOs discuss their new book, Collective Intelligence, and explore the three capabilities that enable businesses to “move fast and make things.”

What really drives enduringly successful businesses, with Connected Leadership

Our obsession with superstar leaders has made us lose sight of what really drives enduringly successful businesses. Board Intelligence’s CEO Jennifer Sundberg sat down with Andy Lopata, host of The Connected Leadership Podcast, to explore how collective intelligence trumps individual brilliance when it comes to unlocking performance.

Moving away from board-centric decision-making, with Engage Governance

Jennifer Sundberg, co-CEO of Board Intelligence, discusses of collective intelligence, which advocates moving away from superstar CEOs and board-centric decision-making to recognising the whole organisation’s potential to make great decisions.

The 3 communication rules holding your business back

Poor communication is the silent killer of big companies — and why we think of Xerox as “the photocopier people” rather than the birthplace of modern computing. In this article for CEOWORLD magazine, our co-CEOs Jennifer Sundberg and Pippa Begg explore where organisations go wrong and how we can make great communication an everyday habit.

Can hybrid meetings ever live up to the real thing?

As thousands start to gather in Glasgow for the COP26 climate summit, braving crowds, protests, strike threats, and price-gouging landlords, the question has been posed: why don’t they just meet on Zoom? It is friendlier to the environment, they have had months of enforced practice in using it, and — perhaps, just perhaps — it is a more efficient use of their time.

Control the agenda to keep your vision intact

For most entrepreneurs, having the vision is usually the easy part; what is harder is hanging on to it amid all the busy-ness and day-to-day demands of building a fast-growing business.

Urgent boardroom discussions are rarely particularly productive

Not all two-by-two matrices are enlightening. But one that describes the challenge of time management, popularised by Stephen Covey, the late personal development guru, is genuinely useful. Its subject is the completion of tasks and the four quadrants describe these as being urgent or not urgent, important or not important.

Is knowing your business enough to write great finance reports?

Given that approximately 70% of a board pack is financial data, the finance team are arguably one of the most critical groups of report authors within a business. So here are some of our tips on how finance teams can prepare best practice finance reports quickly and easily.

Board Intelligence in the news

Podcasts, interviews, articles… Here’s everything we’ve contributed to or been covered in.

Featured news

AI firm announces strategic growth partnership

How to fire a superstar CEO

Altman, Musk, and the dangers of superstar CEOs

Latest

Are directors of founder-led companies being set up to fail?

K1-backed Board Intelligence makes first add-on with TeamEngine

Board Intelligence to expand global footprint

AI firm announces strategic growth partnership

What are ECI reading? Our summer reading list

Tired of rewriting board papers? Try this instead.

What it takes to build collective intelligence, with the Leadership Enigma

How to build a business that’s smarter than you, with the IoD

Finding efficiency in boardroom dynamics, with All Points West

We’ve been recognised as one of the UK’s fastest-growing female-led businesses

AI to make board packs better

What HR Director thinks of our latest book, Collective Intelligence

Governance professionals: spread too thin or not far enough?

Transforming boards via collective intelligence, with the Ellig Group

Leveraging the superpower of questioning, with the Operations Room

The myth of the “genius” CEO, with TrainingBusiness

The remits, thinking, and communication styles that define the best boards, with Nurole

Improving decision-making through collective intelligence, with Leadership BITES

Collective intelligence in the boardroom and beyond

Three hallmarks of a governance game changer

How to fire a superstar CEO

Altman, Musk, and the dangers of superstar CEOs

Are these the future female UK unicorn bosses?

Why we should be wary of superstar CEOs, with Marketplace Matters

Everybody in a business should ask questions every day — so why are we so poor at it?

Board packs — the canary in the coalmine

How to build a business that can turn on a dime

How to revive your business

Removing board bottlenecks: How governance professionals can help organisations move faster

Collective intelligence has been recommended by the Financial Times

Empowering everyone to think hard and act fast, with LID Radio

What really drives enduringly successful businesses, with Connected Leadership

Moving away from board-centric decision-making, with Engage Governance

The 3 communication rules holding your business back

Can hybrid meetings ever live up to the real thing?

Control the agenda to keep your vision intact

Urgent boardroom discussions are rarely particularly productive

Is knowing your business enough to write great finance reports?