Strategy workshops for enterprises
Programs in which your executives, your board, or both build an AI strategy for your own company and agree how it will be governed. Three programs on one method, with the option to include senior management, each adapted to your industry, size and governance.
- Duration
- 1.5 to 4 days
- Participants
- Executives, board members or both
- Starting point
- Your own company, managers and data
- Location
- Your company, a venue of your choice, or on campus
AI adoption and business results
Most companies now use AI regularly. Only a minority can attribute a measurable effect on operating results to it. Closing that gap depends on decisions only a company’s leadership can make: which AI initiatives deserve investment, who owns them, how work changes, and how the company keeps control as use grows. Boards are expected to oversee AI without taking over management’s role, and many directors say their board lacks the knowledge to do so.
How the programs are designed
- 01Your company as the casePreparation starts inside the company with interviews with your own managers, and the program builds on what they report.
- 02Decisions made during the programExecutives, directors or both take part, so priorities, ownership and oversight tools are agreed before the program ends.
- 03Tools for management and the boardFor management: a strategy, a roadmap, business cases and clear ownership of AI. For the board: agreed oversight rules, the level of AI risk the company accepts, and a regular AI report.
Programs by participant group
The three programs use the same method. They differ in who takes part, how long they run, and how non-executive directors are involved. In the integrated program, executives and the board work on the strategy together. As an option, executives can include their senior management.
Bar length shows the duration, up to 5 days.
Our method, step by step
Every program follows the same sequence. Each step starts with short faculty input, is practiced on a teaching case (a prepared example from another company) and is then applied to your own company.
- 01PreparationInterviews and reading, so the program starts from your own situation
- 02LearnShort faculty input on one part of the strategy or of oversight
- 03PracticeThe step is tried first on a teaching case
- 04ApplyYour team or board applies it to your own company
- 05Follow-upAn optional review once the first results are in
What every program includes
- Your company is the caseExecutives interview their own managers before the program; directors receive a primer, and the chair a conversation with faculty. A teaching case is used only to practice each step.
- Agreed before the program endsBecause the people who decide take part, the strategy, the operating model or the oversight tools are agreed during the program.
- Tailored before it startsEvery program is adapted to your industry, size and governance before it starts.
- Follow-up on first resultsAn optional review after 90 days, or after the first quarterly AI report for boards, tests whether the plan and the reporting work in practice.
What a strategy must reconcile
An AI strategy holds only where three things meet. Where only two overlap, something is missing.
- 1What AI can doWhich tasks it can improve today, at what cost and risk
- 2What the company stands forCustomers, people, values and the limits the owners set
- 3What the board will supportInvestment, oversight and the evidence directors need
- AI StrategyA strategy the company can fund, run and stand behind.
- Right, but unfunded
- Funded, but off-mission
- Supported, but not feasible
Compare the programs
| For Executives AI Strategy for Enterprise 3 days | For Non-Executives Governing AI for Boards 1.5 days | For Executives and Non-Executives Board-Aligned AI Strategy 3.5 days | Option Senior Management 4 days | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Who takes part | CEO and executive team | Non-executive and supervisory board members | Executive team, with the non-executive board on the first day and the closing session | Executives and the department heads who report to them |
| Focus | Build the company’s AI strategy and operating model | Oversee AI: understanding, risk and reporting | Strategy by executives, oversight agreed with the board | Strategy built with the people who run the work |
| Preparation | Executives interview their own managers | A short primer and a conversation with the chair | Manager interviews; a primer for directors | Light: a one-page sheet per department |
| Board’s role | Background; directors may join the final day | The board is the participant | Joins Day 1 and the closing session | Background; directors may join the final day |
| Main outputs | Strategy, roadmap, operating model, metrics | Oversight charter, risk appetite, dashboard | Strategy plus board metrics and charter, agreed with the board | Strategy plus an AI plan per function |
| Best when | The executive team needs a plan of its own | Directors need a shared basis for oversight | Management and the board should align from the start | Department heads must shape and lead adoption |
| See the program → | See the program → | See the program → | See the program → |
- Operating model
- Who owns AI, who decides, and how new ideas are found.
- Oversight charter
- What the board decides, what its committees cover, and what is brought to it.
- Risk appetite
- How much AI risk the company accepts, and where.
- AI dashboard
- A regular report on AI use, value and risk.
Who is in the room
Each group joins where its knowledge or authority is needed.
Participation by program
| For Executives AI Strategy for Enterprise 3 days | For Non-Executives Governing AI for Boards 1.5 days | For Executives and Non-Executives Board-Aligned AI Strategy 3.5 days | Option Senior Management 4 days | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Executive team | Takes part throughout: All three days | Optional: CEO and CFO can join the close | Takes part throughout: Every session | Takes part throughout: All four days |
| Non-executive or supervisory board | Optional: Can join the final day | Takes part throughout: The whole program | Joins for part of the program: Day 1 and the closing session | Optional: Can join the final day |
| Department heads | Optional: Selected function heads can join | Not in the room | Not in the room | Takes part throughout: All four days |
How executives build the strategy
In the programs for executives, the opportunities found by your own managers are narrowed step by step to a funded plan with clear ownership.
- Opportunities from your own managersBefore the program
- A scored list of opportunitiesProgram days
- Business cases for the strongest optionsProgram days
- A phased roadmapProgram days
- Operating model and metricsFinal day
How opportunities are sorted
Every opportunity is rated on the value it creates and on how feasible it is with today’s data, systems, risks and costs.
- AI strategyAmbition, limits and priorities your team has agreed
- ROI casesValue, cost and payback for the strongest opportunities
- 18-month roadmapPhased, with a check before each new investment
- Operating modelWho owns AI, who decides, how new ideas surface
- People planWho is affected and how the company supports them
- MetricsWhat management tracks and what the board receives
How directors oversee AI
In the board program, directors build a shared understanding of AI and agree the tools they will use to oversee it. Because directors take part, the tools are agreed during the program.
What directors oversee
- ValueIs AI spending creating value against plan?
- Risk and complianceWhere is AI used, how risky is it, and do the controls work?
- PeopleWho is affected, and how does the company support them?
- Reputation and valuesDoes the way the company uses AI fit what it stands for?
Risk tiers and the dashboard
- Not allowedUses the company has ruled out
- Board attentionHigh impact on customers, people, money or safety
- Controls and monitoringHuman review, testing and regular checks
- Left to managementLow impact, standard rules apply
- Value against plan
- Adoption
- AI uses by risk tier
- Incidents
- Compliance actions
- People and skills
- First quarterStrategy and investment review
- Second quarterRisk review and list of AI uses
- Third quarterIndependent review of key controls
- Fourth quarterDirector education and next year’s priorities
- AI oversight charterWhat the board decides, what its committees cover, and what is brought to it
- Risk appetiteWhat the company will not do, does with controls, or leaves to management
- AI dashboardThe regular AI reports the board will ask for, and when an issue must be brought to it
- Annual AI agendaStrategy review, risk review, independent review of controls and director education
- Question setThe questions directors ask at each management review
- Shared understandingA common vocabulary on AI across the board
How an engagement runs
- 01Initial conversationYour situation, your goals and the people who should take part
- 02TailoringThe program is adapted to your industry, size and governance
- 03PreparationInterviews with your own managers, or a primer and a conversation with the chair
- 04Program daysLearn, practice and apply each step to your own company
- 05Follow-upAn optional review once the first results are in
- One company per programEach program is run for the leadership of one company, so its data and discussions stay within the company.
- Where it takes placeThe program comes to you, or to a venue of your choice; boards can meet in their own boardroom. Every program can also run on campus.
- Agenda agreed with youDetailed agendas and logistics follow after the initial conversation.
Run by a family?
Each program has a family enterprise version. It adds the questions only family firms face: values as the basis for AI rules, a longer investment horizon, the knowledge of the senior generation and the role of the next generation.
Frequently asked
Which program should we start with?
If the executive team needs a plan, start with AI Strategy for Enterprise. If directors need a shared basis to oversee AI, start with Governing AI for Boards. If both sides should align from the start, choose the integrated program. We help you choose in an introduction.
Do the programs work for two-tier boards?
Yes. In a two-tier system the supervisory board takes the non-executive role and the management board the executive role. We use your own terms and your own governance code.
Is the program built around our own company?
Yes. Every program is run for one company and works on its own situation, with input from its own managers, under strict confidentiality. We adapt it to your industry, size and governance before it starts.
Do participants need technical knowledge?
No. The programs are written for executives and directors. We explain what AI can and cannot do in plain business terms, and participants try it themselves.
Where do the programs take place?
At your company, in your boardroom or at a venue of your choice, or on campus at Columbia Business School in New York.
What happens after the program?
An optional review once the first results are in. To put the strategy into practice, the executive team can continue with a guided implementation track.
Find the program that fits
Tell us about your company and who should take part. We will propose the program that fits and how to adapt it.