Our annual Boardroom Bellwether report

Boardroom Bellwether is the Chartered Governance Institute's flagship annual survey of governance professionals.

Governance under pressure: insights from governance professionals

Boardroom Bellwether is one of the most comprehensive assessments of governance practice across the jurisdictions in which the Institute operates.

Drawing on responses from more than 300 governance professionals, this year’s report reflects the experience and professional judgement of practitioners working across listed companies, private businesses, charities and the public sector.

The report explores the risks, trends and governance challenges shaping organisations today, drawing on the perspectives of governance professionals who support boards and leadership teams across this wide range of sectors.

This year's findings highlight that economic uncertainty remains the dominant concern for organisations over the coming year. Against this background, geopolitical instability, cyber threats, technological change and rising stakeholder expectations continue to shape board priorities. At the same time, governance professionals report growing demands on governance functions as boards seek assurance, insight and support across an expanding range of issues.

Survey respondents now come from a broad range of organisations, with representation spread across listed companies, private businesses, charities, not-for-profit organisations, housing, education, health and the public sector.

A genuinely cross-sector view

This balanced mix provides a rare opportunity to compare governance perspectives across parts of the economy that are often considered separately despite facing many of the same challenges.

While organisations face different operational realities and operate in different regulatory environments, the survey highlights significant commonality in governance concerns. Across sectors and jurisdictions, respondents point to economic conditions, organisational resilience, culture, cyber security and artificial intelligence as issues demanding sustained board attention and increasing pressure on governance professionals.

5 key themes from this year's report

1. Governance demands continue to grow

Four in five respondents report that governance issues have increased over the past year, yet only one in ten consider their governance function to be very well resourced. Governance professionals are being asked to support boards across an increasingly broad agenda while resources struggle to keep pace.

2. AI exposes a growing board capability gap

AI emerged as the survey's most significant governance capability challenge. Only 6.5% of respondents rated their board's AI capability as strong, highlighting the pressure organisations face as technology evolves faster than governance frameworks.

3. Cyber resilience uneven across sectors

Concern about cyber security continues to grow, with three-quarters (75%) of respondents reporting increased board focus on cyber risk over the past year. Yet preparedness remains uneven. While 65% of company respondents describe their organisation's cyber preparedness as very thorough, only 26% of charity respondents say the same. More than four in ten (43%) charity governance professionals report limited or no board-level preparedness for a cyber attack, compared with just 3% in companies. Awareness is increasing, but resilience is not being built at the same pace across all sectors.

4. Good governance depends on culture, challenge and information

Nearly half of respondents (47%) identify organisational culture as a material governance challenge, while 30% cite a lack of effective challenge. The quality of information provided to the board is also critical, with 58% identifying it as a key influence on scrutiny and diligence. The findings suggest that effective governance depends as much on culture, information and constructive challenge as on formal structures and processes.

5. Governance and smarter regulation

The findings also provide insight into governance professionals' views on the future of regulation and the Government's smarter regulation agenda. Respondents recognise the important role regulation plays in supporting accountability, transparency and good governance. However, they also identify concerns around complexity, duplication and the practical burden of compliance. Governance professionals support regulation that is proportionate, coherent, outcomes-focused and capable of adapting to changing organisational and technological realities. Respondents based outside the UK were notably more confident about navigating regulatory and reporting requirements than their UK counterparts, underlining the importance of efforts to simplify the UK's regulatory and reporting landscape.