As Jerry Greenfield departs after 47 years, Ben & Jerry’s long running tension with its corporate parent Unilever enters a new phase and highlights the complexities of subsidiary governance

In this comment piece, Harmeen Birk, former AI Strategy Lead at Citi, explores the transformative impact of agentic AI in financial services. With Citi now piloting the technology across 5,000 employees, Birk reflects on how autonomous systems are reshaping operational capacity, governance, and risk frameworks.

I join at a moment of both challenge and opportunity for our profession. That is why our membership survey is so important. It gives us the evidence to shape strategy, measure impact, and decide what we should start, stop or strengthen.

Peter Ho FCG urges company secretaries to step up as strategic partners in ethical leadership, helping boards move beyond process to build integrity, challenge blind spots, and prepare for complex governance challenges.

The Charity Commission’s inquiry into the Captain Tom Foundation exposed repeated misconduct and mismanagement by Hannah and Colin Ingram‑Moore. Its report cited failures in conflict management, oversight and intellectual property arrangements, offering stark lessons for boards on independence and transparency.

With governance under pressure from rapid change and rising risk, the CGI Scotland Conference 2025 offers a space for professionals to connect, collaborate and stay ahead. In this comment piece, Gary Gray FCG explores how convening across sectors strengthens resilience and why community is now central to governance excellence.

This has been a month of listening at events, in surveys and across our community. I want to share the themes I’ve heard and explain how they will shape the direction of the Institute in the year ahead.

Governance in media organisations faces intense pressures where trust, editorial independence and political influence collide. From the BBC’s recent turmoil to Fox News’s costly settlement, boards across the sector are under scrutiny as they navigate a landscape where governance principles come under the spotlight.

Ruairí Cosgrove FCG, President of CGIUKI, explains why becoming Chartered was the defining step in their career. From law and strategy to ethics and communication, the qualification opens doors to influential, purpose-driven roles across sectors.