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The AI Board Questions Pack
Seven questions every board director should ask before the next AI agenda item. Most boards are not asking any of them.
What you are getting
Structured governance questions for directors, audit committee members, and PE principals.
The questions are organized in three tiers of depth. Each one tells you what a strong answer looks like, what a weak answer signals, and which governance instrument holds the underlying evidence.
1
Tier 1 — Core oversight
Minimum questions for any board meeting where AI is on the agenda. Accountability, reconstructability, and return evidence.
2
Tier 2 — Value creation review
For quarterly or annual value creation reviews, or when the PE sponsor is in the room. Governance controls and operational resilience.
3
Tier 3 — Pre-transaction or deep review
When a transaction is on the horizon or the board has commissioned a dedicated AI governance review. Data ownership and regulatory exposure.
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Two variants included
Board director and audit committee variant. PE principal and operating partner variant. Delete the one you are not using before sharing.
Who this is for
Board directors
Audit committee members
PE principals
Operating partners
CEOs preparing for board
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Microsoft Word document — two variants, yours to keep and use internally
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From VTCDO — a Hawksroost LLC initiative focused on AI governance for boards and executives
About the author
Jay Hawkinson spent 25 years as a data and AI executive operator — first functional CDAO at Valmont Industries, head of a 60-person data and AI organization at Lamb Weston. He holds three NACD governance credentials: Directorship Certification, AI Oversight (Carnegie Mellon Heinz), and Cybersecurity (CERT).
The Board Questions Pack comes from watching the same governance gaps surface in board meeting after board meeting — questions that were not being asked, and answers that could not be substantiated when they were.
NACD governance credentials
Directorship Certification
AI Oversight — CMU Heinz
Cybersecurity — CERT
Forbes Technology Council
ICON Top 100 D&A
The governance thinking behind this document lives at hawksroost.com → · VTCDO is a Hawksroost LLC initiative · Focused on decisions, not tools.