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Commercial boards face a demanding start to 2026. Artificial intelligence is reshaping strategy and workforce planning, legal and regulatory priorities are shifting under a new administration, and sector-level disruptions are compounding financial pressure across industries.
Let’s take a look at four developments shaping commercial governance right now.
1. A Need for AI Strategy
A new post on the Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance makes the case that AI requires boards to fundamentally change how they engage with management. According to EY research, only 12% of Fortune 100 companies disclosed board AI education in 2025 proxy statements, and most directors rarely or never use AI in their own board work. Still, 22% of Fortune 100 companies now flag AI inaccuracies as a material risk in their 10-K filings.
For commercial boards, the message is clear: AI governance cannot be delegated to a single committee or treated as a technology side issue. Directors need to actively shape AI strategy alongside management, ensure accountability structures exist before something goes wrong, and invest in their own ongoing AI fluency.
2. Legal and Governance Issues
Cleary Gottlieb’s 2026 Selected Issues for Boards of Directors, compiled from attorneys across its global offices, maps the issues most likely to dominate boardroom agendas this year. The memo points to a 2025 M&A market that produced the largest wave of mega-deals in a decade, with continued activity expected in 2026 alongside heightened antitrust and foreign investment scrutiny. It also flags shifting dynamics in shareholder engagement, new DEI legal exposure following federal policy changes, evolving executive compensation disclosure expectations, and emerging oversight challenges in digital assets and private credit markets.
With governance priorities multiplying across legal, regulatory, and market fronts simultaneously, the memo is a useful forcing function for boards to assess where their oversight gaps are before those issues surface in a less controlled way.
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3. Healthcare Policy Volatility
Health Management Associates’ February 4 Weekly Roundup covers the FY 2026 Consolidated Appropriations Act, which includes sweeping pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) reforms with a direct line to commercial board governance. The law classifies PBMs as “covered service providers” under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) and requires 100% passthrough of rebates and discounts to employer-sponsored health plans. It also mandates annual PBM rebate audits and expands audit rights for plan sponsors. Importantly, if a PBM fails to comply, the contract becomes “unreasonable” under ERISA — constituting a prohibited transaction and triggering fiduciary liability for the plan sponsor.
The commercial provisions take effect 30 months after enactment, meaning boards have a window to prepare, but legal advisors are recommending action now. The law does include a safe harbor for fiduciaries who take reasonable steps to ensure compliance, which makes the case for proactive governance even stronger. Boards that get ahead of this will have documentation of due diligence.
4. Pressure in Higher Education
WTW outlines the converging financial, demographic, and technological pressures facing colleges and universities this year. Among the most consequential developments: implementation of a tiered endowment tax, continued domestic enrollment declines, heightened international student uncertainty, and persistent workforce shortages. At the same time, institutions are accelerating adoption of AI across administrative functions and learning environments, introducing both operational efficiencies and governance risks.
For boards of trustees and governing bodies, these trends elevate oversight responsibilities in several areas. Financial sustainability modeling, tuition dependency exposure, and tax impact forecasting will require sharper scrutiny. Meanwhile, rapid AI deployment raises questions around academic integrity, cybersecurity, data governance, and institutional reputation. In 2026, higher education boards are operating less as ceremonial overseers and more as strategic risk stewards.
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About The Author
- Allison Sisson is a Demand Generation Manager at OnBoard, where she leads marketing initiatives across compliance-driven industries, including higher education, healthcare, financial services, and other regulated organizations. Working on the commercial side of the business, she focuses on clear messaging and content that helps leadership teams better understand the challenges and opportunities shaping modern governance.
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