The Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu The leading online blog in the fields of corporate governance and financial regulation. Mon, 13 Apr 2026 18:42:00 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.5.8 https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/cropped-photography-4-e1706898544564-1-32x32.png Top 5 Corporate Governance Priorities for 2026 – The Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu 32 32 Top 5 Corporate Governance Priorities for 2026 https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu/2026/04/07/top-5-corporate-governance-priorities-for-2026/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=top-5-corporate-governance-priorities-for-2026 https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu/2026/04/07/top-5-corporate-governance-priorities-for-2026/#respond Tue, 07 Apr 2026 11:32:15 +0000 https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu/?p=180026?d=20260406171011EDT Posted by Matteo Tonello, The Conference Board, Inc., on Tuesday, April 7, 2026
Editor's Note:
Matteo Tonello is the Head of Benchmarking and Analytics at The Conference Board, Inc. This post is based on a report developed by The Conference Board in partnership with Heidrick & Struggles and ESGAUGE and co-authored by Bonnie W. Gwin, Vice Chair and Global Co-Managing Partner, CEO and Board Practice at Heidrick & Struggles, and Andrew Jones, Principal Researcher, Governance & Sustainability Center at The Conference Board.

Today’s corporate boards are confronting a period of unprecedented leadership churn, systemic risk, and technological disruption. This report outlines the top five governance priorities corporate directors face in 2026, based on an analysis of CEO and board-level interviews, proprietary survey data, and emerging market trends.

Top Five Governance Priorities for 2026

  1. Fortify CEO succession and leadership pipelines: A demographic wave of CEOs staying in their roles past traditional retirement age, combined with the increasing materiality of leadership quality to value, is creating an impending need for robust planning.
  2. Drive strategic board refreshment and composition: A persistent gap between the need for new board skills and the slow pace of director turnover is creating strategic vulnerabilities and attracting activist attention.
  3. Build resilience in the context of geopolitical and economic volatility: Escalating geopolitical and economic uncertainty are the paramount risks for boards for the third year in a row, demanding enhanced scenario planning and further increasing the importance of a robust leadership pipeline and new director expertise.
  4. Formalize AI governance and strategic oversight: A critical “discussion vs. action” gap in AI oversight is exposing firms to unmanaged risks and hindering their ability to capitalize on AI-driven strategic opportunities.
  5. Proactively manage shareholder activism: Sustained, high-level activism is acting as a market-enforced penalty for governance lapses, making proactive board refreshment and strategic alignment the most effective defense.

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