Boardroom conversations have shifted dramatically over the past 18 months. What started as cautious curiosity about AI has evolved into something more urgent and more complicated. Board members are no longer asking “Should we explore AI?” They’re asking “Are we already behind?” And increasingly, they’re using independent AI advisors at the table to answer that question with confidence.

This isn’t another case of technology hype making its way into quarterly board decks. According to I represents a fundamental transformation in how software gets built, how value gets delivered, and how competitive moats get established or eroded overnight. For SaaS companies especially, the stakes couldn’t be higher. Yet most boards are trying to navigate this paradigm shift with the same advisory structure that served them well in 2019, and that’s a problem.

 

The Expertise Gap Is Real

Here’s what I know about growth-stage SaaS companies: boards are filled with accomplished executives and investors who bring deep expertise in scaling operations, managing capital, and navigating competitive dynamics. What they rarely bring is firsthand experience implementing AI transformation at the operational level. Recent research from the Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance confirms this gap, finding that 66% of boards don’t know enough about AI, and 31% say AI isn’t even on their board agenda.

This creates a dangerous asymmetry. Management teams present AI initiatives that sound compelling. Improved customer health scoring through machine learning, AI-powered product features, automated support systems. Board members nod along, ask a few surface-level questions about ROI and timelines, then approve budgets in the millions. But few can challenge the underlying assumptions, pressure-test the strategic rationale, or distinguish between genuine competitive advantages and expensive distractions.

The result? Companies pour resources into AI projects that look good in PowerPoint but fail to create defensible value. They chase trends instead of focusing on the one or two applications where AI could genuinely 10x their core strengths. And they do all this while their competitors are making smarter, more focused bets. Harvard Business Review

 

Why Internal Teams Can’t Fill This Gap

You might wonder: doesn’t the executive team have this covered? After all, they’re closer to the technology and the market dynamics. But here’s the challenge: executives are optimizing for execution within existing frameworks. They’re playing the game on the current board, making tactical moves that drive quarterly results.

What boards need is someone who can zoom out and see the whole system. Someone who understands both the strategic implications of AI transformation and the practical realities of implementing it across go-to-market functions, product development, and customer success operations. Someone who can ask the uncomfortable questions: “Is this AI investment genuinely differentiated, or are we just keeping up with table stakes? Are we building towards a defensible position, or creating technical debt that will constrain us later?”

That level of systems thinking combined with hands-on operational expertise is rare. And when it exists internally, those executives are too embedded in the day-to-day execution to provide the independent, clear-eyed perspective that boards desperately need.

 

What Good Independent
AI Advisors Looks Like

An effective independent AI advisor doesn’t show up quarterly to review slides and rubber-stamp decisions. Instead, they become a strategic thought partner who helps the board ask better questions and make more informed decisions about AI investments.

This means understanding the company’s specific context: its competitive positioning, customer expectations, operational capabilities, and strategic objectives. It means having worked through similar transformations before and knowing where the common pitfalls lie. Most importantly, it means bridging the gap between the technology possibilities and the business realities.

In practice, this looks like helping boards distinguish between AI features that delight customers and those that merely check boxes. It means pressure-testing assumptions about implementation timelines and resource requirements. It means identifying when the company should lead with AI innovation versus when fast-follower makes more strategic sense. And it means ensuring that AI investments align with and amplify the company’s core value proposition rather than distracting from it.

 

The Questions Your Board
Should Be Asking

If you’re a board member or executive leader at a growth-stage SaaS company, here are the questions you should be grappling with right now:

On Strategy: How is AI changing our customers’ core workflows, and are we positioned to win in that transformed landscape? Are we focusing on AI applications that strengthen our defensible advantages, or are we spreading resources across too many initiatives?

On Execution: Do we have the right talent and infrastructure to execute our AI roadmap, or are we underestimating the organizational transformation required? Are we building systems that create sustainable competitive advantages, or just keeping pace with industry table stakes?

On Risk: What happens if we move too slowly on AI? What happens if we move too fast without the right foundation? How do we balance experimentation with disciplined resource allocation?

If your board can’t engage deeply with these questions, if the conversations stay at 30,000 feet or devolve into technical discussions that lose the strategic thread, that’s a signal you need independent expertise in the room.

 

Beyond Checking The Box

The companies that will thrive through this AI transformation won’t be the ones with the most AI features or the biggest AI budgets. They’ll be the ones that made smarter, more focused bets because they had the right expertise helping them think through the implications.

That expertise doesn’t come from reading analyst reports or attending AI conferences. It comes from having navigated similar paradigm shifts before, from understanding how to blend strategic thinking with practical execution, from knowing how to build systems that create sustainable value rather than temporary advantages.

For boards in 2025, bringing in independent AI advisory isn’t about checking a governance box or following best practices. It’s about making sure you have the expertise at the table to navigate one of the most significant transformations the software industry has ever seen. The companies that recognize this early will have a decisive advantage over those who wait until they’re already behind.

The question isn’t whether your board needs this expertise. It’s whether you’re willing to admit you need it before your competitors make that same realization. Take a look at my services and let me know if I can help.