In this episode of the Corporate Director Podcast, host Meghan Day sits down with Claudia Allen, Senior Advisor at KPMG’s Board Leadership Center, to explore how the rapid advance of AI, rising geopolitical tensions, and shifting industrial policies are reshaping corporate strategy and board oversight. Claudia brings her deep governance expertise and legal background to unpack the emerging “geotech” landscape—where technology, national security, and economic policy collide.

In this episode of the Corporate Director Podcast, guest host Nithya Das, General Manager of Governance and Chief Legal Officer at Diligent, sits down with Elena Hera and Kaitlin Betancourt, partners at Goodwin, to unpack how AI is reshaping board oversight, legal risk, and the tempo of governance. They explore what reasonably informed AI oversight looks like, how to build an effective AI governance framework, and why AI literacy and documentation are rapidly becoming table stakes for corporate directors.

In this episode of The Corporate Director Podcast, host Dottie Schindlinger sits down with board member, CEO and strategist Josh Klein to unpack what evolutions in AI technology will mean for entire countries, companies and corporate boards. He shares lessons from advising governments like Iceland and Zanzibar on national AI strategies, and explains why AI is both critical infrastructure and powerful “soft power” shaping how citizens think and behave.

In this episode of the Corporate Director Podcast, host Dottie Schindlinger sits down with Earl Newsome, Chief Information Officer at Cummins Inc. and board member at First Independence Bank, to explore how directors can bring a technologist mindset into the boardroom without being “siloed” as the tech person. Together, they dig into what boards often misunderstand about technology, how AI and digital disruption are reshaping strategy and risk oversight, and what it will take for directors to stay literate in an era of 90‑day technology decision cycles.

In this episode of the Corporate Director Podcast, Diligent Institute’s Kira Ciccarelli sits down with Melanie Nolen, Head of Research at Chief Executive Group, to unpack the latest findings from the long running What Directors Think survey of U.S. public company directors. Since 2002, this benchmark study has tracked how board priorities, risks and composition are evolving and the 2026 edition shows a striking shift toward growth through M&A, enterprise‑wide AI deployment and a new urgency around board effectiveness and meeting design.

In this episode of the Corporate Director Podcast, host Dottie Schindlinger welcomes returning guest Anddria Varnado, board member at Pattern Beauty, Red Robin and Columbia Bank, to explore how the director’s role has evolved from guarding stability to governing continuous transformation. Together they unpack how boards can sharpen their oversight of AI, M&A-driven growth, and capital allocation, redesign agendas to prioritize strategic discussion, and embed learning, curiosity and real-time data into governance. Anddria shares practical steps for building more dynamic, stakeholder-aware boards—and explains why governance quality itself is becoming a key source of competitive advantage heading into 2026.

In this special year- end edition of the Corporate Director Podcast, Dottie Schindlinger and Meghan Day sit down with TK Kerstetter to grade their 2025 governance predictions.  Headlines included OpenAI’s nonprofit-to-for-profit pivot (likely paving the way to an IPO), boards elevating AI oversight to a priority, and Elon Musk–related governance flashpoints spanning compensation, jurisdiction, and multi-company leadership pressures.  For 2026, our hosts expect rising complexity in the director role as AI, cyber, policy shifts, supply chains, and macro risks stack up, demanding sharper risk planning and adaptability.

In this episode of the Corporate Director Podcast, host Dottie Schindlinger talks with workplace culture expert Bree Groff, author of Today Was Fun: A Book About Work (Seriously). Bree makes the case that valuing “human days” is a strategic lever for performance, retention, and risk oversight, and why directors should care. She shares early warning signs like the disappearance of “orange flags”—and practical first moves for boards and CEOs: acknowledge the problem openly, use human language, and target daily “reverse pet peeves” to lift culture.

On this episode of the Corporate Director Podcast, host Dottie Schindlinger sits down with Maria Garcia‑Nielsen, an independent director at Mibanco, Lantana Group, and Base Protection Group and founder of Wharton Alumni for Boards, to unpack how sector fundamentals should anchor board conversations across regions. From the rising prominence of geopolitics on agendas to regional nuances in regional nuances in board priorities and conversation, Maria shares pragmatic ways boards can turn insight into action, including scenario planning and local context considerations.

In this episode of the Corporate Director Podcast, host Dottie Schindlinger talks with Tracey-Lee Brown, director at PwC’s Governance Insights Center, about the latest update to PwC’s ESG Corporate Directors Guide and how boards should navigate today’s politicized sustainability landscape.  They explore shifting from a rear‑view, compliance-only mindset to a forward‑looking strategy: identifying material topics, tying them to purpose and long‑term value, and embedding them into ERM and capital allocation.