Corporate Board News, June 2025: AI On the Way; Executive Pay Uniformity?

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The ever-changing corporate board world experienced no shortage of moves during the last month.

From the usual round of new faces in high positions to the continuing emergence of AI, some of the evolutions weren’t surprising.

But some are, not the least of which is the latest trend in executive pay. Let’s take a look.

Uniformity Among Executive Pay Becoming Trendy. Is That Good?

Traditionally, CEO pay has varied greatly from one organization to the next, depending on size, revenue, prominence, and several other factors — just like most other jobs.
However, a recent study by Virginia Tech University shows that executive pay has become 24% more similar across public firms since 2006. They measured the change using a composite index that tracks how companies structure pay, including salary, bonuses, stock awards, and other incentives.
Interestingly, The study links standardization to lower firm performance. “Companies that adopted more conventional pay structures showed weaker alignment between executive incentives and business outcomes — including lower pay-performance sensitivity and declines in Tobin’s Q, a key indicator of shareholder value,” the article says.

The Australian Institute of Corporate Directors (AICD) recently shared its best practices on how boards of directors can avoid the commonly voiced risk concerns when using AI in the boardroom, from minute-taking to confidentiality to data security and more.
“Using AI to record or produce a transcript of board meeting discussions or generating minutes using meeting notes, recorded transcripts and board papers as inputs may increase efficiency and productivity,” the article states. “But significant risks and limitations within AI tools need to be carefully weighed by organisations against any benefits.”
Louise Petschler GAICD, AICD’s General Manager, Education & Policy Leadership, also assures readers that AI won’t replace board members — or their decision-making power and abilities — anytime soon. “An AI Director is not going to replace a real director,” she said. “The really important thing is to gain personal education as well as that organisational training in the legal framework, in the data and those issues of internal controls — those are really key points.”

Mark Tucker, HSBC Group Chairman, is set to become the new group board chairman at AIA Group, The Wall Street Journal reports.
Tucker will leave HSBC on Sept. 30, remaining as a strategic advisor during the search for his successor.
Tucker previously served as AIA’s group chief executive from 2010 to 2017, and will succeed Edmund Sze-Wing Tse.

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Adam Wire: Adam Wire is a Content Marketing Manager at OnBoard who joined the company in 2021. A Ball State University graduate, Adam worked in various content marketing roles at Angi, USA Football, and Adult & Child Health following a 12-year career in newspapers. His favorite part of the job is problem-solving and helping teammates achieve their goals. He lives in Indianapolis with his wife and two dogs. He’s an avid sports fan and foodie who also enjoys lawn and yard work and running.