This week we hosted our annual Chairs Exchange, bringing together chairs and non-executive directors from across our portfolio at The Chancery Rosewood in London. The afternoon, focused on leading in the age of AI, was designed to be practical, giving board members hands-on experience of the AI tools now reshaping the businesses they govern.
Tim Smallbone, Partner at Inflexion, opened the event, followed by a capital markets update from Investment Director Josh Butterick and an introduction to Inflexion's approach to AI from Alex Mathers, Partner in the Value Acceleration team.
The main session was led by Greg Nieuwenhuys, Chair of Inflexion portfolio company Nodor and Senior Partner at the AI consultancy WAIMAKERS. It opened with a live demonstration of how an AI-enabled chair works in practice, before guests built their own board pack reviewer. The afternoon closed with each guest running their own AI assessment and leaving with three actions to take back to their boards.
Key takeaways from the day:
- Board-level fluency with AI comes from using the tools directly, not from briefings alone
- The most valuable applications start with a real board problem, then work back to the technology
- AI supports the judgement chairs and non-executive directors bring, it does not replace it
- Practical capability, built early, separates boards that lead on AI from those that follow
The evening closed with dinner and a talk from Patrick Foulis, Columnist and Contributing Editor at the Financial Times, on the geopolitical and economic outlook.
