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[From left to right: Nadia S. Hassan, Producer & Senior Broadcast Journalist, The Edge Communications Sdn Bhd, Jackie Mah,President & CEO, ICDM, Datuk (Dr) Yvonne Chia, Independent Non-Executive Chairman, Press Metal Aluminium Holdings Bhd, Tan SriZarinah Anwar, Chairman of the Board, ICDM, Tan Sri Jamaludin bin Ibrahim, Board Director, ICDM, Chen Chow Yeoh, Independent Non-Executive Chairman of Foodie Media, Vivian Ko, Head of Research & Advocacy, ICDM, Zadil Hanief Mohamad Zaidi, Chief Growth Officer(CGO), ICDM, Reza Ali, Director of AI Policy, AI Malaysia Berhad (National AI Office)]
KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 1, 2026 - ASEAN boards are at a new inflection point shaped by their future-ready capability, agility and foresight to keep pace and lead amidst the new reality of ongoing technological, geopolitical and business transformation. Key findings from the latest ASEAN Board Trends 2026/2027: Future-Ready or Falling Behind? The New Test for ASEAN Boards study by Institute of Corporate Directors Malaysia (“ICDM” or “The Institute”) suggests that the pace of change in the external environment continues to test the preparedness, competence, and agility of boards and governance frameworks, and the ability to support long-term value creation. The report highlights a boardroom reality: Recognition is not readiness.
Insights from board directors and senior management leaders across the region highlighted a high level and growing awareness of key governance priorities driven by ongoing geopolitical uncertainty, technological advancement, shifting stakeholder expectations and organisational transformation.
However, the report also cautioned about the importance of differentiating awareness, recognition, and reinvention with readiness as change and volatility continue to accelerate, outpacing capability, governance, or organisational readiness.
The 3rd edition of ICDM’s ASEAN Board Trends Study surveyed 334 board directors and senior management leaders across eight (8) ASEAN countries. Conducted under the ASEAN Institute of Directors (IoDs) Network initiative, the study was carried out in collaboration with the Institute of Directors (VIOD), Singapore Institute of Directors (SID), Institute of Corporate Directors Philippines (ICD Ph), Institute of Directors Thailand (IoD Thai), Indonesian Institute of Corporate Directors (IICD), Myanmar Institute of Directors (MIoD), Cambodian Institute of Directors (Cam-IoD) and Darussalam Assets Sdn Bhd.
While the 2024 edition emphasised board effectiveness and closing the gap between boards and management, the 2026/2027 edition takes a more issue-centric approach, examining how boards are responding to an increasingly complex operating environment and the growing need for speed in governance. The study shows an evolution of board priorities, challenges, and governance practices across the region.
According to Jackie Mah, President & CEO of ICDM, the findings suggest that governance and conversation around it has entered a new phase: “Boards are operating in a new period defined by optimism and disruption, requiring them to balance competing priorities and demands without sacrificing one future for another. Today's boards are being tested on how they anticipate and navigate the rapidly changing environment while managing the trade-offs. At the same time, they need to strike a healthy equilibrium between short-term demands against long-term value creation outcomes, not just how well they oversee performance and risk."
She added, "The focus has quickly moved from strengthening board effectiveness, accountability and oversight to forward-looking agility that translates awareness into readiness, at speed and scale. Whatever the challenge or change, boards must ensure their governance practices, capabilities and composition evolve at the same pace as the organisations they steward. Ultimately, the issue is not just whether businesses are transforming, but whether boards are transforming alongside them, and, with them, the necessary governance frameworks to be effective."
Against this backdrop, the report identifies five (5) boardroom imperatives that have implications, not only for governance effectiveness, but also for how organisations build resilience, sustain competitiveness and create long-term value. The findings underscore the imperatives for boards to strengthen their ability to close the gap between awareness and readiness to guide resilience, competitiveness and sustainable growth over the-long-term. The imperatives are:
1. Boards must shift from oversight to foresight. While financial discipline, operational excellence and business transformation dominate organisational priorities, boards are increasingly expected to anticipate disruption and shape long-term resilience. The findings suggest that immediate transformation pressures may risk crowding out considerations such as sustainability, stakeholder trust and other drivers of long-term value.
2. Boards must govern technology for value. Technology and innovation emerged as the leading area requiring greater board attention (89%) and development (67%). Yet despite widespread recognition of potential and risks related to artificial intelligence (AI), formal governance remains limited, with more than seven in ten organisations reporting either no formal AI oversight or only informal discussions at board level. Only 7% of boards have formal AI governance frameworks defining clear oversight responsibilities. The findings underscore the need for boards to accelerate AI governance capabilities as the technology evolves faster than traditional governance structures.
3. Boards must turn alignment into better decisions. Compared with previous editions of the study, board and management perspectives are increasingly aligned on many strategic priorities. However, the report suggests that agreement alone does not guarantee effectiveness. Management respondents remain less positive than directors themselves on several effectiveness measures, notably more concerned about aspects of board contribution, leadership, culture and dynamics. This is a clear indicator of the shift towards how the board engages and contributes, emphasising the importance of trust, constructive challenge and robust decision-making within the boardroom.
4. Boards must embed sustainability into enterprise value. The findings suggest that sustainability is becoming increasingly linked to organisational resilience, stakeholder confidence and long-term enterprise value. While awareness and governance maturity have improved since previous editions of the study, integration into enterprise risk management, performance measurement, accountability structures and capital allocation remains uneven. As regulatory expectations and investor scrutiny increase across the region, boards are placing greater attention on how sustainability influences strategy, risk management and business performance.
5. Boards must build the board the future requires. As businesses evolve, so must board composition and capability. More than half of respondents believe at least one director should be replaced within the next two years, with board selection and renewal processes, technology and AI expertise, and greater diversity among the most important areas for improvement. The findings reinforce the view that board renewal should be guided by future strategic needs and capability requirements rather than historical requirements alone.
Together, these imperatives reflect a broader evolution in governance across ASEAN and the need for boards to remain adaptive, and importantly, forward-looking and aligned with the future business.
Read the full ASEAN Board Trends 2026/2027 report for deeper insights into the priorities, challenges and emerging governance trends shaping ASEAN boardrooms here.
About the Institute of Corporate Directors Malaysia (ICDM):
The Institute of Corporate Directors Malaysia (ICDM) is a membership-based organisation whose mandate is to professionalise directorship in Malaysia. As the national institute of directors (IoD), ICDM is committed to providing continuous professional development - empowering boards and directors with forward-thinking mindsets, practical knowledge and essential competencies. Established by the Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) and supported by Bank Negara Malaysia, Bursa Malaysia and the Capital Market Development Fund (CMDF), ICDM's goal is to be the leading influence of excellence in governance and to build a robust corporate governance culture in Malaysia. For more information on ICDM, please visit our website at www.icdm.com.my
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Oct 1 · 08:40·ACN Newswire