What Did We Decide, and Why? AI and Your Board’s Institutional Memory

Institutional knowledge shouldn’t depend on who remembers it

Every board decision builds on the ones before it: the reasoning behind a tuition strategy, the concerns raised when a capital project was first approved, the conditions attached to a strategic investment.

Imagine a new trustee joining the board. They bring years of professional experience and a strong commitment to the institution, but they weren’t there for the discussions that shaped earlier decisions. When a familiar issue returns to the table, understanding that history can mean digging through months or even years of board materials, or knowing exactly who to ask.

What if trustees and presidents could start with the question instead?

AI Assist, part of the AGB OnBoard AI Suite, lets board members ask questions in plain language and get answers drawn from their own board materials, with every answer linked to its source.

Join Jason Ferguson and Jody Carlson of AGB OnBoard for a practical look at what this means for governance. Using a higher education scenario, a board returning to a strategic investment it first considered 18 months ago, they’ll show how a trustee can review what the board saw then, understand the concerns that shaped the original decision, see what has changed since, and go straight to the source materials.

What you’ll learn

• Understand the history behind today’s decisions. See what the board considered before, what shaped earlier decisions, and how those issues have evolved.
• See what’s changed over time. Compare earlier assumptions, projections, and recommendations with where things stand now.
• Maintain continuity through leadership transitions. Give new trustees and new leaders access to institutional context without depending on individual memory or tenure.
• Prepare for more meaningful board discussions. Get oriented on the key issues, questions, and context before the next meeting.
• Keep human judgment at the center. See how cited answers, existing permissions, and secure handling keep AI in a supporting role. Your data is never used to train AI.

AI Assist provides the context. You provide the judgment.

Who should attend

Trustees, regents, board chairs, presidents, and chancellors, along with the board professionals who support them.

Speakers:

Jason Ferguson, account executive, AGB OnBoard
Jody Carlson, account executive, AGB OnBoard