AI intelligence for leaders & board directors
Welcome to The Director Brief. AI Intelligence for leaders & board directors.
A new opportunity is emerging in boardrooms: to match growing AI ambition with equally strong strategic understanding and governance.
Boards are not standing still. A May 2026 BCG survey found that 61% of CEOs believe their boards are pushing the pace of AI transformation. The next step is to ensure that this momentum is supported by the fluency needed to challenge assumptions, balance opportunity and risk, and oversee implementation confidently. The boards that combine ambition with informed oversight will do more than govern AI responsibly—they will help their organisations turn technological change into sustainable advantage.
Why subscribe? What you get.
Free, each week. In thirty minutes: Actionable AI insights, decision-relevant news, practical tools and frameworks, and accessible education to keep you - and your board - ahead of the curve.
1/ An actionable discussion of an AI related topic, centered on strategy, risk, governance & capability. A decision useful take - with examples, facts, frameworks and key questions to ask. Designed to expose common misconceptions and cut through the hype (The Frame)
2/ Five board-ready questions for your next meeting (Five for the Chair)
3/ Curated decision relevant AI news. What you need to know, why it matters and how you might factor into decision making (The Signal)
4/ Practical tools, how to guides, primers and prompts ready to (customise &) use in your business. (The Library)
5/ AI education for board directors What to play with, build, read, watch or listen to. Not one off. On going AI fluency. (Monday morning)
Who this is for
You are a board director or senior executive navigating AI amid competing claims, constant noise and occasional overreaction. You are time-poor, evidence-led and rightly suspicious of hype. You have already read the FT and The Economist; you do not need another briefing explaining that AI matters. You need decision-relevant insight: what developments mean for your organisation, where genuine opportunities and risks lie, which practical tools and frameworks can help, and the questions boards should use to constructively challenge management.
Whether you are a Chair, NED, committee chair or executive—or advise and appoint them—this is designed to help you turn AI complexity into better strategic decisions and more effective boardroom conversations
Who is writing
I’m Dharmash Mistry—an operator turned venture capitalist who now sits on boards. Over 25 years, I have experienced the boardroom as a CEO, founder, investor, Chair & NED, working with more than 30 organisations across start-ups, listed companies and public institutions.
My current roles include the Premier League, Football Association, Halma and Rathbones. Previous boards include the BBC, British Business Bank, CMA, Hargreaves Lansdown and Dixons. Earlier, I was a partner at Balderton and Lakestar, investing in businesses including Revolut, Lovefilm, Blockchain.com and Glovo. And founder of beauty marketplace blow LTD.
That breadth of experience shapes my perspective: practical, evidence-led and informed by having seen consequential decisions from different sides of the table.
The build-and-teach project
The Director Brief is also something else: a public experiment in building a low-cost, AI-powered content business from scratch (not the editorial but the processes) — and documenting every decision, tool, mistake, and milestone so that others can replicate it.
If you want to stay ahead of where AI is taking leadership, subscribe.
It’s free. Every week.
Disclaimer: These are my personal views and do not represent any organisation with which I am, or have been, associated. Given the pace of change in AI, they will continue to evolve as the evidence does.
Subscribe to get full access to the newsletter, the frame & the Library
