Caribbean corporate Governance Survey 2026: PwC

Boards are recalibrating for a new era—fortifying their foundations and confronting the urgent realities of AI, risk, and accountability. •

• Board capacity is under strain: 47% of directors now spend fewer than 100 hours a year on oversight—up from 43% in 2024. Boards are struggling to keep pace with the mounting complexity of strategic, operational, and risk issues.
• ESG integration is rising but reporting lags: Two-thirds of directors embed ESG in strategy, yet overall ESG reporting has stalled, despite mounting pressure from regulators, investors, and customers.
• Underperformance persists: Nearly half of directors (49%) believe at least one board member should be replaced, but entrenched tenure, collegiality, and a lack of independent evaluation block progress.
• 80% of directors believe that AI should be taken into account when developing company strategy but less than half believe that their board has received enough education on AI or has sufficient skills to oversee it.
• Only 6% of directors believe their board spends enough time understanding the impact of AI, and just 9% believe they receive sufficient information to address associated risks—highlighting a significant oversight gap.
• Directors also cited geopolitical instability as a major concern, with 42% reporting they are “very concerned”—a figure likely to be even higher today given heightened regional tensions.

25 March 2026 – PwC has unveiled its 2026 Caribbean Corporate Governance Survey arming boards with independent benchmarks and high-impact recommendations to strengthen operational effectiveness, risk oversight, transparency, and ESG integration.

This year’s report is a wake-up call. Boards must reinforce foundational governance to navigate relentless technological disruption, geopolitical instability, climate-driven threats, and the sharp rise in stakeholder expectations.

AI will redefine strategy and competitiveness. Yet most acknowledge their boards lack the time, skills, and training needed for effective oversight in this rapidly evolving landscape.

AI is just one of many topics competing for space on the boardroom agenda, where time for oversight is often scarce. As boards face a wider range of increasingly complex issues, there’s a growing need for proactive approaches that link strategy, data, and collaboration to boost effective oversight. Board diversity is also a major concern. Directors agree that greater diversity improves efficiency, enhances risk management, and brings more varied perspectives to decision-making. However, these positive views on diversity rarely lead to tangible changes; few boards have updated their composition or altered their selection criteria. In fact, the number of boards taking no action at all on diversity has increased since the previous survey—a trend that risks perpetuating existing norms and leaving the company vulnerable to challenges.

Roadmap towards governance maturity

To strengthen governance effectiveness, the survey outlines five key priorities:

1. Empower individual directors and board chairs: Encourage continuous learning, mentoring, and strong Chair leadership that fosters inclusivity and accountability.
2. Drive performance and accountability: Focus on targeted recruitment, honest board assessments, and ongoing education to build a cohesive, agile board.
3. Get up to speed with technology and its impact: Cut through data noise using AI insights; ensure boards understand tech risks and opportunities and collaborate closely with tech teams.
4. Set the tone from the top on diversity: Broaden recruitment beyond traditional pools to enhance board diversity and attract fresh perspectives.
5. Show that environmental and social issues matter: Increase transparency and reporting on ESG to meet growing stakeholder and workforce expectations and support regional resilience.

– ENDS –