Study: Board of the Future 2024/25 

The role of the supervisory board has significantly expanded in recent years, becoming more complex than ever. It now demands greater coordination and leadership and requires a higher level of time commitment. Ongoing technological advancements in a globally interconnected economy, combined with a profound shift in societal values, are presenting supervisory boards with unprecedented new challenges.

From digital transformation and sustainability strategies to corporate ethics: future-ready supervisory boards need more than just leadership skills and a deep understanding of their company’s business model. They must also be capable of identifying potential risks at an early stage and responding to them swiftly and competently.

This is confirmed by the latest edition of the Board of the Future study, conducted by the ECBE – European Center for Board Effectiveness, a business of Mercer | hkp///group.

The Board of the Future 2024/25 study provides insights into the changes in the work, structures, and processes of supervisory boards in the 160 companies of the DAX Index Family (DAX, MDAX, SDAX, TecDAX). It is based on an analysis of annual reports, supervisory board reports, management reports, and corporate governance statements. These were analyzed using text analytics and language models (Large Language Models) to examine the composition and structure of the boards as well as key current supervisory board topics. The study also incorporates the results of supervisory board evaluations and insights from personal interviews with supervisory and committee chairs.

Are you interested in the detailed findings and insights for the work of modern supervisory boards?

Then download the full study report here.