Boards in the digital age: Are directors digitally fit?

In today’s boardrooms, digital transformation is no longer a distant theme reserved for CIOs and consultants. It is a central governance concern; one that demands fluency, not just familiarity. As companies confront the disruptive tides of artificial intelligence, cybersecurity risks and evolving data ecosystems, a sobering question emerges: are boards equipped to govern in the digital age?

While legislation in most jurisdictions does not yet mandate digital literacy as a formal prerequisite for directorship, it is increasingly becoming an unspoken expectation among investors, regulators and stakeholders who demand boards capable of navigating complex digital landscapes. A board that lacks digital fluency cannot effectively interrogate strategy, oversee risk, or drive innovation. Digital illiteracy has moved from the margins of boardroom discourse to the heart of strategic risk.

The Cell C case is instructive. Once a rising player in South Africa’s telecoms landscape, the company held immense promise in a sector where data was fast becoming the new currency. But as market demands shifted and digital infrastructure became a critical differentiator in competitiveness, Cell C struggled to keep pace. Insiders reported that executives repeatedly raised concerns about the scale, urgency and direction of investment in data infrastructure and innovation.

While internal deliberations remain confidential, available evidence and industry observations suggest the board was slow to fully grasp the scale and urgency of the technological shift, possibly due to competing priorities, an operational focus, or gaps in strategic foresight about how rapidly and fundamentally technology was reshaping the industry. This disconnect between executive urgency and board-level understanding led to delays in decision-making, missed partnerships and underinvestment in critical platforms. Over time, the company lost ground to competitors with more agile, digitally attuned leadership. What followed was a drawn-out financial restructuring that shook investor confidence and highlighted the consequences of strategic inertia. Cell C’s challenges were not simply financial. They were also governance failures, rooted in an inability to engage with technology-led change at the level it demanded.

MultiChoice offers a case of delayed awakening. Although initially slow to respond to evolving technological demands, the board played a crucial role in steering the company’s digital pivot. Initially cautious, it eventually acknowledged the urgent need to evolve beyond the legacy satellite model amid intensifying competition from global streaming giants. It oversaw strategic investments in Showmax, platform enhancements and content personalisation to better meet changing consumer demands.

MultiChoice’s approach reflects a pragmatic hybrid strategy, balancing its legacy satellite platform with growing investments in streaming to serve diverse customer needs while navigating digital disruption. The board also championed governance reforms, strengthening oversight and accountability to support this transformation.

Leadership changes, including appointing experienced independent directors, reinforced a culture of strategic agility and digital awareness. This evolution demonstrates how boards, even after delayed responses, can drive recovery by embracing disruption with curiosity, decisiveness and a clear strategic vision.MultiChoice’s journey underscores that proactive board leadership is essential to navigate digital transformation pressures successfully.

The issue is not whether directors must code or master every new platform. It is whether they ask the right questions, engage digital risks with rigour and understand how emerging technologies affect strategy, operations and competitiveness. Without this, even technically sound governance processes can become performative, ticking boxes while missing the bigger shifts reshaping business.

King IV speaks to this indirectly. It highlights the board’s responsibility for overseeing technology and information governance. Principle 12 explicitly calls for the governing body to ensure that information assets are managed effectively, securely and ethically. But the principle’s implementation is only as strong as the board’s understanding of the subject matter. If directors cannot distinguish between operational IT and strategic tech, or fail to appreciate the implications of cloud migration, AI governance or data privacy, their oversight becomes shallow.

Regulators worldwide are raising the bar, signalling that boards ignoring digital governance do so at their peril. In the UK, the Audit, Reporting and Governance Authority has pushed for more disclosure on how boards are embedding digital oversight into risk and strategy.

In the US, the Securities and Exchange Commission has begun requiring public companies to disclose their board’s cybersecurity expertise, signalling a shift from soft expectation to hard requirement. Boards must respond by evolving their own composition and capabilities. This means actively recruiting directors with digital acumen who can connect technological shifts to strategic implications. It also means upskilling existing board members through curated learning, scenario planning and deeper engagement with digital themes in board packs and committee work.

Digital governance is not a matter of future-proofing alone, but rather one of present survival. From cyber threats and algorithmic bias to platform ethics and digital inclusion, directors are being called to lead in terrain that was once delegated. If they do not understand it, they cannot govern it. A digitally fit board is not just one with the right CVs around the table. It is one with curiosity, humility and the courage to ask, “What don’t we know about this?” It is a board that makes time for digital immersion, embraces dissenting views and elevates digital fluency to the level of ethical responsibility.

Today’s directors must approach the role as students as much as stewards. Digital transformation is rewriting industries and governance must evolve accordingly.

So, I pose these questions to board members:

• Can you articulate your organisation’s digital strategy and interrogate its assumptions?
• Do you understand the risks and opportunities presented by AI, cybersecurity and data governance in your sector?
• Are you comfortable engaging CIOs and digital executives in meaningful dialogue, or do you rely on deference and jargon?
• And when digital disruption knocks at the door, will you recognise it for what it is, or mistake it for noise?

The era of analogue oversight in a hyperconnected world is over. Directors must adapt or risk becoming passengers on the very train they were meant to steer.

Nqobani Mzizi is a Professional Accountant (SA), Cert.Dir (IoDSA) and an Academic.

** The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of IOL or Independent Media.

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