Back to Global Corporate Governance Trends for 2026
As French boards look ahead to 2026, they confront profound strategic uncertainty. Geopolitical tensions are redrawing market boundaries and trade flows while domestic political dynamics generate ambiguity regarding the country’s economic priorities and regulatory direction. Simultaneously, rapid advances in AI are accelerating organizational and operational transformation. Together, these forces are heightening pressure on already demanding board agendas and increasing the strain on executive teams.
Against this backdrop, directors describe a notable evolution in their engagement with management. Boards emphasize a receptiveness to more open and frequent strategic dialogue, a willingness to act as constructive sparring partners, and a strengthened commitment to providing stability and support as leadership navigates conditions in which visibility remains limited.
As boards shift toward a more strategic partnership with executive leadership, they’re looking for directors who can help navigate periods of acute pressure—namely, leaders who have operated at the group CEO level, led large and complex businesses, brought a systemic mindset to board deliberations, and can provide the seasoned strategic wisdom executives need.
AI and digitalization are now embedded across most French companies, thus the core challenge for management has shifted to implementing these technologies at scale and ensuring they deliver enterprise-wide impact. As AI adoption accelerates and digital pressures intensify, directors face growing stakeholder demands to make faster, more consequential judgments amid limited visibility. In this context, boards continue to prioritize digital and AI expertise: SBF 120 companies appointed 25 directors with digital backgrounds in 2025, up from 12 the prior year, making it the most common experience among newly named directors, according to the Russell Reynolds French Board Study 20251. This trend is expected to be even more evident in 2026.
Yet this influx of expertise is prompting a broader realization: Technological understanding, particularly of AI, cannot sit with a single specialist whose contribution remains confined to a narrow domain. Directors increasingly agree that the board as a whole must develop a baseline of competence to challenge management effectively, weigh risks and guide long-term strategic choices.
As a result, many boards are investing in the education of all members, drawing on internal teams and external experts to strengthen familiarity with AI’s opportunities and risks. The aim is not to turn every director into a technologist, but rather to enable them to meaningfully discuss technology that is reshaping competitive dynamics across industries. Candidates who combine deep AI transformation expertise with full P&L leadership experience remain the ideal, but they continue to be scarce and rarely available.
As French boards move through the first full cycle of CSRD reporting, they face a growing tension within their sustainability oversight. While many directors underline that sustainability remains strategically important, there is also rising concern that the rapidly expanding regulatory framework is absorbing a disproportionate amount of board time. The complexity of reporting requirements and the volume of data requested risk shifting discussions away from long-term value creation and toward compliance mechanics. Several governance leaders now observe that sustainability debates are becoming dominated by regulation rather than strategy, an imbalance sharpened by the United States’ cooling stance on ESG. The challenge for 2026, they argue, is not whether to advance sustainability, but how to keep board agendas anchored in forward-looking strategic impact without being overwhelmed by administrative obligation.
According to the French Board Study 2025, France remains a European leader in gender representation on boards, and women are steadily expanding their influence within governance structures. Evidence of this can be seen in committee leadership, where women now chair 51% of board committees at SBF 120 companies (including 60% of corporate social responsibility committees and 55% of remuneration committees).
However, the study also shows that, while French boards are largely meeting gender balance requirements of the Copé-Zimmermann Act (mandating 40% representation of each gender for listed companies), representation does not equate to influence across all areas. Women are significantly underrepresented in the most strategically-oriented committees, holding only 25% of strategy committee chair positions at SBF 120 companies and just 15% at CAC 40 companies.
Amid rising trade tensions, French boards are sharpening their transatlantic focus by seeking more United States-based directors who can open doors and mobilize relevant networks. The French Board Study 2025 reflects this continuing growth: 22% of SBF 120 board members hold a US passport (up from 21% in 2024) with the trend expected to continue in 2026. French companies are anxious about successfully attracting high-caliber American directors, as board remuneration in France continues to fall well below US levels and remains less competitive than in several European markets. Without addressing this gap, the ambition to strengthen US representation will be difficult to realize.
1To inquire about the study or receive a copy of the booklet, please reach out to Russell Reynolds. Note: The study is available only in French.
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