This year's survey clearly shows that the swift development of digital technologies and the growing integration of artificial intelligence in all areas of doing business will have a marked impact on the work and make-up of supervisory boards in the near future. Although digitalisation and AI still rank behind sustainability and ESG among topics found on supervisory board agendas, familiarity with the former is listed first as being relevant for the future make-up of supervisory boards far and away ahead of know-how on aspects of sustainability. While in recent years ever more work was already being done to progressively develop the necessary qualifications regarding aspects of sustainability – owing not least of all to efforts by European and German lawmakers and to the recommendations of the German Corporate Governance Code and proxy advisors – nothing to any comparable extent has happened yet in the field of digital expertise. Already today, not just the greatest relevance but also the most importance is attributed to such capability when it comes to preparing and putting together supervisory boards fit for the work of this corporate body in the future.

There are high expectations for the modern supervisory board consistent with the variety of subjects they are facing – geopolitical instability, supply chains, RMS and ICS effectiveness, succession planning and compliance, to name just but a few examples. Tasks and procedures for performing them are changing, and pertinent skills must be developed (in some cases from the ground up). Which is why it makes sense that 'filling the board with qualified candidates', 'the scope of the tasks and the time demand' and 'regulatory requirements' are identified as the biggest challenges and hurdles in the work done by a supervisory board member currently. It also stands to reason that qualification matrices will be given ever greater weight in efforts to form supervisory boards that fulfil their skills and expertise profiles.

Supervisory board members are compelled to deal with the changes affecting their companies, and they have an obligation to monitor the activities of same. That necessitates – in addition to the aforementioned development of professional skills – a stronger focus on the supervisory board's own operations and its organisation so that this corporate body's full potential can be exploited. The interaction with the management board, the size and structure of the supervisory board (including its committees) and the chairperson's understanding of their role are therefore just as much important criteria for the success of the modern supervisory board as proper onboarding and the training and professional development of its members. Last but not least, major added value is attached to regular self-evaluations with a view to being well-positioned to handle the tasks of tomorrow.