15 hours ago
Business Leaders Called To Align Tech Decisions With Corporate Values
Signs point to an emerging, if informal, social contact on AI deployment.
With the rapid rollout of AI, corporate leaders are increasingly being called to consider the proper alignment between technology strategies and organizational purposes and values.
It's a call that speaks to an informal, yet important 'social license' between companies and their stakeholders on the use of technology, and its impact on labor, among other interests. And it's a call that's been reflected in recent comments from influential religious, legal and business leaders, including Pope Leo XIV, Amazon CEO Andrew Jassy, and Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz Founding Partner Martin Lipton.
Attention to this informal social license arose from President Joseph Biden's 2023 Executive Order on the 'Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence.' This (now revoked) Executive Order identified eight specific principles on which AI development should be guided, including a commitment to supporting American workers and preventing 'harmful labor-force disruptions'.
The National Association of Corporate Directors ('NACD') indirectly acknowledged the AI social license in its 2024 Blue Ribbon Commission Report, 'Technology Leadership in the Boardroom: Driving Trust and Value.' The Report called upon boards to 'move fast and be bold' with respect to AI deployment, while simultaneously acting as a 'guardrail to uphold organizational values and protect stakeholders' interests'.
In a May 12, 2025, address to the College of Cardinals, Pope Leo spoke broadly about the social concerns with AI, focusing particularly on what he described as the challenges to the defense of human dignity, justice and labor that arise from 'developments in the field of artificial intelligence.' A recent article in The Wall Street Journal chronicled the long-running dialogue between the Vatican and Silicon Valley on the ethical implications of AI.
Indeed, on June 17, Pope Leo delivered a written message to a two-day international conference in Rome focusing on AI, ethics and corporate governance. In his message, the Pope urged AI developers to evaluate its implications in the context of the 'integral development of the human person and society…taking into account the well-being of the human person not only materially, but also intellectually and spiritually…'.
This 'alignment' concern was underscored by a recent post by the highly regarded Mr. Lipton, encouraging corporate boards to maintain their organizational values while pursuing value through AI. 'Boards should consider in a balanced manner the effect of technological adoptions on important constituencies, including employees and communities, as opposed to myopically seeking immediate expense-line efficiencies at any cost.'
There certainly is little question that for many companies, generative AI is likely to have a disruptive impact on labor; that the efficiency gains expected from AI implementation could result in a reduced or dramatically altered workforce. The related question is the extent to which 'corporate values' should encompass a response to tech-driven labor disruption. Note in this regard the long-standing position of NACD is that a positive workforce culture is a significant corporate asset.
A recent memo from Amazon CEO Andrew Jassy offers a positive example of how to address the strategy/values alignment challenge ‒ by being transparent with employees, well in advance, about the coming transformation and its impact on the workforce, and by offering practical suggestions on how employees can best prepare for it:
Those who embrace this change, become conversant in AI, help us build and improve our AI capabilities internally and deliver for customers, will be well-positioned to have high impact and help us reinvent the company.
As boards work with management to deploy AI, they should be in regular conversation on which valued-centered decisions the board must be informed, and on which such decisions they may be asked to decide, or merely advise. Such a dialogue is likely to enhance the reflection on corporate purposes and values within decisions regarding strategy and technology.
Of course, that incorporation can come in many different ways and from many different directions; the Amazon example being one of them. There are no established guidelines on how leadership might approach the strategy/values alignment discussion. But there is a growing recognition that corporate values must be accommodated in some manner into the AI decision-making.
Most likely, effective alignment will balance the inevitability of AI—driven workforce impact with initiatives that advance employee well-being and 'positively augment human work,' including initiatives that minimize job-displacement risks and maximize career opportunities related to AI.
For as the NACD suggests, the ultimate AI deployment message to the board is that '[I]t's about what you can do, but also what you should do.'
