How to Talk to the Board About Agentic AI

Ex-Mastercard Exec JoAnn Stonier on Redefining Governance, ROI and Decision-Making Jennifer Lawinski • December 11, 2025 13 Minutes

Boards are becoming increasingly focused on understanding the mechanics and implications of agentic artificial intelligence, but traditional governance processes aren't built for the speed and complexity of today's AI-driven innovation cycles, said JoAnn Stonier, former chief data and AI officer and chief privacy officer at Mastercard.

Stonier, now working as a consultant focused on data, AI and privacy strategy, said the learning curve is steep, and board directors often lack safe spaces to ask foundational questions about how AI agents are designed, deployed and governed. Without that baseline knowledge, boards struggle to probe issues such as model guardrails, data lineage, incident response and employee impact.

"What we were trying to encourage was board ...