Meet GovernAI: Try BoardEffect’s AI-powered board tools free for 90 days

Boards everywhere are being asked to do more, with more information, more scrutiny and less time. Materials are longer. Meetings are fuller. Expectations for preparedness, clarity and accountability are higher than ever.

At the same time, many board members and executives are experimenting with general-purpose AI tools to help them keep up. While these tools may seem helpful, they aren’t built for the realities of board work, or the confidentiality and trust that governance demands.

That’s why we’re excited to introduce the BoardEffect GovernAI 90‑day free trial, a secure, governance‑grade way for your organization to experience AI that’s purpose‑built for boards, committees and leadership teams.

What is the GovernAI free trial?

GovernAI is BoardEffect’s embedded AI capability, designed to modernize how boards prepare, meet and document decisions, without adding complexity or changing how you work today.

Eligible BoardEffect customers can now start a 90‑day free trial directly from within their BoardEffect account. There’s no new implementation, no disruption to your workflows and no obligation to upgrade. Just real, hands‑on access to AI tools designed specifically for governance.

During the trial, your organization can use three powerful GovernAI features:

• AI Smart Summary: Quickly transform lengthy board and committee materials into clear, concise summaries that highlight what matters most — with links back to source documents for transparency and context.
• AI Smart Prep: Get ahead of meetings with AI that surfaces key topics, potential decisions and likely questions from your materials, helping leadership teams and board members arrive prepared and aligned.
• AI Smart Minutes: Generate a high‑quality first draft of minutes from notes or transcripts using your organization’s template, capturing key decisions and actions accurately and efficiently.

The 90‑day trial period is intentionally designed to span multiple board and committee cycles, giving you enough time to see how GovernAI supports real‑world governance work.

Purpose-built benefits for board administrators

For system administrators and board administrators, GovernAI is about saving time while improving quality and consistency.

Instead of spending hours wrangling long board books, you can use Smart Summary to give leaders a clear starting point for review. Instead of manually identifying discussion points and risks before meetings, Smart Prep helps surface them automatically. And instead of starting from a blank page after meetings, Smart Minutes gives you a structured draft you can review, refine and finalize — in a fraction of the time.

The result? Less manual effort, more confidence and more time to focus on high‑value governance responsibilities.

[QUOTE] “With features like AI Smart Book Summary and approvals handled before meetings, our board can focus less on logistics and more on strategic discussions that move us forward.” — Michael Oaks, Executive Assistant and Board Liaison, Atlantic Street Center

Better prepared boards, better meetings

For executives and board members, GovernAI helps shift meetings away from information‑sharing and toward better discussion and decision‑making.

When everyone arrives with a shared understanding of key issues, meetings become more strategic, focused and effective. Directors can spend less time catching up — and more time asking the right questions.

Research supports this shift: 50% of directors already use AI for meeting preparation, making it the number one AI use case for boards. GovernAI gives you a way to harness that momentum safely and responsibly.

As Michael Oaks, Executive Assistant and Board Liaison at Atlantic Street Center shares, “The AI Smart Book Summary has been a great addition — it helps our board members digest information faster and feel more confident going into meetings.”

AI you can trust with board-level confidentiality

Unlike consumer AI tools, GovernAI is built specifically for governance.

• Your data is not used to train AI models
• AI‑generated content is clearly labeled
• All features are opt‑in and admin‑controlled
• Controls and permissions stay within your existing BoardEffect environment

GovernAI gives boards a secure alternative to ad‑hoc AI usage — one designed with privacy, transparency and accountability at its core.

Why we’re offering the free trial now

Many long‑time BoardEffect customers still haven’t yet experienced the latest product innovation available through the Diligent One Platform. The GovernAI free trial is a low‑risk, hands‑on way to explore what modern, AI‑enabled governance looks like, using your own materials, meetings and workflows.

It’s also an opportunity to see how GovernAI fits naturally into BoardEffect without changing how your board operates today.

At the end of the trial, you’ll be able to make an informed decision about whether GovernAI and additional Diligent One Platform capabilities are right for your organization, based on firsthand experience, not promises.

Get started in just a few clicks

If you’re an eligible BoardEffect system administrator, you’ll see an in‑product prompt inviting you to start your GovernAI free trial. Simply review and accept the terms and you’re ready to go.

No setup. No disruption. Just smarter preparation, clearer insights and faster minutes — powered by AI built for governance.

Contact your Customer Success Manager today to start your free 90‑day GovernAI trial and see how BoardEffect is helping boards work better, together.