This year’s C-Suite Challenge painted a clear picture of how corporations’ most senior executives see the future, and what priorities and interventions are required to succeed in it. We have been looking at the insights through an Innovation & Productivity lens to help Innovation leaders best influence the priorities and efforts ahead.

The Conference Board has launched an expanded initiative to track and benchmark societal investments, and their resulting impact, extending the organization’s 75 years of leadership in corporate citizenship research.

Seventy-four percent of employees who do not serve on nonprofit boards are interested in doing so. This is a great opportunity for talent development of millennials and employees from diverse backgrounds, two groups underrepresented on boards. Companies can make board work happen for their employees by helping them find suitable matches in the nonprofit sector, by training them in the legal and oversight responsibilities they will need, and by supporting and recognizing them for their work.

Artificial intelligence (AI) could help to address significant societal challenges, including those identified in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). For organizations that seek to use such technology for social good, an understanding of the existing use cases and potential for social impact should be considered within the context of a heightened regulatory framework that might stifle successes.