AI Confidence for Association Boards
Association boards have three key AI questions
Helping members use AI. Adopting it inside the association. Understanding how AI reshapes the profession or industry you represent. Each one is harder than the last.
AI literacy is what helps a board answer all three
Directors don't need to become technologists. They do need enough literacy to see impact and opportunity clearly, and to tell a passing trend from a structural shift.
AI for our members
“How do we help members use AI to improve how they work, strengthen their businesses or practices, and deliver better outcomes for clients and customers?”
AI inside our association
“How do we adopt AI inside the association itself, to improve efficiency, reach and member experience?”
AI across our profession and industry
“How could AI fundamentally change the industry or profession we represent, including who does the work, what work stays valuable, and what that means for our members?”
While most boards have started to think about the first two, facing into broader industry disruption takes an understanding of emerging AI capabilities, new business models and where investment is going.
Where we come in
Building the board's own AI literacy, or bringing in an independent view of your AI strategy and adoption. Many associations do both.
Build your board's AI literacy
Association boards bring directors from very different backgrounds. These sessions get everyone to a common, current standard.
Free AI Briefing for Directors
A free, live briefing on the AI questions every director should be able to answer.
AI for Directors Workshop
Learn and apply techniques to identify opportunities and risks, and govern AI programs.
1:1 AI Mentoring
Private, ongoing mentoring to build your own AI literacy at your own pace.
Get an independent AI review
Board-level reviews of your AI strategy and adoption, keeping board and management aligned.
Next up: free briefing, in 11 days
Small groups, so there is room to ask real questions
Places are limited and usually fill before the date.
Register for the free briefingDates don't suit, or want something for your board alone?
Get in touchBuilt for associations, professional bodies and not-for-profits
Member-based and purpose-driven boards with elected or appointed directors, a small executive team, and a profession, industry or community watching what you do next.
AI's autonomy is increasing, in your association and across your industry
"An association board has to read this curve from three sides at once. Inside your own operations, in the work your members do for a living, and across the profession you represent."
Steve Telburn
Founder, Secret Sauce
Why us?
We sit on an association board ourselves
Most AI advisors have never done the things they advise on, and have never sat through a member-based board's agenda. We have.
We sit on association boards
Steve is a director of Exercise & Sports Science Australia, and has served on other member-based and regulated-industry boards.
We've designed and led real change
We've led people through major change, including digital transformations, acquisitions and process redesign.
We've delivered real AI solutions
We've already helped over 50 businesses select, redesign and implement critical customer-facing and back-office workflows to use AI.
We know what's coming for your industry
We sit inside a VC, so we see the new business models and startups coming for your members' markets before they arrive.
Led by someone who's sat where you sit
Steve leads every briefing, workshop and review personally. He is a director of Exercise & Sports Science Australia and has served on other member-based and regulated-industry boards, so he has sat through this agenda from the inside. As Venture Partner at Antler, one of the world's most active AI investors, he has direct visibility into what is shifting at the frontier. He's also taken four companies to Series A and led AI implementation across 50+ businesses.
Let's connect on LinkedIn →"Steve helped us bring together a large and diverse body of evidence, using AI to identify the themes that mattered and test our strategic options more rigorously. His combination of commercial judgement, AI understanding and constructive challenge is improving the quality and efficiency of our strategic planning."
Katie Lyndon
CEO
Exercise & Sports Science Australia
Steve is speaking Industry Associations Summit 2026
AI Opportunities, Risks and Governance for Associations
Where AI creates value for associations, where the risks sit, and what boards need to oversee, drawn from ESSA's own AI implementation.
See the details and register →
Steve is speaking AICD Queensland
AI governance for directors
A practical session for Australian directors on the questions boards should be asking about AI, and how to oversee it well.
See the details and register →Want something tailored to your association?
Our briefings and workshops are open to directors from any board. If you'd rather we ran a session for your association alone, worked to your own profession or industry, just ask.
Questions association boards ask us
Our directors are elected and come from very different backgrounds. Does that matter?
It's the norm for member-based boards, and it's exactly why we start with a shared briefing. Elected directors bring deep professional credibility but uneven exposure to AI, and appointed directors often bring the reverse. The briefing and workshop get the whole board to a common, current standard so debate happens on the substance rather than on definitions. Directors register individually, so you can encourage the whole board to come along without needing everyone there.
Can you run a session just for our association?
Yes, on request. The free briefing and the AI for Directors Workshop are both open sessions, so directors from any board can register and attend alongside their peers. If you'd prefer a session for your association alone, we're happy to run one, tailored to your profession or industry and scheduled around your board calendar, including inside an existing board meeting or strategy day. Just ask and we'll set it up. Some associations also ask us to present to their members or at a conference.
Does Steve understand how associations actually work?
He's a director of Exercise & Sports Science Australia and has served on other member-based and regulated-industry boards. He has sat through the constitutional constraints, the member expectations and the elected-board dynamics from the inside, not as an observer. There's more on his background on our About page.
How do we get started?
The easiest first step is the free briefing for association executives and directors. If you'd rather talk through your situation first, start a conversation and we'll recommend the right starting point.
When your members ask what AI means for them, what will the board say?
Start with the free briefing for association executives and directors, or share a few details and we'll set up a conversation.