Annette Buehler – Get to know our VAB member

We would like to introduce our member Annette Buehler, who joined the VAB community from Zürich, Switzerland. Annette is an expert in organisational transformation, a passionate advocate for bringing a deep, fundamental understanding of AI to boards and their decision-making processes and an award-winning author. She is keen on engaging with her VAB members to shape conversations on how boards define and shape both ethical and operative guidelines for AI usage by organisations of all types: from businesses to educational institutions and beyond. Plus, she is committed to helping boost the presence of women in the boardroom and as board advisors – as she remarks below, she wants to make the presence of women in the boardroom setting ordinary and no longer extraordinary. Reach out to her to learn more her VAB involvement and dreams for her future professional path. 

What inspired you to become a member of the Virtual Advisory Board community?

I'll be honest. I was stuck. I've done the work. I've led transformations, built teams, written the book (literally!), earned certifications that hardly anyone has. But when I looked at where I wanted to go next, boards and advisory roles, I realised my network wasn't going to get me there.

Most of my connections are people I've worked with, managed projects with or consulted for. Operational people. Not board people. And I thought, Annette, you're good at strategy. Why haven't you been strategic about THIS?

Hearing that 80% statistic was like: yeah, I knew it, but I hadn't really acted on it. What got me about VAB was the peer learning part. It's not a job board. It's actual people who want to help each other. That felt real to me. And when I saw the AI/Tech network and Women on Boards, I thought, okay, these are my people. I can contribute something here, not just take. Plus, I'm tired of being the only woman in the room. I've been doing that my whole career. Time for this to change.

In what area do you feel board advisors can add the most value for Boards of Directors (BoDs) and executive teams?

The biggest value? Asking the questions executives don't want to hear. Boards get fed polished presentations. Everything looks good on paper. The strategy is sound, the numbers work, everyone's aligned. But someone needs to ask, "What are we not seeing? What could go wrong? What are we assuming that might not be true?"

That's where advisors add real value. We're not in the day to day operations, so we can see patterns the executive team might miss. We can challenge assumptions without the political baggage. For me specifically, I see two areas where boards desperately need help right now. The first is AI governance. Every board knows they need to address AI, but most don't know what questions to ask. They're either too scared of it or too excited about it. Someone needs to help them navigate the middle ground, the practical stuff. What's our AI policy? How do we ensure ethical use? What are the actual risks versus the hype?

The second is transformation. Not the consultant version of transformation. The messy, real version. I've led enough of these to know where they fail, and it's usually not the strategy. It's the execution, the change management, the people side. Boards need advisors who've actually done this work, not just studied it. The best advisors bring experience without ego. We're there to make the executives better, not to show how smart we are.

What would be your dream company/organisation to work with as a board advisor/NED?

I don't have a specific company name in mind, but I know exactly the type of organisation I want to work with. Give me a company at an inflection point. Maybe they're scaling fast and realising their governance needs to catch up. Or they're traditional and know they need to transform but don't know where to start. Or they're adopting AI and scared they're going to get it wrong. That's where I thrive. I'm drawn to organisations that are actually trying to do things right, not just tick boxes. Companies that want to build ethical AI practices because they believe it matters, not because it looks good in a sustainability report. Leadership teams that understand transformation is hard and messy and are willing to do the real work.

Industry-wise, I'm most excited about tech, healthcare and financial services. Those sectors are being disrupted by AI right now, and they need people who understand both the technology and the human side. But honestly, I'd work with a manufacturing company or a retail chain if they're serious about transformation and governance.

What I don't want? Companies looking for a token woman on the board or someone to rubber stamp decisions. I've been the first woman in too many rooms to waste time being decoration. I want to be where my experience actually matters and where I can push thinking forward.

What book or podcast would you recommend to VAB members that might improve their skills in corporate governance, board advisory or boosting board-to-executive team communications?

Two books, actually.

First, High Performance Boards by Didier Cossin. It's one of the best practical guides I've found on what makes boards actually effective, not just compliant. Cossin gets into the dynamics, the relationships, how high-performing boards really work versus how they're supposed to work on paper.

Second, and yes I'm biased, but I wrote Navigating Ethical Leadership in the Age of AI for exactly this reason. Every board I talk to knows they need to address AI, but most don't know where to start. The technical books are too complex, the ethics books are too theoretical. I wanted something practical. What questions should boards be asking? What policies actually matter? How do you evaluate AI risks when you're not a data scientist?

AI governance isn't optional anymore. It's a board-level issue: whether you're in tech or retail or healthcare. And most boards are flying blind on this. That's the gap I tried to fill. But here's the thing. Books give you framework. Real learning comes from conversations with people who've actually done the work. That's why I'm in VAB. You can't learn board dynamics from a book alone. You need the community.

Is there anything else you'd like to share? 

Yeah, one thing. I spent most of my career being one of very few women in the room. One of very few globally with all three IPMA Level A certifications: Project, Programme and Portfolio Director. Most people specialise in one domain. I have the experience and certification for all three. And for a long time, I wore that like a badge of honour. Look at me, I made it.

But somewhere along the way, I realised being the only one is exhausting. And that shouldn't be the goal anymore. The goal should be that I'm not rare. That there are so many women in these spaces that nobody's counting anymore. That's part of why I'm excited about VAB and especially the Women on Boards network. I'm done being the only one. I want to be part of the group that makes sure the next generation doesn't have to fight as hard as we did.

And on the AI ethics side, I genuinely believe we're at a critical moment. The decisions boards make about AI in the next few years will shape how this technology impacts society for decades. We can't afford to get this wrong. That's not hype, that's reality. So if you're reading this and thinking about AI governance, or transformation, or you just want to connect with someone who's been in the trenches, reach out. I'm here to learn as much as I'm here to share. That's what community means to me.