What belongs in a digital transformation brief for the board?
Chief of staff, Singapore · 11 Oct 2026 · Sample discussion
I have been asked for eight slides. I would rather send something a director can argue with. What is the minimum that is still honest?
Answer
James Adeyemi, Contributing editor · 15 Oct 2026 · Sample answer
Four pages are enough, and they should be prose. Name the process you are changing, the baseline today, the owner, and the spend by quarter. State what will be true at the first stage gate, and the condition under which the board should stop the work.
Leave out architecture diagrams and adjective-heavy visions. Directors can feel a missing baseline faster than they can parse a platform map. If you do not know the current cycle time or cost, the brief is not ready.
Attach the decision you want in the first paragraph, not the last. “Approve stage one, capped at this amount, reviewed on this date” is a brief. “Support our digital journey” is a mood.