Higher education boards are moving toward AI adoption faster than they’re building formal oversight, according to AGB OnBoard’s Board Effectiveness Survey. The survey found 92% of board directors used AI for board work in the prior six months, while far fewer had documented AI governance structures. The survey highlights a specific governance gap: boards with enforced AI policies rated themselves 88% effective versus 55% for boards without a policy. Only 6% reported having an enforced policy, raising concerns as accreditation bodies begin asking how institutions document decisions involving AI. Meanwhile, student AI readiness is becoming a core curriculum question. Separate campus-focused reporting points to AI skepticism among students and the need for instruction that emphasizes critical judgment, ethical responsibility, and reflection rather than “automation” of thinking. Taken together, the developments frame AI as an institutional governance and pedagogy issue—not merely a tool adoption problem for individual classrooms.