Most UAE Boards Think They've Made the Shift. They Haven't. I'll be upfront. Every consultancy in Dubai is selling the same line right now. "Governance has moved from compliance to strategy." It's in every pitch deck, every conference panel, every LinkedIn post by a Big Four partner. And honestly, most of it is rubbish. Here's what I actually see when I sit in UAE boardrooms. Most companies are still doing compliance. They've just dressed it up in strategy language. They have

If you speak to directors privately, not during the official meeting but afterwards, over coffee or in the corridor, you’ll hear something interesting. It’s not panic. It’s not even fear. It’s uncertainty. Not the usual kind. Not the “markets are volatile” kind. Boards have handled that for decades. This is different. The uncertainty now is about understanding what exactly they are responsible for in a world that keeps rewriting the rules. The key issues for boards in 2026 ar