AI, Identity-Driven Shareholder Activism, and the Future of Corporate Governance
Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly transforming corporate governance. While much attention has focused on AI’s impact on operations, compliance, and risk management, its influence on shareholder activism deserves equal scrutiny—particularly as younger, technologically fluent investors bring their generational values to bear on corporate decision-making. This evolution signals the potential emergence of identity-driven activism: a form […]
Pierluigi Matera is Professor of Comparative Law at Link Campus University of Rome. This post is based on his recent article forthcoming in the Boston University Journal of Science & Technology Law.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly transforming corporate governance. While much attention has focused on AI’s impact on operations, compliance, and risk management, its influence on shareholder activism deserves equal scrutiny—particularly as younger, technologically fluent investors bring their generational values to bear on corporate decision-making.
This evolution signals the potential emergence of identity-driven activism: a form of shareholder engagement that reflects priorities beyond short-term returns, such as climate action, diversity, and long-term social accountability—or any other cause, whatever it may be, to the extent that it creates common ground. Millennials and Gen Z investors, armed with AI-enabled tools, are increasingly capable of identifying causes they care about, crafting targeted proposals, and coordinating collective action with remarkable precision and speed.
