Boardroom Governance with Evan Epstein

(00:00) Intro
(01:43) About the podcast sponsor: The American College of Governance Counsel
(02:26) Start of interview *reference to the Boardroom Governance Summit 2027
(03:49) Pam Fletcher’s Origin Story: growing up in the Midwest, and why she always wanted to work in the automotive industry
(05:28) From GM to Electric Vehicles: Pam’s early career at GM, the evolution of electrification, the EV1, and working on the Chevrolet Volt
(07:39) From Automotive to Aviation: moving from electric and autonomous vehicles to sustainability at Delta
(09:46) Leading Sion Power: battery technology as an enabler of electrification, robotics, wearables, and other emerging technologies, and pivoting the company from automotive to defense
(12:15) Batteries, China, and National Strategy: China’s dominance across critical minerals, processing, batteries, and electric vehicles, and why Pam views battery supply chains as a strategic national issue
(18:00) The Road to EV Adoption: why electric vehicle adoption varies across the U.S., the importance of charging infrastructure and faster charging times, and what consumers need before EVs reach broader adoption
(20:56) Building a Board Career: how Pam moved from operating roles into board service.
(23:36) Lumentum, AI, and Data Centers: how optical technology enables data centers to scale compute while reducing some of the limitations associated with copper and heat
(27:24) Data Centers, Energy, and Water: why Pam believes innovation can address concerns around power consumption, cooling, and water use as AI infrastructure expands
(30:04) Chemours and Critical Technologies: the company’s role in semiconductor manufacturing, data-center cooling, and critical materials that enable emerging technologies
(32:32) Bringing Semiconductor Manufacturing Back to the U.S.: lessons from the pandemic chip shortage, the CHIPS Act, and why domestic manufacturing matters for supply-chain resilience and the middle class
(34:58) What Boards Are Focused on Now: why strategy needs to be revisited more frequently, how technology is changing customers and operations, and why AI has become a standing boardroom issue
(37:27) Helping Boards Put AI to Work: why Pam believes AI adoption is becoming non-negotiable and how boards can track small wins, usage, innovation, and operational impact
(40:00) Advice for Effective Directors: what serving as a CEO taught Pam about board service and why directors should ask whether they are showing up in the way the company actually needs
(41:01) Books, News: A Tale of Two Cities, business news consumption
(42:52) Pam’s Mentors: Mary Barra, Doug Parks, and the impact of Elon Musk on technology and industry
(44:12) Quotes and principles Pam Thinks About: taking risks, treating people as you would want to be treated, and surrounding yourself with people smarter than you are
(44:51) An unusual passion
(45:31) The living person she most admires: her husband, and the role he has played in her career and personal growth
Pamela Fletcher is the former CEO of Sion Power, serves on the boards of Lumentum and Chemours, and previously held senior leadership roles at General Motors and Delta.

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Website: evanepstein.co
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LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/epsteinevan/
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Music: “Seeing The Future” by Dexter Britain, via Free Music Archive, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.

(00:00) Introduction and about the inaugural Boardroom Governance Summit
(02:31) Adaptive Governance and AI Disruption: Barney Harford on what he is seeing across public, private equity, and venture-backed boards, and why directors need to think beyond first-order effects of AI
(05:35) Public, Private Equity, and Venture Boards: why serving across different ownership models gives directors a broader view of risk, opportunity, and disruption
(06:09) The Chief AI Officer’s Role: Thomas Evans on AI transformation, workforce reskilling, strategic partnerships, product development, and why a CAIO must understand the entire enterprise before building an AI strategy
(09:02) Private Equity Governance and Value Creation: Victor Gustaf Gao on faster information-to-decision cycles, full-potential analysis, value creation plans, and how PE boards structure discussions around a defined investment thesis
(10:57) What Public and Private Boards Can Learn From Each Other: combining investor, operator, and independent-director perspectives while being explicit about trade-offs, scenarios, and priorities
(13:04) AI’s Promise for Consumers and Founders: how AI agents may transform marketplaces, travel, recommendations, and consumer experiences, and why companies need a clear AI strategy to remain fundable and competitive. Example of cvent.
(16:48) AI Strategy, Investment, and Cybersecurity: how AI priorities change depending on capital constraints, profitability, infrastructure needs, data protection, and cyber risk.
(19:12) CEO Succession in a Changing Private Equity Landscape: why longer holding periods may force succession decisions
Barney Harford, board director at United Airlines; Victor Gustaf Gao of The Carlyle Group; and Thomas Evans, former CAIO at Lucid Motors, bring perspectives across public company boards, private equity, venture-backed companies, and enterprise AI transformation.
Recorded at the inaugural Boardroom Governance Summit in Healdsburg, California, on August 27, 2026.
Special thanks to Keith Giarman of DHR Global for helping bring this panel together and for DHR Global’s support of the inaugural Summit.
Join us for the next Boardroom Governance Summit, August 25–27, 2027, in Healdsburg, California. Register here.

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Follow Boardroom Governance:
Website: https://boardroom-governance.com/
Subscribe to the Newsletter
YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@BoardroomGovernance
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/board-gov/
Follow Evan Epstein:
Website: evanepstein.co
X: https://x.com/evanepstein
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/epsteinevan/
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Music: “Seeing The Future” by Dexter Britain, via Free Music Archive, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.

(00:00) Introduction and about the inaugural Boardroom Governance Summit
(03:03) Sue Siegel’s Background: from molecular biology and operating roles to venture capital, GE Ventures, Chief Innovation Officer of GE, and board service
(04:14) Innovation as a System: why breakthrough technology alone is not enough, and why boards need to understand the systems required to move innovation from invention to value creation
(06:00) When Success Stifles Innovation: why successful core businesses can become one of the biggest obstacles to new ideas, and how boards can help companies challenge what already works
(07:40) AI’s Impact on Life Sciences: combining imaging, clinical data, genomics, and other information to generate new insights, predictions, and digital twins
(09:33) AI and the Future of Personal Health: how tools like ChatGPT and Claude are changing how patients prepare for medical visits and how AI may reshape disease management
(11:33) Precision Medicine: how AI and genomic data are helping identify more personalized cancer therapies and monitor disease progression
(13:12) Regulating AI Across the Product Life Cycle: how continuously improving models create new questions about approval, liability, and board oversight in healthcare
(16:27) Biotech Funding and the IPO Drought: why capital has become harder to raise in life sciences and how regulation and reimbursement add friction for investors
(18:37) Navigating Shareholder Activism: Sue’s experience at Illumina with Carl Icahn and her framework to “diagnose, disaggregate, and decide”
(20:03) Red-Teaming the Company: why boards should proactively examine the thesis an activist might bring around capital allocation, governance, strategy, margins, M&A, and board composition
(22:48) U.S.-China Tensions in Life Sciences: China’s evolution from a manufacturing base and market into a major source of pharmaceutical innovation, alongside growing tensions around data, talent, clinical trials, and supply chains
(25:48) Corporate Venture Capital’s Growing Role: how CVC has evolved into a strategic tool for identifying technologies, business models, and innovation outside the company
Sue Siegel is the former Chief Innovation Officer of GE and an experienced public company director. She serves on the boards of Illumina, Align Technology, Stanford Health Care, KFF, and chairs The Engine, built by MIT.
Recorded at the inaugural Boardroom Governance Summit in Healdsburg, California, on August 27, 2026.
Join us for the next Boardroom Governance Summit, August 25–27, 2027, in Healdsburg, California. Register here.

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Follow Boardroom Governance:
Website: https://boardroom-governance.com/
Subscribe to the Newsletter
YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@BoardroomGovernance
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/board-gov/
Follow Evan Epstein:
Website: evanepstein.co
X: https://x.com/evanepstein
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/epsteinevan/
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Music: “Seeing The Future” by Dexter Britain, via Free Music Archive, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.

(00:00) Intro
(01:44) About the podcast sponsor: The American College of Governance Counsel
(02:27) Start of interview
(03:24) Michael Camuñez’s Origin Story: growing up in New Mexico and California, Harvard and Stanford Law School, public service, private practice, and moving between government, business, and corporate governance
(06:21) About his firm Monarch Global Strategies
(09:45) The U.S.-Mexico Relationship: why the relationship is "indispensable but under strain."
(13:05) Geopolitics and the Modern Board: why geopolitical risk now affects nearly every company
(15:04) Should Boards Add Geopolitical Experts? Why Michael believes directors need broad capabilities and boards should resist becoming overly specialized
(17:08) Energy, Wildfires, and Grid Resilience: lessons from Michael’s service on the board of Edison International and balancing safety, affordability, electrification, climate risk, and grid modernization
(22:34) Governing an Investment Fund: how serving as a director at Capital Group differs from a conventional corporate board
(23:35) Independence as a Behavior: why independence requires asking hard questions, challenging assumptions, and exercising individual judgment
(26:40) The Packard Foundation: institution-building, philanthropy, climate change, oceans, children and families, and long-term systemic change
(31:54) Stanford and the Future of Higher Education: public trust, affordability, civic education, viewpoint diversity, AI, research security, and university governance
(37:14) Immigration and America’s Talent Advantage: why attracting global talent has historically been central to U.S. innovation and entrepreneurship
(40:30) Board Diversity and Groupthink: why demographic diversity and diversity of thought should reinforce one another
(46:08) A “Courage Recession” in Governance: why directors need to challenge consensus, ask uncomfortable questions, and distinguish collegiality from conformity
(48:47) Books That Have Influenced Michael:
Bread and Wine by Ignazio Silone (1936)
All the King’s Men by Robert Penn Warren (1946)
(51:10) Michael’s Mentors: Eli Segal and Linda Griego, and the importance of allyship and opening doors for others
(53:47) Quotes Michael Thinks About: “Comparison is the thief of joy” and the lessons of Ozymandias about ambition and legacy
(56:02) An unusual passion: Johnny Cash karaoke
(56:17) The living person Michael most admires: Hugo Morales, founder of Radio Bilingüe
Michael Camuñez is CEO and co-founder of Monarch Global Strategies and serves on the boards of public, private and non-profit boards.


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Follow Boardroom Governance:
Website: https://boardroom-governance.com/
Subscribe to the Newsletter
YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@BoardroomGovernance
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Follow Evan Epstein:
Website: evanepstein.co
X: https://x.com/evanepstein
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/epsteinevan/
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Music: “Seeing The Future” by Dexter Britain, via Free Music Archive, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.

(0:00) Intro
(1:25) About the podcast sponsor: The American College of Governance Counsel
(2:08) Start of interview
(2:51) James D. White’s Origin Story.
(3:57) James’s current work across public and private company boards.
(6:15) The Jamba Juice Turnaround: taking over as CEO during a crisis, reshaping the culture, and rebuilding the board
(8:46) Combining the Chair and CEO Roles: when it can work, why leadership structure depends on context, and the importance of a strong lead independent director
(10:20) The CEO–Board Chair Relationship: working with The Honest Company CEO Carla Vernón and why trust between the CEO and chair is central to board effectiveness
(13:18) Working With Founders: lessons from Jessica Alba, Ron Shaich and Max Levchin, and navigating the founder–CEO–chair relationship
(15:34) His experience with IPOs: lessons from The Honest Company, CAVA, and Affirm, and why an IPO is the beginning of the journey rather than the destination
(18:04) Private vs. Public Markets: why companies are staying private longer and why James believes the public markets will remain an important source of capital
(19:00) Pattern Recognition Across Boards: how his experience across consumer, retail, restaurant, and food companies informs his role as a director
(21:10) Director Tenure and Overboarding: why James generally thinks about board service in a 7-9 year window and when independence or relevance can begin to fade
(22:40) Board Culture: how meeting structure, communication, onboarding, offboarding, and the balance between strategy and compliance shape board effectiveness
(25:41) Board Evaluations and Refreshment: why boards struggle to remove underperforming directors and how continuous feedback can make renewal easier
(26:14) Are Some Board Skills Becoming Obsolete? How AI and rapid technological change are forcing boards to rethink whether they have the right capabilities around the table
(27:28) Board Diversity: why James believes boards should draw from the broadest possible pool of talent and reflect the customers and markets they serve
(30:10) Directors Academy and the Future of Governance: training the next generation of directors, the craft of governance, and preparing boards for AI and geopolitical change
(32:08) Keeping Pace With Change: why every board should ask whether it has the right people to help management navigate the current moment
(33:22) Books That Have Influenced James:
The Leadership Engine by Noel Tichy (2007)
Doing What Matters by Jim Kilts (2007)
Know What Matters by Ron Shaich (2023)
(34:35) His mentors
(35:00) The quotes he thinks of often, or lives his life by
(36:03) What Makes an Effective Director? Why the best directors understand context, stay in learning mode, ask how they can help, and contribute beyond formal board meetings
(37:18) An unusual passion: jazz and music festivals
(38:20) The living person he most admires: his 94-year-old father, and lessons about hard work and family
James D. White is an experienced CEO, board chair, and director who has served on more than 20 public and private company boards.

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Follow Boardroom Governance:
Website: https://boardroom-governance.com/
Subscribe to the Newsletter
YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@BoardroomGovernance
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/board-gov/
Follow Evan Epstein:
Website: evanepstein.co
X: https://x.com/evanepstein
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/epsteinevan/
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Music: “Seeing The Future” by Dexter Britain, via Free Music Archive, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.