OpenAI Chair Bret Taylor Urges Boards to Ditch Slides — and Skip AI — in Favor of Sharp Written Memos

Taylor’s position reframes AI not as a shortcut for governance, but as a tool that must not dilute the intellectual accountability of board members.

At a time when generative systems can draft strategy papers in seconds, Bret Taylor is drawing a clear boundary between technological capability and boardroom discipline.

The chairman of OpenAI said on the “Uncapped with Jack Altman” podcast that he prefers concise, well-argued written memos over slide decks — and that he does not want directors leaning on AI to produce them.

“I really like written documents for boards over presentations,” Taylor said, arguing that structured writing forces synthesis before discussion begins. When materials are circulated and read in advance, meetings shift from passive information intake to substantive debate.

Governance as Cognitive Work

Taylor’s view reflects a deeper philosophy about how boards create value. Governance, at its core, is an exercise in judgment under uncertainty. That requires directors to internalize information, interrogate assumptions, and weigh strategic trade-offs.

The act of writing without AI, he suggested, is part of that intellectual rigor. Drafting a memo compels clarity of argument, prioritization of data, and articulation of risks. Automation may accelerate formatting or summarization, but it can also obscure whether the author has fully grappled with the underlying issues.

In high-stakes environments — capital allocation decisions, regulatory exposure, M&A strategy — intellectual ownership is not optional. It is the mechanism through which accountability is exercised.

Taylor’s insistence that board members read materials ahead of meetings is equally consequential.

“The main thing is it’s been read — and it’s been read ahead of time,” he said.

That expectation alters meeting dynamics. Instead of spending time walking through revenue charts or operational metrics, directors can interrogate assumptions, test scenarios, and focus on forward-looking decisions.

Moving Beyond Slide Culture

Corporate boardrooms have long relied on presentation decks as the primary medium for communication. Slide culture prioritizes bullet points, visual aids, and incremental data reveals. Critics argue it can encourage oversimplification and passive consumption.

Taylor’s preference for narrative documents echoes the long-established practice at Amazon under Jeff Bezos, who institutionalized the six-page memo format. But Taylor diverges in advocating brevity over density.

Concise, he argued, signals precision and respect for stakeholders’ time. A shorter memo requires sharper thinking. It demands the elimination of redundancy and forces authors to foreground what truly matters.

From a governance standpoint, that emphasis aligns with fiduciary duty. Board members are not managers; they oversee strategy and risk. Materials should therefore elevate decision-relevant insights rather than operational minutiae.

AI’s Role — and Its Limits

Taylor’s stance is particularly striking given OpenAI’s leadership in generative technology. The company’s tools are explicitly designed to assist with drafting, summarization, and idea generation.

Yet Taylor’s message is not anti-AI. It is anti-dependence in contexts where human reasoning is central to legitimacy.

Boards derive authority from deliberation. If directors outsource core analytical work to machines, they risk eroding the evidentiary basis for their decisions. In regulated industries, especially, documented reasoning and personal accountability are foundational.

Ironically, Taylor suggested that AI could become indispensable in compliance environments.

“If you want a hot take, I think my intuition is regulators will start asking for agents,” he said.

Over time, AI systems that monitor transactions, flag anomalies, and enforce procedural controls may be viewed as safeguards rather than threats.

This points to a bifurcation in AI’s governance role:

• In strategic deliberation, AI should support but not replace human synthesis.
• In operational compliance, AI may enhance oversight and reduce systemic risk.

Taylor’s remarks land at a moment when boards are under pressure to integrate AI into corporate strategy while simultaneously managing its risks. Directors are being asked to oversee AI adoption, cybersecurity exposure, and regulatory compliance — often without deep technical backgrounds.

Against that backdrop, insisting on human-written, carefully reasoned memos may be as much about maintaining institutional discipline as resisting technological overreach.

The broader implication is that governance culture may evolve more slowly than product development cycles. Companies can deploy AI tools rapidly, but boardroom norms — preparation, accountability, deliberation — are anchored in legal and fiduciary frameworks that prize demonstrable human judgment.

Taylor’s reference to the adage about writing shorter letters underscores a final theme: respect. Preparing a concise, thoughtful memo requires time. That investment signals seriousness toward fellow directors and shareholders.

In corporate governance, tone and process matter. A carefully constructed narrative conveys not just information but intent. It shows that management has wrestled with complexity before seeking board endorsement.

In a technology landscape defined by acceleration, Taylor is advocating for deliberative friction — the intellectual resistance that refines ideas before they shape strategy.

The message from the chair of OpenAI is not that AI lacks value. It is that some decisions, especially those that define a company’s direction, still demand the disciplined effort of human thought, expressed clearly and concisely on the page.