A new Deloitte Private report reveals artificial intelligence has emerged as the top strategic priority for family-owned businesses in 2025.
In this interview, Deloitte Private U.S. Family Enterprise Leader Laura Pearson discusses the findings and what they signal for the family business landscape.
Family Business: AI adoption was the top strategic priority among family enterprises. What do you think is driving that interest in increasing AI use across the organization?
Laura Pearson: A few years ago, the idea of tackling AI felt almost “New Age” in a sense — some people were doing it, but it didn’t feel like a business necessity. There’s been a lot of education and focus on AI in the past several years at the executive level within private companies. That helped organizations understand that AI is not going away, and it’s become a necessity more than a differentiator.
And so, when we talk with clients and other family-owned businesses, what we hear a lot is that they recognize this is a really important part of what their legacy looks like and an important part of ensuring that the company will be in place for the next 50-100 years. Thinking about use cases for AI is probably the hardest part — understanding, “How can it benefit the business? What does it mean for us?” — and that could be industry-specific, depending on the business. There are many different ways that AI can be implemented.
Once the executive team and the board really understand how it can benefit their particular organization, I believe that the family businesses we’re working with really understand that AI is critical and will become, essentially, table stakes rather than being seen as a differentiator for more risk-oriented or open-minded organizations.
FB: The report noted smaller companies were more likely to emphasize tech investments and AI. Why do you think this is the case?
LP: I think there are a couple of reasons: One, a smaller organization might be closer to that first generation or founder. And those individuals, speaking very generally, tend to be less risk-averse and more open-minded and willing to try new things.
Also, I think that in a smaller organization, again assuming that it’s a newer organization (which may not be the case in all circumstances), but there’s an element of being willing to try new things, whereas maybe a family business that’s been around for a hundred years and has a very established product and they have an established client base and supply chain, they may not see the necessity in the way that a newer or smaller organization may see it as a live-or-die sort of integration to the business.
There’s two sides of that. And again, I’m making that assumption that those smaller organizations are younger — and they may not be — but there’s an ability to figure out how to weave AI into the business. That could be anything from looking at your operations, how you determine pricing — we even hear about businesses using AI for customer experience or marketing campaigns. So, there are different ways that it can be used and, obviously, it depends on the organization – but it’s all about being nimble and recognizing that there’s opportunity there for the organization as a whole.
FB: Difficulty finding board members with specialized tech expertise was cited as the top barrier to board modernization. What does this tell us about the talent pipeline for governance in private family businesses? How can these businesses compete for top board talent?
LP: Well, it certainly tells the story that it is absolutely competitive. We speak to so many executives who are really interested in serving on private company boards. So, there’s an interest level there. But private companies who are really thoughtful about their board composition recognize that they need someone at the table that has that tech expertise.
What I’ve been hearing in the market is that, ultimately, those companies who really, truly acknowledge the significance and/or the potential risks associated with — whether it’s AI or even if you’re delving into the cybersecurity side of the house — that are meaningful to the organization. And oftentimes they’re actually outsourcing a lot of that expertise to a third-party because they cannot find the right expertise to really serve on the board.
When you’re thinking about how quickly some of that technology is evolving and advancing, we often hear that if a company can’t find someone to serve on the board directly, bringing in a third-party organization to help fill that gap is a solution. We hear about a lot of third-party organizations that will do board education sessions to keep the board up-to-speed.
Still, in the private company context, especially with family-owned businesses, the idea of having a longer-term vision and not having to — or maybe not being required to — monitor results on a quarterly basis is a real selling point for potential board members. Family businesses have the ability to take the longer view and focus on the legacy the family wants to leave. Although there’s certainly a compensation element, too, the overall tenor of the organization and the culture of the organization tends to be what really differentiates family businesses and makes them very marketable and a place where executives want to spend their time to bring value.