Samantha Kappagoda was invited to speak at the Diligent Institute NextGen Board Leaders Summit at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on June 2, 2025. The event aimed to foster innovation in corporate governance by convening directors with executive experience across a range of domains, reflecting key trends in modern boardrooms.
Samantha participated in the Cybersecurity Tabletop Exercise: Data Breach Scenario | When AI Attacks. The interactive session was designed to simulate a cybersecurity breach triggered by a deepfake message claiming to come from the company CEO. The attendees had the opportunity to explore board obligations and responses as the simulation evolved. Samantha was joined on the panel by Monica Landen, Chief Information Officer of Diligent.
Samantha Kappagoda’s Contribution at the Diligent NextGen Board Leaders Summit
Samantha’s participation in the cybersecurity tabletop exercise at the Diligent NextGen Board Leaders Summit at the NYSE brought together her technical depth in data and cybersecurity systems, her crisis governance experience, and her active board oversight responsibilities to address a pressing challenge in contemporary board governance: how directors can prepare for and respond to AI-enabled cybersecurity threats. The deepfake CEO scenario that anchored the exercise reflects the convergence of AI and cybersecurity risk that boards are increasingly required to govern, for which directors with both technical fluency and governance experience are needed.
Samantha previously participated as a panelist at Generative AI Governance: A Guide for UK SMEs, with Diligent Institute and Institute of Directors UK, the Diligent AI Innovations Visionary Forum in May 2025 in New York, as well as the Diligent AI Virtual Summit in April 2025.
About Samantha Kappagoda
Samantha Kappagoda is a board director and technology strategist who brings a distinctive blend of capital markets judgment, AI governance and data strategy expertise to complex, regulated environments. Her boardroom perspective leverages her operating experience — in data, analytics and technology — to navigate emerging opportunities, drive value and mitigate risk.
Samantha currently serves as Board Director, Nominating & Governance Committee Chair and Audit Committee Member at the Credit Suisse Funds, now under UBS (NYSE: UBS), and a Member of the Governing Council Business Board at the University of Toronto. She also serves as Chief Data Scientist and Co-Founder of Numerati® Partners LLC, a RiskTech firm, and Visiting Scholar at Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences at New York University.
Recognized as a Director to Watch, Samantha is the author of Board Governance of AI & Emerging Technologies, in Directors & Boards magazine. She is an active contributor at governance forums in USA, Canada and UK, addressing AI and data governance, cybersecurity, financial markets and global macroeconomic trends. She has served as faculty at NYU Directors’ Academy, NACD Master Class on Technology and Innovation Oversight and Diligent Institute, and been an invited panelist at conferences including Character of the Corporation, Corporate Board Member, Independent Directors Council, Institute of Directors UK, NACD Summit, Private Directors Association and WGOB Canada. Samantha has been awarded the Certificate in Private Company Governance from the Private Directors Association, and has also completed the Harvard Business School Program Making Corporate Boards More Effective. For additional information, please see Samantha’s biography, recent news and conferences & events.
