Max-Q Series: Trust
Who carries the consequence?
For founders, boards and senior leaders asking:
Who actually has authority to make consequential AI decisions?
Does accountability sit with the people carrying the consequence?
Is our governance helping us make better decisions, or merely adding process?
AI decisions cross technical, commercial, operational and governance boundaries, while authority, incentives and accountability often remain distributed between them. The person encouraged to accelerate may not carry the downside. The supplier influencing the technical choice may not carry the organisational exposure. Governance becomes valuable when it makes those relationships visible before the decision becomes difficult to reverse.
MY PROMISE
In 60 minutes, leave with greater clarity on:
where authority, accountability and consequence currently sit;
where incentives or decision rights may be working against one another;
the next governance decision that would strengthen confident, responsible action.
We will identify where responsibility and authority may be misaligned, reframe governance around real decision-making rather than compliance alone, examine incentives, evidence and escalation, and identify the next point where ownership or executive control needs strengthening.
WHO I AM
I support critical operators and decision-makers working where AI, governance and organisational consequence meet.
My background spans astrophysics, AI strategy, governance, systems thinking and executive leadership across complex and high-consequence environments. XSAIA’s work specifically supports boards, C-suite leaders, investors and frontier organisations making high-stakes decisions across AI, aerospace, space-enabled technologies and systemic risk.
I have spent years working with the practical reality behind governance: how leaders create enough clarity around authority, evidence and accountability to move with confidence rather than simply accumulate controls. My public work has also consistently framed governance and ethics as enablers of innovation rather than barriers to it.
Bring the decision. We’ll examine what it really requires.
Dr Layla Dillon, PhD
Astrophysicist · AI Strategist · Systems Architect · Founder & CEO, XSAIA
PARTICIPATION
60 minutes
For founders, CEOs, board members and senior leaders responsible for AI, technology, governance, risk, investment or organisational accountability.
Private. Chatham House rules. No AI notetaking. No replay.