Writing from the trail. Essays, field notes, and weather from Prof. Dr. Yuri Bobbert's private executive practice.https://ysherpa.com/en© Ysherpa. All rights reserved.yuri.bobbert@uantwerpen.be (Yuri Bobbert)https://ysherpa.com/journal/context-decides-whether-ai-risk-work-is-real/https://ysherpa.com/journal/context-decides-whether-ai-risk-work-is-real/AI risk cannot be judged in the abstract. Organisations should assess AI in context, use NIST’s seven characteristics, and make appraisal a collective exercise rather than a solo compliance check.Mon, 20 Apr 2026 07:55:00 GMTProf. Dr. Yuri Bobberthttps://ysherpa.com/journal/first-board-meeting-you-will-chair/https://ysherpa.com/journal/first-board-meeting-you-will-chair/Every newly-appointed executive pictures the first board meeting as an arrival. It is, in fact, a survey — the room is reading you far more carefully than you are reading the room. A short essay on what to cut from the agenda, what to add, and the three lines you must not ad-lib.Tue, 14 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMTleadershipboardsProf. Dr. Yuri Bobberthttps://ysherpa.com/journal/three-sentences-a-new-executive-is-tempted-to-say/https://ysherpa.com/journal/three-sentences-a-new-executive-is-tempted-to-say/On the seductive honesty of "I inherited a mess", the subtle arrogance of "we're going to do things differently", and the political naivety of "let me bring you in as soon as I know more."Tue, 31 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMTleadershipProf. Dr. Yuri Bobberthttps://ysherpa.com/journal/ai-assurance-is-not-ai-safety/https://ysherpa.com/journal/ai-assurance-is-not-ai-safety/And why executives who conflate the two end up over-engineering one and under-governing the other.Tue, 17 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMTaiProf. Dr. Yuri Bobberthttps://ysherpa.com/journal/field-note-abu-dhabi/https://ysherpa.com/journal/field-note-abu-dhabi/Three days of executive sessions with a regional bank. One observation that surprised both of us.Tue, 03 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMTfieldProf. Dr. Yuri Bobberthttps://ysherpa.com/journal/board-paper-that-actually-gets-read/https://ysherpa.com/journal/board-paper-that-actually-gets-read/Fewer slides, more sentences. A short, technical essay on writing for the chair — not the committee.Wed, 18 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMTboardsProf. Dr. Yuri Bobberthttps://ysherpa.com/journal/transformation-is-a-cadence-problem/https://ysherpa.com/journal/transformation-is-a-cadence-problem/The most expensive mistake a new executive can make is to fall in love with a platform before they fall in love with their operating rhythm.Wed, 04 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMTtransformationProf. Dr. Yuri Bobberthttps://ysherpa.com/journal/inheritance-and-mandate/https://ysherpa.com/journal/inheritance-and-mandate/Why the first act of leadership is deciding which parts of what you inherited belong to your mandate — and which parts quietly do not.Wed, 21 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMTleadershipProf. Dr. Yuri Bobberthttps://ysherpa.com/journal/eight-questions-about-ai-sign-off/https://ysherpa.com/journal/eight-questions-about-ai-sign-off/A working list, distilled from forty boardroom conversations. None of them require technical expertise; all of them reveal whether the programme is ready to be signed.Wed, 07 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMTaiboardsProf. Dr. Yuri Bobberthttps://ysherpa.com/journal/field-note-zurich/https://ysherpa.com/journal/field-note-zurich/On spending two hours in a room with an incoming CIO and saying almost nothing.Wed, 17 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMTfieldProf. Dr. Yuri Bobberthttps://ysherpa.com/journal/board-questions-that-are-actually-traps/https://ysherpa.com/journal/board-questions-that-are-actually-traps/The four most common, why chairs ask them, and the posture a new executive should take — in the room, before the minutes are written.Wed, 03 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMTboardsProf. Dr. Yuri Bobberthttps://ysherpa.com/journal/quiet-authority-of-the-new-executive/https://ysherpa.com/journal/quiet-authority-of-the-new-executive/A short note on carrying yourself in the first weeks — and the difference between being seen and being listened to.Sat, 15 Nov 2025 00:00:00 GMTleadershipProf. Dr. Yuri Bobberthttps://ysherpa.com/journal/on-group-moderation-and-collaboration/https://ysherpa.com/journal/on-group-moderation-and-collaboration/Three habits, practised over two hundred panels, that let you steer a room you walked into that morning.Sat, 01 Nov 2025 00:00:00 GMTfieldProf. Dr. Yuri Bobberthttps://ysherpa.com/journal/core-strategic-approaches-for-collaboration-engineering-ce-as-foundation-for-teamwork-to-make/https://ysherpa.com/journal/core-strategic-approaches-for-collaboration-engineering-ce-as-foundation-for-teamwork-to-make/This article discusses how to promote collaborations between people in (IT&Business) teams. With the aim of using human capital smarter and more effectively. Mon, 22 Apr 2024 18:30:00 GMTProf. Dr. Yuri Bobbert