2026 Empowering Women for a Better World
The White Paper on Female Governance is jointly produced by the Taiwan Women on Boards Association and EY, focusing on the annual research on listed companies in Taiwan with female chairpersons or general managers (hereafter referred to as “female-governed listed companies”; their chairpersons or general managers hereafter referred to as “female leaders”).
The 2026 White Paper on Female Governance focuses on how female leaders navigate the rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI), rising geopolitical uncertainty and the increasing complexity of supply chain and third-party management. Through strategic adjustments, enhanced governance and resilience, this White Paper explores the approaches to drive corporate transformation and achieve medium-to-long-term development goals. This study surveyed female leaders of listed companies in Taiwan from April to May 2026, with a total of 115 valid responses collected. The total market value of these companies amounted to approximately NT$5.16 trillion, accounting for 77% of the total market capitalization of the female-governed listed companies (approximately NT$6.76 trillion) in Taiwan, making the samples highly representative.
The research for this white paper was conducted centering on three main sections —“Overview of Female Leaders of Listed Companies in Taiwan”, “Corporate Management Survey and Analysis” and “Who will lead the way in the widespread adoption of AI? Five forward-looking strategies for female leaders”— simultaneously analyzes the differences in corporate management practices between Taiwanese and international companies. Furthermore, in light of the varying AI investment and deployment strategies across sectors, this year's White Paper gathers perspectives and practical approaches on AI deployment from female leaders across different industries. By analyzing the sectoral observations and trend insights regarding AI development, the White Paper serves as a valuable reference for the business community.
One. Overview of Female Leaders of Listed Companies in Taiwan
In 2025, there were a total of 1,073 listed companies in Taiwan, of which 195 (about 18%) were female-governed; among the 195 companies, 15% had both the chairperson and general manager positions held by women, and about 10% had the chairperson/general manager positions concurrently held by the same woman. There were 1,043 male-governed listed companies with approximately 84% of them having both a male chairperson and general manager, and about 19% of these positions were held by the same man.
Overall, the number of companies with female chairpersons grew by approximately 5%, and those with female general managers grew by about 2%. This change was primarily driven by the fact that in 2025, more male chairpersons handed over their roles to women than vice versa. In addition, among the newly listed companies, three of them have female chairpersons and two of them have female general managers.
Driven by the promotion of board diversity policies and growing gender equality awareness, both the number and proportion of listed companies in Taiwan with female directors have increased year after year. In 2025, the proportion of female directors in listed companies in Taiwan reached 20.1%, while the share of companies with female directors accounting for one-third or more of their board stood at 19.4% — a 3.7 percentage point increase from 2024, marking the largest growth in the past five years.
Two. Corporate Management Survey and Analysis
1. Overview of Women-Governed Listed Companies
In 2025, the percentage of all listed companies with revenue and EPS growth amounted to 52% and 44%, respectively, while the percentage of female-governed listed companies with revenue and EPS growth were 48% and 45%, respectively, which were roughly in line with the market trend. Across the 30 industries surveyed, the proportion of female-governed listed companies that achieved growth in revenue and EPS outperformed or matched the industry average in 14 and 16 industries, respectively; furthermore, female-governed listed companies in 5 and 3 of these industries, respectively, consistently achieved growth in both revenue and EPS.
2. Corporate AI Implementation Effectiveness, Future Impacts and Challenges
The survey shows that 63% of female-governed listed companies in Taiwan have invested in or deployed AI-related projects, and 79% of female leaders in Taiwan believe that the value brought by AI has at least met expectations. Looking ahead to the next two years, 90% of global CEOs expect AI to have a significant or transformative impact, whereas 42% of female leaders in Taiwan share this view, and another 52% anticipate a moderate impact.
In terms of technological deployment, generative AI has become an important starting point for enterprises to drive transformation. In the process of driving change and transformation, 54% of global CEOs and 52% of female leaders in Taiwan believe that “generative AI” can play the most significant role. As AI technology matures, enterprises are gradually adopting machine learning and autonomous AI agents, and subsequently moving toward physical AI, with the expectation that AI will execute processes and facilitate operational collaboration. However, realizing the value of AI also brings new management challenges. Cybersecurity risks have become the primary challenge for global CEOs and female leaders in Taiwan in driving AI adoption.
3. Agentic AI and AI Agents
As AI evolves from analytical assistance to technology capable of proactively executing tasks, over one-third of U.S. business executives (34%) and female leaders in Taiwan (37%) have already begun deploying Agentic AI or AI agents, with 86% currently leveraging these tools for process assistance and management.
On the other hand, in response to the trend of employees using low-code/no-code tools to develop AI agents on their own, global executives are adopting a “prohibition” approach (32%) or a “conditional openness” approach (30%), while female leaders in Taiwan have mainly adopted a “conditional openness” approach (53%).
4. Strategic Plans to Respond to Geopolitical and Trade Policy Changes
In response to the rising geopolitical risks and supply chain realignment, 60% of female-governed listed companies in Taiwan have adjusted their strategic investment plans. Their primary strategies include accelerating investment plans (57%), entering new markets (42%) and adjusting supply chain configurations (38%).
In terms of priority actions to address changes in the external environment, global and Asia-Pacific enterprises place the highest priority on AI and digitalization investment. In contrast, female leaders in Taiwan place more emphasis on supply chain diversification (26%) and deepening partner relationships (18%). This reflects that businesses' current focus remains on enhancing operational resilience, mitigating the risk of external impacts and ensuring market flexibility.
The survey also shows that localization and regionalization have gradually become part of corporate long-term strategies. In terms of localization, 74% of global enterprises, 69% of Asia-Pacific enterprises and 52% of female-governed listed companies in Taiwan indicate that they have “completed” or “currently implementing” these efforts. Meanwhile, regionalization is primarily concentrated in the “currently implementing” and "a clear implementation plan is in place” stages, accounting for 65% of global enterprises and 67% of Asia-Pacific enterprises, compared to 46% for Taiwan.
5. Corporate Transformation Progress and Goals
In a rapidly changing business environment, 50% of female-governed listed companies in Taiwan have initiated or planned for major transformation initiatives. Their top three transformation goals are optimizing operations and improving productivity (75%), strengthening product and process innovation capabilities (52%), and accelerating revenue growth (50%). This indicates that the transformation goals of Taiwanese enterprises are increasingly focusing on issues directly related to corporate performance, such as improving operational efficiency, driving innovation and generating growth momentum.
6. Third-Party Risk Management
Amidst the intersection of the pandemic, geopolitical conflicts, and cyber risks, third-party risk management has become a critical issue of corporate governance. Compared to global enterprises that tend toward moderate monitoring, female-governed listed companies in Taiwan adopt a higher level of supervision regarding operational risk, compliance risk, business continuity and resilience, and financial risks, with over 50% fully considering all these aspects. In terms of management structrure, both global (57%) and Taiwanese (40%) respondents agree on adopting a centralized third-party risk management structure. However, global enterprises believe the advantage of this structure lies in a better user experience (56%), whereas female leaders in Taiwan believe it increases understanding of risks during the decision-making process (72%).
Three. Who Will Lead the Way in the Widespread Adoption of AI? Five Forward-Looking Strategies of Female Leaders
AI has begun to exert a material impact on Taiwanese enterprises, though the direction of development and the depth of this influence differ significantly across industries. Based on the observations of female leaders, the first strategic priority can be summarized as leveraging AI to create value in products and services while reshaping competitiveness. Overall, the primary changes brought about by AI include adding value to products/services (54%), a shift in the core of competition from workforce size to technology and data integration capabilities (49%), as well as cost structure change and process streamlining (47% each).
In terms of industry differences, the most significant shift for traditional industries is the migration of their competitive core toward technology and data integration capabilities (59%). The technology and electronic manufacturing sectors are the first to confront the rise of AI-native enterprises (35%) and intensifying cross-industry competition and cooperation (30%). In the financial services sector, 83% of respondents believe the primary value of AI lies in adding value to products/services, while 50% of them emphasize the importance of governance and trust mechanisms. Meanwhile, the distribution, retail, and consumer services sectors are simultaneously feeling the weight of consumer expectations for AI features (45%) and an increasing demand for both process streamlining and governance (55% each). For other industries, in addition to the added value of products (63%), 46% have also observed the gradual emergence of new platforms and ecosystems.
However, the second strategic priority — bridging the AI value gap and strengthening organizational capabilities — is becoming a common challenge for enterprises. Approximately 20% of female leaders believe that the value of AI has not met expectations, primarily due to a shortage of AI and data analytics talent (40%), regulatory, privacy, or cybersecurity concerns (36%), and the absence of continuous optimization and performance evaluation mechanisms (34%). Specifically, traditional industries are constrained by talent shortages and investment appraisal, while the technology and electronics manufacturing sectors face challenges in technology implementation and value realization. The biotechnology and healthcare sectors, alongside the financial services sector, are restricted by regulatory compliance and risk governance, whereas the distribution, retail, and consumer services sectors focus most on the introduction and maintenance costs. This reflects that corporate competition has shifted from “whether to introduce AI” to “whether they possess the capability to amplify the value of AI”.
The third strategic priority is to establish a new work model of human-AI collaboration. AI has not triggered large-scale layoffs in the short term. Indeed, 47% of female leaders indicated that their workforce remained unchanged, with AI serving solely as an assistive tool, while 34% responded to changes through job reallocation, and another 21% expanded relevant roles due to AI demand. This indicates that enterprises prefer to establish a collaborative human-AI organizational model through upskilling and role transition, rather than directly replacing human labor with AI.
In terms of leadership, the fourth strategic priority is to drive transformation through communication, learning, and engagement. 53% of female leaders prioritize providing AI training and learning resources, while 46% encourage employees to participate in AI adoption and application design. Finally, the fifth strategic priority is investing in talent and practical applications, rather than simply investing in technology. 42% of female leaders believe that talent cultivation and skill enhancement are the most worthwhile investments in the era of AI mainstreaming, far outpacing investments in AI technology and platforms, followed by the scaled implementation of key application scenarios (19%). This indicates that as AI tools become increasingly prevalent, the focus of corporate competition is shifting from technology acquisition to organizational capability building. Talent development, practical application, and continuous optimization will be key to whether enterprises can establish a long-term competitive advantage.
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