Meeting of the ARIN Board of Trustees — 21 October 2026

Miami, Florida

 

Attendees

  • Nancy Carter, Chair
  • John Curran, President & CEO
  • Dan Alexander, Board Trustee
  • Ron da Silva, Board Trustee
  • Peter Harrison, Board Trustee
  • Lee Howard, Board Trustee
  • Hank Kilmer, Treasurer
  • Tina Morris, Vice Chair
  • Robert Seastrom, Board Trustee
  • Chris Tacit, Secretary

Staff

  • Michael Abejuela, CLO
  • Erin Alligood, CHRO
  • Alyssa Arceneaux, Board Operations Mgr., Scribe
  • Garth Dubin, CSDO
  • Richard Jimmerson, COO
  • Christian Johnson, CISO
  • Brian Kirk, CFO
  • Jennifer Lee, Deputy General Counsel
  • John Sweeting, CXO

1. Welcome, Agenda and Conflict of Interest Disclosure Review.

The Chair welcomed all to Miami and called the meeting to order at 8:58 am ET. She reminded everyone to avoid abstaining unless they have a reason and then asked everyone to review the business meeting agenda. Mr. Alexander asked to pull out the Strategic Planning Committee Report, which included a Committee Charter (Exhibit I). The Chair noted this for consideration during the consent agenda item and accepted the meeting agenda. She then asked for conflict-of-interest disclosures. There were none.

The Chair noted Mr. Alexander’s comments earlier on Exhibit I, and it was moved to Any Other Business. Mr. da Silva noted that in both sets of Board minutes there was wording that needed to be updated to objection instead of abstention. It was noted that they would be approved as amended.

Mr. Tacit offered some comments on the RIR Governance Document. The President noted that the version of the document being discussed right now was given to us by the community. The Chair noted that the CLO will be in attendance in the afternoon and will update on the RIR Governance documents.

  • Approval of the Minutes of 18 August 2026. (Exhibit A)
  • Approval of the Minutes of 18 September 2026. (Exhibit B)
  • RIR Governance Document Summary (Exhibit C)
  • ARIN Board Committee and Task Force Reports. (Exhibits D, E, F, G, H, I)

It was moved by Lee Howard, seconded by Peter Harrison, that:

“The ARIN Board of Trustees approves the Consent Agenda, as written.”

There was no further discussion.

The motion carried, without objections.

3. ARIN 2027 Draft Budget Presentation.

(Exhibit J)

The CFO stated that the Finance Committee met on September 8th and reviewed this budget document. He discussed the 2027 budgeted spending and showed the items driving the change in spending – registry control plane project, salaries and benefits, and engineering operations (software changes). Mr. Tacit asked about the AI project and was informed that would be an additional project requiring funding not contained in this budget proposal. The CFO also noted the member meeting costs as another operational cost that continues to increase, and the budget proposal offsets ARIN’s overall rising costs by freezing C-level salaries, lowering travel costs, and taking a closer look at outreach expenses.

The CFO discussed the 2027 budgeted funding. The funding drivers are the Registration Services Plan (RSP), IPv4 and IPv6 renewals, and ASN renewals. The annual RSP price increase continues to help but we want to get to a point where they are not always required.

He stated that with the proposed spending and funding, we are still looking at a deficit and will continue to use investments to fill the gap. He then showed how ARIN is on track to reach our goal of a balanced budget by 2030. The President reiterated that the budget is fixed by income and we need to show the membership that ARIN is using the money wisely and exercising financial discipline to meet the goals set forth.

The CFO then presented the investments outlook going through 2030 and how it will be used to fund the registry control plane project. He also reminded all that there was an office space incentive from the lease renewal that will help offset some of the costs in 2027. He also noted that this outlook revolves around ARIN’s investments staying at about 5.5% earnings, which is conservative given past returns.

Mr. Tacit asked about the risk of increasing costs for AI token expenses that many companies are experiencing and is this cost built in. The President noted there is no budget for AI tokens as of now as ARIN does not have AI processing embedded in any business process workflow.

It was moved by Lee Howard, and seconded by Peter Harrison, that:

“The ARIN Board of Trustees approves the ARIN 2027 Budget, as recommended by the ARIN Finance Committee.”

The motion carried, via roll call vote (10-0).

4. Ombudsperson Discussion.

(Exhibit K)

The CHRO stated that ARIN has been using an ombudsperson since 2023. This service has been provided by Hinton & Company for the last 3 years. The Board asked for an update on how the ombudsperson is utilized and requested a Request for Proposal (RFP) process. The CHRO stated that Hinton & Company has done an outstanding job, but as a best practice, ARIN will be starting the RFP process right after this October meeting.

There was general agreement that conducting an RFP at this time is appropriate. Mr. Howard asked that if there is a new ombudsperson, they meet with and be introduced to the Board before covering the April ARIN meeting. The CHRO confirmed that we did this for Hinton & Company when they began the work, and we would plan to do this for the new vendor.

5. Draft Volunteer Handbook.

(Exhibits L, M)

The CHRO stated that she worked with the President and CLO to draft the provided Volunteer Handbook, as requested by the Board. She highlighted that the code of conduct, which was just implemented in January 2026, is included in the handbook, together with a number of other policies. This Volunteer Handbook would be signed annually by Volunteers, similar to the process for the ARIN employees and the ARIN Employee Handbook.

A discussion took place concerning whether other categories of volunteers should also be included in the policy. The President noted that there are different tiers of volunteers and some do not have access to ARIN’s IT systems and therefore not all policies apply, but he agreed that any officers of the Board who are not trustees should be included. Mr. Howard asked about these policies being seen by those who are potential candidates so that they know what they would be signing. The President noted that many of them are already up on the website and confirmed that the policies in the handbook will be posted on the ARIN website, although some of the policies would be trimmed or included by reference for the website version for security reasons.

It was moved by Chris Tacit, and seconded by Hank Kilmer, that:

“The ARIN Board of Trustees approves the Volunteer Handbook, with the addition of ‘officers who are not Trustees’ in section 2.1” (2026.10.21.03)

Mr. Harrison asked for and received clarification on whether certain policies are implemented and published.

The motion carried, without objections.

The Chair called for a recess at 9:55 am ET. The meeting resumed at 10:08 am ET.

6. Risk Register Review.

(Exhibit N)

The Board of Trustees received a detailed review of the ARIN Risk Register. The President stated that he will begin working with the Risk & Cybersecurity Committee on a more formal risk management process for ARIN in 2027. Mr. Tacit asked about an external resource to help expedite this as some of the risks may become existential. The President stated he would like to start with a proposed ARIN risk management process and then move forward to work with the committee for review and outside expertise as they felt appropriate.

The Chair asked about those risks that appear on the last page, those indicating mitigated to an acceptable level and how long they remain on the register, as many were mitigated in 2022. The President stated that for now the Risk & Cyber Committee has asked to keep them all.

The Chair asked to move up agenda item 13. NRO NC Appointment.

7. NRO NC Appointment.

(Exhibit T)

The CXO stated that the included memo lists 3 candidates that were nominated for this appointment and reminded the Board that this appointment happens every third year and this is the year. There was a discussion of the candidates, followed by the appointment process.

It was moved by Ron da Silva, and seconded by Chris Tacit, that:

“The ARIN Board of Trustees appoints Kat Hunter to the NRO Number Council for the 2027-2029 Appointment Term.” (2026.10.21.04)

The motion carried, without objections.

The Chair recessed for lunch at 11:52 am ET. The Chair called the meeting back at 12:54 pm ET. Mr. Abejuela, CLO, joined the meeting and Ms. Lee, Deputy Chief Counsel, left.

8. SP 2.1 “Develop a C-Suite Succession Roadmap including specific leadership development plans to ensure leadership continuity.”

(Exhibit O)

The COO presented the current leadership continuity activities, including maintaining standard operating procedure (SOP) documents for all key positions at ARIN and then stated that they are reviewed annually, including succession profiles, short-term backup coverage, and long-term backup coverage. He then discussed succession planning oversight. He let the Board know that ARIN staff will be working with the C-level executives and their identified backups to go through their SOPs and identify gaps or discuss possible training in 2027, and he worked through an example to demonstrate the process involved.

Mr. da Silva indicated that he believes that the presentation was delivered at the level of detail that the Board sought, but asked about the frequency of these activities and how the Board would get briefed. He also believes that the Strategic Priority should change from “develop” to “maintain”. Upon questioning, the CHRO advised that this activity relates to KPI 7.1. The Chair noted that the frequency could be discussed in the strategic plan conversation. Mr. Howard stated that he thought it would be good to share the briefing with the Compensation Committee and the full Board. He also liked the idea of having any the backups observe at the April or October meetings. There was a discussion about where the review of this strategic priority item would live.

9. SP 4.5 “Analyze manual registry update requirements to determine the degree of automation that can be implemented.”

(Exhibit P)

The COO presented a review of ARIN’s system update efforts, noting that there was a timing issue with this specific strategic priority, because during the August meeting it was modified to combine 4.5 and 4.6 and they were treated as such in this review. He reviewed the current development activities by the ARIN staff in this area with the largest part coming from the registry control plane project which was approved in September. There will also need to be follow-up in the form of modernization of additional systems to address workflow issues, and a resource status taxonomy project with continued improvements to our RPKI routing registry and BGP intelligence services.

The organization works within four domains with 13 capabilities, and not all will be touched by the registry control plane but they will still be modernized. He also reviewed the work types that the different platforms would carry. He reiterated that the other work is being done in parallel with the building of the registry control plane. The COO then reviewed the pricing for the registry control plane with the additional independent scoping and then the building of the workflow platform. This is all dependent on the current schedule planned. The President presented the pros and cons on build versus buy on workflow platform/software and noted that it is a challenging decision that the organization will need to make in the coming year. Funding for projects beyond the registry control plane will require separate approval.

Mr. Tacit asked about technology and crypto agility. The COO noted that they are front of mind but have not been part of the discussion now but are flagged for conversations when furthering the workflow conversation. The COO noted that these additional projects should cover everything that we can see now in terms of technological needs, but he was not sure of what may change or come up in the coming years.

The CXO further explained that the scoping and funding of additional projects hinges on the incoming SVP system architecture position being filled, as we would obviously have their review of the plan and will come back to the Board with any updates.

10. Review of Final Key Performance Indicators.

(Exhibit Q)

The CFO reminded the Board that there was a lot of work done on the KPIs in August and presented the quarterly report of the KPIs to the Board. During the reporting of KPI 1.1, there was a discussion on how to better measure the target.

The CFO reported the continued updates on all KPIs and noted that KPI 7.2 still requires work on coming up with an acceptable percentage range. He noted that the CHRO will be working on this KPI specifically in the coming 2027 year.

He noted that this was the first time since finalizing the KPIs that quarterly results were presented to the Board and indicated that reports will be prepared quarterly. Mr. Kilmer asked about finding a way to present this information instead of just a reporting mechanism.

11. Strategic Plan — 2027 Implementation Plan Review

(Exhibit R)

The Chair reminded the Board that with all the updates and tweaks that were made in August, the Strategic Planning Committee met and made the requested adjustments. The COO stated that this was presented to the full Board so that there was commitment on the 2027 Board Calendar to discuss certain items during each Board meeting. Mr. Tacit asked to add a deep dive on Strategic Priority 2.4 for Q3 2027. The COO noted that if there is a Board member that has a strategic priority that they would want to see as a deep dive in Q1 to please reach out to the Chair and Vice Chair as preparation will begin soon. Mr. Harrison asked about ARIN’s value proposition and wants staff to think about placeholders on the calendar. The COO noted that this Strategic Priority is listed for Q3 in 2027.

Mr. Tacit stated that the conversation about AI and technological agility may further affect the strategic plan in 2027.

12. AI Framework Memo.

(Exhibit S)

The CISO began by giving a brief summary of the artificial intelligence (AI) conversations and actions over the past few years at ARIN. He noted that ARIN has been accepted into the Anthropic Cyber Verification Program at the Defense level, which allows access to Anthropic AI models for use in scanning code for vulnerabilities, which ARIN has begun using to scan its public open-source code repositories. ARIN is also reviewing existing/third-party tools that have embedded AI to control what it can access. He noted that staff is also looking into a corporate AI solution for ARIN and the preferred implementation model. He presented considerations for the Board specifically in regard to potential damage and implications for future insurability. He also presented a few historic cases to illustrate the dangers of adopting AI without considering guardrails and the implementation model and noted that ARIN needs improved controls for further AI adoption to avoid similar risks. He lastly presented how ARIN is going to move forward by conducting reviews of all tools with AI, continue maturing the AI policy, determine ARIN’s corporate AI implementation path, and adopt management and security tools to protect ARIN data and systems.

Mr. Seastrom expressed significant concern regarding agentic AI, particularly the combination of access to sensitive data, exposure to untrusted content, when combined with external communications capabilities. He argued that agentic AI should not operate within ARIN’s security perimeter or on employee devices, recommending instead controlled, isolated cloud-based sandboxes with explicitly limited access to data and systems. He also emphasized that ARIN should establish clear, approved pathways for AI use rather than relying on individual employee judgment and raised concerns about risks associated with personally owned devices used by Trustees and other ARIN volunteers. The ensuing discussion highlighted broad support for enabling productive AI use while taking a cautious, incremental approach to managing security risks. The Chair requested that a further session be organized to address these issues.

Mr. Tacit asked about the funding proposed in this presentation. The President noted that this was an estimate and he would come back to the Board in Q1 2027 requesting funds.

13. Upcoming ARIN Board Meetings.

The Chair noted that the November meeting is on the calendar as a placeholder in case the election could not be unanimously ratified by email. She then reminded all that the December Board meeting is to discuss Committee Year-End Reports and any and all Charter recommendations.

  • Monday, 2 November 2026, via Zoom at 3:00 pm ET.
  • Monday, 14 December 2026, via Zoom at 3:00 pm ET.

The Chair called for a recess at 3:27 pm ET. The meeting resumed at 3:40 pm ET. Ms. Lynne Hamilton joined the meeting.

Ms. Hamilton provided an update on Canadian relations. The Chief Legal Officer provided an attorney-client privileged update.

Ms. Lynne Hamilton exited the meeting at 4:16 pm ET.

15. Open Action Item List.

(Exhibit U)

The CEO provided a brief update on the Open Action Items and noted that many items would be marked as complete after today’s Board meeting.

16. Any Other Business.

  • The Chair noted that there was a request to discuss further Exhibit I, Strategic Planning Committee Charter, which appeared in the consent agenda. Ms. Morris would like the process to take less time and can support this committee streamlining and using time in a more valuable way. Mr. Tacit noted that the reason for supplying a charter was to streamline the process. A discussion ensued concerning whether a committee was needed, including, whether it is fulfilling any KPIs. Whether such a committee if it continues, should be a standing or ad-hoc committee, was also discussed. If a committee charter is adopted, there was general agreement that its language would make clear that the Committee supports the Board but strategic planning decisions will remain with the board. The President stated that our strategic planning process was a one-time planning event that did not leave ARIN with an updated go-forward strategic planning process. The President noted that we also have not conducted any review of the recent strategic planning efforts to consider their effectiveness, extract any lessons learned, and determine a path on how to move forward. At this point, we have only an implied strategic planning process for the organization and he recommended that the full Board set time to discuss what they want ARIN’s go-forward strategic planning process to be, and this would put the Board in an informed position from which to consider the committee charter. There was general agreement with this approach.

17. Executive Session.

The Board of Trustees moved into Executive Session at 4:45 pm ET.

18. Adjournment.

A motion to adjourn was made by Tina Morris, and seconded by Peter Harrison. The Chair called for adjournment at 6:00 pm ET.

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