AI
The tell is whether an organisation can still produce a good answer without the tool; many increasingly can’ t.”
Corporates, AI developers, and other organisations investing heavily in AI also tend to bypass governance requirements and legislations adopted so they can fast-track their particular development in agentic AI. They want to be the best, and the first, so governance is not something they’ ve looked into. It’ s a key risk.
What are the guardrails you propose? My recommendation is a requirement standard, so organisations can get certified as compliant. That is where the ISO 42001 comes in, which governs artificial intelligence. It gives you an overview of the controls required in terms of security, culture, and ethics. For stakeholders, shareholders, and any other interested party, a third-party auditor and certification body will assess governance and risks, and how AI is being developed, utilised, and resold.
Some of these risks and safety concerns had been highlighted since 2023. Why the delay in regulation? There are guideline standards, and then there are requirement standards. In the US, for example, there ' s NIST, a framework on how AI needs to be managed. It elucidates the policies, processes, and procedures to have in place to govern the development, utilisation, or the reusability of AI. But it’ s just a guideline. The problem is that most people see AI as a heightened Google search and don ' t have an actual grasp on the capabilities and risks of the different types of AI either.
Many companies have adopted the standard, but many others aren ' t aware of it, which is why the former, who know the risks, request assurance of third-party certification, especially when it comes to procurement. For example, when BMW was testing the SA market with a view to becoming the original equipment manufacturers of nuts, bolts, and seat covers here, they needed to know that local manufacturers could provide quality, at reasonable cost, and on time. ISO 9001 certification, the gold standard for quality management, gave them that assurance.
What about the big finance companies? Not all have come onboard, but ISO certification would be very useful in that industry. Many finance companies were victims of cyber attacks over the last decade, mainly coming at them through third parties – that is, small businesses. So many adopted and implemented ISO 27001, the information and security standard.
AI governance certification has also become a requirement, but ironically, these fintechs and banks are themselves not aligning with or adhering to the standard. sabusinessintegrator. co. za 53