Stage 5 · Defend · govern and control

AI Governance

Your staff are already using AI. Your customers, insurer, auditor and board are about to ask what your rules are. AI governance is the set of written answers: policy, controls, oversight and a way of handling it when something goes wrong, sized for a business like yours, not for a bank.

Talk to an AI architect See the packages

AI policyAcceptable useRisk assessmentHuman oversightISO/IEC 42001 alignedNIST AI RMF aligned

controls tested withBe Secure

The questions

Five questions your business will be asked this year

Can our employees put confidential information into ChatGPT?
Which AI tools are approved, and who approved them?
Where is our data going, and who can see it?
Who owns the AI’s output, and who is responsible for it?
How do we control an AI agent that can take actions?

What governance includes

The written answers, grouped

Policy

AI policy, acceptable-use policy and responsible-AI principles your people can actually follow, in plain language, approved by leadership.

Risk

AI risk assessment, AI vendor assessment, and a privacy impact assessment where the Privacy Act 2020 requires one.

Control

Data governance, access control, human oversight rules, and a written line on what an agent may do unattended.

Assurance

AI monitoring, audit records, and incident management with a named person to call.

Security

AI security testing, Shadow AI discovery and Copilot permission readiness, delivered with Be Secure under the same engagement.

Alignment

ISO/IEC 42001, the NIST AI Risk Management Framework, the Privacy Act 2020 and the OECD AI Principles. Aligned, and we say what that means.

Aligned, not certified

What “aligned” means, and what it does not

We design, measure and report your AI governance against ISO/IEC 42001 and the NIST AI RMF. Alignment means your policies and controls map to those standards and we can show where. Certification is issued by an accredited body after an audit; we do not issue it and do not claim it.

If a customer or regulator requires certification, we will say so plainly and help you get there. Most businesses need alignment; almost none need certification. Knowing which you are is part of the work.

How it runs

Three to four weeks, then a quarterly review

Week 1
DiscoveryWhat AI is in use today, sanctioned or not, with Be Secure’s Shadow AI discovery where you want the full picture.
Week 2
RiskWhere the exposure actually is: data, decisions, vendors, agents. Ranked, not listed.
Weeks 3–4
Policy and controlsDrafted with your people, approved by leadership, published where staff will find them.
Then
OversightWho reviews what, how often, and the incident process rehearsed once. Kept current under AI Managed.

Questions

What people ask about AI Governance

Can we just ban AI?

You can write the policy; you cannot make it true. Staff will use the tools on their phones. Governance is how you get the benefit without the exposure, and it starts by knowing what is already in use.

Do we need ISO 42001?

Almost certainly not certification; almost certainly alignment. We tell you which, in writing, and we never imply a certification we do not hold.

How is this different from Be Secure’s AI security services?

We write the rules and the operating model. Be Secure tests the controls, discovers unsanctioned tools and checks Copilot permissions. One engagement, one contract with Be Digital Limited.

How often does it need updating?

Quarterly under AI Managed. The tools change faster than the policy needs to; the approved-tool list is the part that moves.

Have the answers in writing before someone asks.

Talk to us about AI governance for your business, or take the free AI Opportunity Score to see which of the five questions you cannot answer yet.

Start your AI journey →Get my AI Opportunity Score Or call 0800 23 3444