Definition
What is ai governance?
AI governance is the set of policies, controls and accountabilities that determine how AI systems are approved, deployed, overseen, documented and monitored. In the EU it also covers classification and obligations under the EU AI Act, alongside GDPR duties for the data involved.
Updated 3 September 2026
Why it matters
- Classification decides what documentation, oversight and monitoring a use case requires.
- Governance designed at the start costs little; retrofitted before go-live it delays launches.
- Named ownership is what makes oversight real rather than documented.
Business example
Before building, a team records the intended purpose of a triage system, its EU AI Act classification and reasoning, the human oversight point, the data protection basis and the monitoring cadence — one page, kept current.
Common misconceptions
- 'Governance is a legal task.' Classification and oversight design are product decisions with legal input.
- 'Low-risk means no obligations.' Transparency and documentation duties can still apply.
- 'A policy is governance.' Governance is the operating routine: classification, review, monitoring, evidence.
Related concepts
- EU AI Act
- AI risk
- Human oversight
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