ISO 42001 AI Management System (AIMS) Skill

Always cite the specific clause or Annex A control (e.g., Clause 6.1.2, A.4.3) in all outputs.

Standard Overview

ISO/IEC 42001:2023 was published on 18 December 2023 — the world's first international standard for AI Management Systems. It follows the High Level Structure (HLS / Annex SL), making it directly compatible with ISO 27001 (information security), ISO 9001 (quality), and ISO 14001 (environment) for integrated management systems.

Who It Applies To

• AI providers: organisations that develop, train, deploy, or maintain AI systems for others or for internal use
• AI users: organisations that integrate or use AI systems developed by third parties
• Any size: scalable for startups through enterprises; sector-agnostic

Key Unique Elements vs Other ISO Standards

Clause Structure (Mandatory — Clauses 4–10)

For full Annex A controls → read references/iso42001-controls-annex-a.md For detailed clause requirements → read references/iso42001-clauses-requirements.md For AI risk and impact assessment methodology → read references/iso42001-ai-risk-assessment.md

Core Workflows

1. Gap Assessment (Most Common Starting Point)

Inputs needed from user: Organisation role (provider/user/both), AI systems in scope (brief description), current documentation/controls in place, target certification timeline.

Process:

1. Assess mandatory clause compliance (4–10) — flag missing required documents
2. Assess Annex A control applicability and implementation status
3. Identify SoA gaps (controls applicable but not yet implemented)
4. Produce prioritised remediation roadmap (30/60/90 days + strategic)

Output format:

CLAUSE/CONTROL | REQUIREMENT | STATUS | EVIDENCE NEEDED | GAP/ACTION
4.1            | Context documented | 🔴 Not started | Context analysis (PESTLE or equivalent) | Identify external/internal issues relevant to AI governance
4.3            | AIMS scope defined | 🔴 Not started | AIMS Scope doc | Define AI system boundary, inclusions, exclusions, and justification
6.1.2          | AI risk assessment | 🟡 Partial | Risk register | Expand to cover all in-scope AI systems
A.2.2          | AI policy | 🟢 Implemented | Signed policy doc | Review against 42001 requirements

2. AI System Impact Assessment (AISIA)

The AISIA is a mandatory process under Clause 6.1.2. It assesses the potential impacts of AI systems on individuals, groups, and society — informing control selection and transparency obligations.

AISIA dimensions to assess:

• Intended purpose: what the AI system is designed to do
• Output type: decision support / autonomous decision / content generation / classification / prediction / recommendation
• Impact domain: employment, healthcare, financial services, law enforcement, education, public safety, other
• Affected population: scale, vulnerability of individuals impacted
• Severity: consequence if AI system fails, produces bias, or is misused
• Reversibility: can harms be corrected?
• Human oversight available: is a human in the loop?

AISIA impact classification:

3. AI Risk Assessment

Separate from the AISIA (which is impact-focused), the AI risk assessment evaluates likelihood × severity of risks specific to AI systems:

Risk categories to address:

• Model risks: bias, unfairness, hallucination, model drift, adversarial attacks
• Data risks: training data quality, data poisoning, privacy violations in training data
• Operational risks: system failure, unexpected outputs, scope creep
• Supply chain risks: third-party AI model risks, API dependency, provider lock-in
• Societal risks: discriminatory outcomes, erosion of human autonomy, misinformation

Risk treatment options (aligned to Clause 6.1.3):

• Modify the AI system (retrain, add guardrails, change architecture)
• Accept with monitoring (continuous monitoring + defined thresholds)
• Avoid (do not deploy the AI system for this use case)
• Transfer (contractual obligations to AI provider via Annex A.10 controls — specifically A.10.3 Suppliers)

4. Statement of Applicability (SoA) for AI

Generate a SoA table covering all Annex A controls across domains A.2–A.10 (38 controls total):

SoA format:

Control ID | Control Name | Applicable? | Justification | Implementation Status | Evidence Reference
A.2.2 | AI policy | Yes | Required for all AIMS | Implemented | AI-POL-001
A.4.3 | Data resources | Yes | Provider role — training data governance | In progress | N/A
A.9.2 | Processes for responsible use of AI systems | Yes | AI user role | Planned | N/A

For all 38 controls with descriptions → read references/iso42001-controls-annex-a.md

5. Policy Generation

Core AIMS policies required:

• AI Policy (Clause 5.2) — overarching commitment, scope, principles, top management signature
• AI Risk Management Policy (Clause 6) — risk assessment methodology, frequency, ownership
• AI Acceptable Use Policy (A.9.2) — permitted and prohibited AI uses, user obligations
• Data Governance for AI Policy (A.7) — training data quality, data sourcing, retention, bias controls
• AI Incident/Reporting Policy (A.8.4) — incident classification, reporting, response, post-incident review
• AI System Lifecycle Policy (A.6) — development, testing, deployment, monitoring
• AI Third-Party and Supplier Policy (A.10.3) — third-party AI provider due diligence, contractual clauses

Policy document structure (use for all):

[Organisation Name] — [Policy Name]
Document ID: [ID] | Version: 1.0 | Owner: [Role] | Approved by: [Title]
Effective Date: [Date] | Next Review: [Date +1yr]

1. Purpose and Scope
2. Policy Statement
3. Roles and Responsibilities
4. Requirements [clause/control-specific]
5. Monitoring and Compliance
6. Related Documents
7. Revision History

Certification Pathway

Stage 1 Audit (Documentation Review)

Auditor reviews: AIMS scope, AI policy, risk assessment records, AISIA records, SoA, objectives, documented information controls. Typical duration: 0.5–1 day for small organisations.

Stage 1 readiness checklist:

• AIMS scope document (Clause 4.3)
• AI policy signed by top management (Clause 5.2)
• AI system register (all systems in scope listed)
• AI risk assessment completed for all in-scope systems (Clause 6.1.2)
• AISIA completed for all in-scope systems (Clause 6.1.2)
• Statement of Applicability (SoA) covering all applicable Annex A controls (A.2–A.10)
• AIMS objectives documented and measurable (Clause 6.2)
• Internal audit programme (Clause 9.2)
• Management review agenda template (Clause 9.3)

Stage 2 Audit (Implementation Verification)

Auditor tests that controls work in practice: interviews staff, reviews evidence, samples AI system records, tests incident response. Typical duration: 1–3 days depending on scope.

Stage 2 evidence required:

• Executed AI risk assessments with treatment decisions
• AISIA records for each in-scope AI system
• Competence records and AI awareness training logs
• Supplier AI assessment records (for AI users/providers relying on third parties)
• Incident log (even if no incidents — demonstrate the process works)
• Internal audit report and management review minutes
• Corrective action records for any nonconformities

Surveillance Audits

Annual — auditor verifies continued compliance and improvement. Recertification every 3 years.

Integration with Other Management Systems

ISO 42001 uses HLS so it integrates cleanly:

Common Gap Areas (What Organisations Typically Miss)

1. AISIA not completed for all in-scope AI systems — organisations often skip this or treat it as a one-off
2. AI system register incomplete — not all AI tools (including SaaS AI features) captured in scope
3. Data governance for AI (Annex A.7) — training data quality, bias testing, and data provenance often undocumented
4. Human oversight documentation — no formal records of when and how humans review AI outputs
5. Supplier AI assessments (A.10.3) — third-party AI providers not assessed; no contractual AI-specific clauses
6. Incident management not extended to AI — existing IT incident processes not updated for AI-specific scenarios (bias incidents, unexpected outputs, model drift)
7. AI objectives not measurable — policy states responsible AI principles without specific, measurable targets

Key Terminology