AI Governance & ISO 42001 Readiness
From zero documentation to audit-ready in 8–12 weeks. AI inventory, risk classification, human oversight, post-market monitoring, and policy templates that map to ISO/IEC 42001:2023, the EU AI Act, and UAE PDPL.
The Problem
ISO/IEC 42001 is the fastest-rising RFP requirement in 2026. F500 buyers expect their vendors to be certified or have a public roadmap. Internal compliance teams are spinning up AI governance committees with no template, no AI inventory, no risk classification scheme, and no auditor confidence. The cost of getting it wrong is a failed external audit and a lost enterprise deal.
The Outcome
A complete ISO 42001 readiness package — AI inventory, risk register, governance policies, monitoring plan, and human oversight procedures — delivered as your auditor wants to see it. You walk into the certification audit prepared, not scrambling.
In Scope
Gap Analysis
Weeks 1–2- Inventory of every AI system in your organisation — internal, vendor, embedded
- Mapping current state against ISO 42001 controls (Annex A)
- Identification of high-risk vs limited-risk vs minimal-risk systems per the EU AI Act
- Compliance gap report with prioritised remediation list
Policy Authoring
Weeks 3–7- AI Management System (AIMS) policy framework
- AI inventory schema and population
- Risk classification methodology with worked examples
- Human oversight, escalation, and override procedures
- Post-market monitoring plan with metrics and review cadence
- Incident response playbook for AI-specific failures
- Vendor due-diligence checklist for third-party AI
- Data governance overlay — PDPL, GDPR, sector-specific rules
Internal Audit Dry-Run
Weeks 8–10- Internal audit against ISO 42001 control set
- Findings register with severity and owner
- Remediation tracking through to closure
- Stakeholder readout — board, exec, compliance, engineering
Audit Handover
Weeks 11–12- Auditor selection support — we maintain relationships with certified ISO 42001 audit bodies
- Pre-audit readiness review
- Auditor liaison during the certification audit
- Post-audit remediation support if any non-conformities surface
How We Engage
01
Gap call (60 minutes) — we walk through your AI footprint and existing compliance maturity. Free.
02
Fixed-scope SoW — clear deliverables, named team, fixed price. Delivered within 5 business days of the gap call.
03
Kickoff in ≤14 days — gap analysis sprint begins within two weeks of contract signing.
Why Codenovai
We approach ISO 42001 readiness from an operator's perspective — the policy templates, AI inventory schema, and monitoring framework we deliver are structured to match what auditors actually look for, not generic compliance boilerplate.
FAQ
- Do we have to deploy AI governance internally, or just for clients?
- ISO/IEC 42001 is an organisational management system standard — like ISO 9001 or ISO 27001. It applies to your AI as an organisation, not per-product. The certification covers the way you govern AI across all your systems, internal and customer-facing. We scope the readiness work to your full AI footprint, not just the systems you sell.
- How does this overlap with ISO 27001 if we already have it?
- Significant overlap on data protection, access control, and incident response — we reuse your existing ISMS controls where they cover the AIMS requirements. ISO 42001 adds AI-specific controls around risk classification, training data governance, model validation, human oversight, and post-market monitoring. The readiness package focuses on the additive controls, not duplicating what you've already certified.
- What if the EU AI Act changes during the engagement?
- The EU AI Act enforcement timeline runs through 2027 and the secondary acts are still being published. Our scope tracks the published guidance at contract signing and includes one round of policy updates if a material change lands during the engagement. For organisations with high EU exposure we offer a quarterly governance retainer (separate SoW) to stay current.
- Is this only for organisations selling to F500 or banks?
- It's where the demand is strongest, but the value applies more broadly. Any organisation with AI in customer-facing or revenue-impacting roles benefits from documented governance — it's also a cost-of-capital signal for fundraising and a moat against competitors who can't show it. Mid-market clients adopt the framework without pursuing certification immediately.
- Do you handle the certification audit yourselves?
- No. ISO 42001 audits must be performed by an accredited certification body — we maintain relationships with the audit bodies operating in the UAE and EU and support you through the process, but the audit and certificate come from a third party. Auditor fees typically run AED 40,000–90,000 separately from our scope.