ISO 42001

Implementation and Maintenance

Because "move fast and break things" isn't exactly ideal when you're building sentient robots

Why ISO 42001?

  • Navigate the AI Regulation Tsunami

    Stay ahead of the EU AI Act, UK regulations, and whatever bureaucratic masterpiece a government is cooking up. ISO 42001 gives you a framework that won't to stay ahead.

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  • Win Over Enterprise Customers

    Enterprise clients are getting spooked about AI risks (and rightly so). ISO 42001 certification is like a security blanket that says "yes, we know what we're doing with this scary robot stuff."

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  • Attract Investors Who Actually Get It

    Smart money is asking hard questions about AI governance. Show them you're not just building cool tech - you're building it responsibly, with proper guardrails and everything.

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  • Avoid Becoming a Cautionary Tale

    Proper AI governance prevents you from becoming the next headline about biased algorithms, privacy nightmares, or that time your chatbot went rogue on Twitter.

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  • Build AI That Actually Works

    ISO 42001 helps you cover your backside, but it’s about more than that - it's about building more reliable, fair, and effective AI that your users will actually trust.

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  • Future-Proof Your business

    AI regulations are coming whether you're ready or not. Get certified now and avoid the last-minute panic when compliance becomes mandatory (spoiler: it will).

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The problem

The AI governance industry has some serious issues:

  • Full Fees, Zero Accountability: Most companies charge you the full amount, whether you pass or fail. You’re left with no certification and a lighter business bank account.

  • Academic Overkill: Consultants who've never shipped an AI product creating theoretical frameworks that collapse faster than a poorly trained model. It's like getting driving lessons from someone who's only ever played Gran Turismo.

  • Regulatory Fear-Mongering: Lots of scary headlines about AI doom without any practical advice on what to actually do. Thanks for the nightmares, but can we get some actionable guidance?

  • Checkbox Compliance Theatre: Systems designed to impress auditors but completely useless for teams actually building, training, and deploying AI. It's compliance cosplay.

  • Snake Oil Platforms: Tools promising "AI governance in 2 weeks" that leave you with a governance system more broken than a chatbot trained on Reddit comments.

Let's be honest: if you're building the future with AI, you deserve governance that actually gets it.

The Serious Solution

Serious problems require serious solutions, so we do things differently:

  • Pay-on-Results Guarantee: You only pay the full fee when you pass certification. Fail? We refund you. No excuses, no "but we tried really hard" - just pure accountability.

  • AI-Native Frameworks: We build governance that understands your ML pipelines, model deployment workflows, and the fact that your AI system is basically a house of cards held together by Python scripts and prayer.

  • Developer-Friendly Language: We speak your language: APIs, model versioning, continuous integration, and responsible AI practices. No compliance jargon that makes everyone's eyes glaze over.

  • Real Risk Management: We focus on actual AI risks - bias, privacy breaches, model failures, and algorithmic chaos - not theoretical scenarios.

  • Scalable Governance: Our systems grow with your AI maturity. Whether you're training your first model or managing a fleet of AI systems, our frameworks scale without breaking (unlike your first production model).

What we Offer

We help startups and scaleups:

  • Get Certified: Starting from scratch? We'll build your AI management system from the ground up, covering everything from model governance to ethical AI practices. No confusion, no lengthy PowerPoints about "AI ethics in the abstract."

  • Fix Broken AI Governance: If your current AI governance feels like a bureaucratic nightmare that makes your developers want to quit and become farmers, we'll streamline it into something that actually helps your team build better AI.

  • Maintain Compliance: We handle the ongoing maintenance, regulatory updates, and audit preparation so you can focus on what you do best: building AI that doesn't accidentally take over the world.

How it Works

  1. AI Assessment: We'll dive deep into your current AI systems, understand your risks, and figure out how your team actually works (not how the textbooks say you should work).

  2. Custom Implementation: Whether building new governance or fixing existing chaos, we'll create an AI management system that integrates with your development process instead of fighting it.

  3. Certification: We'll prepare you for audit and ensure you pass the first time. Our guarantee means you don't pay if you don’t succeed (revolutionary concept, we know).

  4. Ongoing Maintenance: Certification is just the beginning. We'll keep your AI governance current with regulatory changes, technology updates, and the inevitable moment when AI regulations get even more complicated.

Why ISO Serious?

Because you need more than a generic compliance checklist.

  • We Tailor Everything: No copy-pasted policies. We build frameworks that fit your business.

  • We Actually Care: Our success is tied to your success. You don’t need to pay the full amount until you pass certification. Fail? We’ll refund you.

  • We Keep it Simple: We speak in plain English and focus on what matters - no fluff, no nonsense.

  • We’re Built for Startups and Scaleups: We specialise in helping high-growth, tech-enabled businesses. We know you don’t have endless resources, so we tailor our approach to fit your fast-paced environment.

  • We’ve Actually Been There: Our team has built startups, debugged broken code, and experienced the joy of explaining to executives why the AI is "learning" to be racist. We get it.

FAQs

  • ISO 42001 is the international standard for AI management systems. It helps you build, deploy, and maintain AI responsibly while managing risks and staying ahead of regulations. Think of it as a safety net for when your AI gets too clever for its own good.

  • Most consultancies would rather walk on lego than tell you that upfront.

    Not us, though.

    Here’s exactly what it costs, and how we calculate it.

  • For most startups and scaleups, we aim for 4-6 months, depending on how much coffee your team drinks.

    Need it quicker than that? Let us know, and we’ll tell how many coffees a day it’ll take to become possible.

  • Hasn’t happened with us yet!

    But if it does, you don’t pay. Our pay-on-results model guarantees that.

  • Absolutely! Whether your current AI governance needs a complete overhaul or just some optimisation, we'll make it work better for your team and your technology. No judgment on whatever Frankenstein's monster of policies you've cobbled together.

  • Absolutely. We provide ongoing workshops, reviews, and audits to keep your AISMS compliant and useful.

  • If you're building AI products for enterprise customers, handling sensitive data, or just want to sleep better at night knowing you won't accidentally create Skynet, absolutely. It's also great protection against the incoming tsunami of AI regulations.

  • Not if we’re involved. We make ISO 42001 a living, breathing part of your business. Sure, there are policies - but they’ll actually make sense, and your team might actually even use them.

  • You could, but that's like using a generic recipe to cook a dish you've never heard of. AI governance isn't like traditional IT governance - it has unique challenges around bias, explainability, and the fact that your models sometimes just decide to stop working for mysterious reasons.

  • Done wrong, yes.

    Done right, no.

    Our systems are designed to simplify your life, not turn it into a compliance nightmare.

  • Even if your "AI" is currently just a really confident Excel spreadsheet, proper governance helps you scale responsibly as your technology matures. Plus, it's easier to build good habits from the start than to retrofit them later.

  • Content creation by autonomous systems falls into a legal grey area that's evolving faster than our ability to regulate it. However, if your AI's podcast becomes more popular than your actual product, that might be a pivot worth considering.

Some people think we’re cool

  • We've been working with ISO Serious since mid last year, and they’ve been nothing short of phenomenal. They truly get startups and instantly understood what Gocertify was about and how to create an ISMS that worked for us. When I said I wanted to build our ISMS in Notion, it was no problem for them - they were flexible, supportive, and fully on board. Thanks to their expert guidance, we passed our certification with zero non-conformities and crucially have a security system that works and is going to grow with us. Honestly, they’re just epic to work with.

    - Josie Morrison, Operations Lead, Gocertify

  • Working with the ISO Serious team has been fantastic. They’ve demystified the process, breaking it down into manageable steps and guiding us through it with practical, collaborative workshops. It’s made something that felt complex feel achievable. As an early-stage company, we’ve especially appreciated their flexibility, speed, and support. We’d highly recommend them to anyone tackling new standards or accreditations

    - Bryan Snyder, COO, AIDE Health

  • We partnered with ISO Serious for our ISO 27001 certification, and they were instrumental in guiding us through the entire process. From advising on best practices, to conducting in-person incident management training and with consistent checkins via Slack, the team brought a fresh, modern approach to a process that can often feel daunting.Their expertise and clear communication made a complex process feel manageable, and their commitment to our success was evident throughout. Thanks to ISO Serious, SurrealDB achieved ISO 27001 certification smoothly and efficiently, giving our customers and stakeholders added confidence in our security posture. We look forward to our continued collaboration and highly recommend them.

    - Lizzie Holmes, Head of Operations, SurrealDB

we promise not to bore you to death