AI Procurement and Third Party Risk Assessment Playbook Template
A customizable framework designed to support organizations in establishing consistent processes for evaluating third-party AI vendors, assessing associated risks, and documenting approval decisions.
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Acquiring AI products from external vendors introduces risks that many organizations struggle to evaluate systematically. This playbook template provides a structured approach to vendor assessment, from initial screening through contract approval and ongoing monitoring. The template requires customization to reflect your organization’s specific technologies, risk tolerance, and regulatory environment. Organizations using this framework can potentially reduce the time spent developing procurement procedures from scratch while establishing documentation that supports consistent evaluation practices.
Key Benefits
✓ Provides a structured eight-step procurement workflow covering requirements definition through vendor onboarding
✓ Includes guidance for sending and evaluating vendor risk questionnaires across security, privacy, compliance, and operational categories
✓ Supports risk assessment documentation with mitigation planning frameworks
✓ Contains approval workflow structure for governance committee or executive review
✓ Includes monitoring and review guidance for ongoing vendor relationships
✓ Offers alignment considerations for EU AI Act, ISO 27001, and CSA guidance
Who Uses This?
This template is designed for:
- Procurement and vendor management teams evaluating AI solutions
- IT security professionals conducting third-party risk assessments
- Compliance officers establishing AI procurement governance
- Legal teams reviewing AI vendor contracts
- Organizations beginning to formalize AI acquisition processes
Preview: What’s Included
The playbook contains a complete procedure section covering eight procurement phases, risk and impact assessment guidance, approval workflow documentation, monitoring requirements, a definitions section, version history tracking, and an approvers signature page. Blue italicized text in brackets indicates customizable sections requiring organization-specific information.
Why This Matters
Organizations increasingly rely on external AI products for everything from customer service automation to data analytics. Each vendor relationship introduces potential risks: security vulnerabilities, compliance gaps, biased model outputs, and contractual ambiguities around liability and intellectual property. Without a structured evaluation process, procurement decisions often happen inconsistently across departments, creating exposure that surfaces only after problems occur.
The challenge isn’t simply whether to use third-party AI. It’s establishing a repeatable process that surfaces risks before contracts are signed. A well-documented procurement playbook helps cross-functional teams (security, legal, data science, and business units) coordinate their review activities and document their findings in ways that support governance requirements.
This template addresses the procedural gap many organizations face when they recognize the need for AI vendor governance but lack the internal resources to develop comprehensive documentation from scratch. The framework requires significant customization, but provides a starting structure that reflects common industry practices for technology procurement and risk assessment.
Framework Alignment
The template includes alignment considerations for the following frameworks and standards explicitly referenced in the document:
- EU AI Act: Includes guidance on verifying vendor compliance support for high-risk AI applications, including documentation requirements and notification of model changes
- ISO/IEC 27001:2022: Aligns with supplier security controls (Annex A.5.19) regarding security of supplier relationships, extended to include AI-specific criteria
- CSA (Cloud Security Alliance): Incorporates CSA guidance on AI supply chain risk assessment, including trustworthiness and transparency evaluation beyond compliance checkboxes
- Cloud Controls Matrix (CCM): References alignment with cloud security frameworks for vendors offering cloud-based AI services
- GDPR and HIPAA: Includes considerations for data protection agreements and Business Associate Agreements where applicable to the AI solution
Key Features
The playbook template includes the following sections and components:
- Purpose and Scope Definition: Establishes the document’s application to SaaS AI platforms, on-premises AI software, open-source AI libraries, and AI vendor partnerships
- Prerequisites and Inputs Guidance: Documents information gathering requirements including marketing materials, technical documentation, vendor questionnaires, and demo or trial access
- Eight-Step Procurement Procedure:
- Define Requirements and Risk Profile
- Identify and Screen Vendors
- Send Vendor Risk Questionnaire
- Evaluate Vendor Responses
- Risk Assessment and Mitigation Plan
- Compliance and Legal Review
- Approval Decision
- Onboarding the Vendor/Product
- Risk Assessment Guidance: Provides interpretation guidance for vendor responses and common third-party AI risks including data residency and model transparency
- Approval Workflow Structure: Documents threshold-based approval requirements and integration with procurement department procedures
- Monitoring and Review Framework: Establishes ongoing relationship monitoring, annual reassessment triggers, and vendor change notification requirements
- Definitions Section: Includes key terms such as AI Systems, Inherent Risks, Mitigation, Acceptable Risks, and Onboarding
- Version History and Approvers: Provides tracking tables for document governance
Comparison Table: Generic Approach vs. This Professional Template
| Evaluation Aspect | Generic Approach | This Professional Template |
|---|---|---|
| Procurement Process | Ad hoc evaluation varying by department or individual | Structured eight-step workflow with defined phases |
| Vendor Questionnaire | Inconsistent questions or reliance on vendor-provided materials | Comprehensive questionnaire categories covering model details, bias testing, security, privacy, compliance, and operations |
| Risk Documentation | Informal notes or email threads | Structured risk assessment with mitigation planning framework |
| Cross-Functional Review | Sequential or siloed reviews | Guidance for coordinated security, legal, and technical team evaluation |
| Approval Authority | Unclear decision-making responsibility | Documented approval workflow with executive and risk/compliance sign-off |
| Ongoing Monitoring | Contract renewal reminders only | Annual reassessment guidance with change notification requirements |
| Regulatory Alignment | Framework references added retroactively | Built-in alignment considerations for EU AI Act, ISO 27001, and CSA guidance |
FAQ Section
Q: What file format is this template delivered in? A: The template is delivered as a Microsoft Word document (.docx) to ensure proper formatting and enable collaborative editing. This format supports tracked changes, comments, and standard business document workflows.
Q: How much customization is required before using this template? A: Significant customization is required. Sections marked with blue italicized text in brackets (such as [Company], [Product], and role definitions) must be replaced with organization-specific information. The document explicitly states that sections not applicable to your organization should be deleted, and examples provided should be replaced with your actual processes.
Q: Does this template include a vendor risk questionnaire? A: The template provides guidance on questionnaire categories and topics to address (model details, bias and fairness, security, privacy, compliance, and operational aspects) but does not include a standalone questionnaire form. Organizations may need to develop their specific questionnaire based on the guidance provided.
Q: What frameworks does this template reference? A: The template explicitly references the EU AI Act, ISO/IEC 27001:2022 (specifically Annex A.5.19 on supplier relationships), CSA guidance on AI supply chain risk, and Cloud Controls Matrix. It also mentions GDPR and HIPAA considerations where applicable to specific AI deployments.
Q: Is this template suitable for all organization sizes? A: The template states it provides a framework suitable for businesses of various sizes. However, the approval workflow structure assumes the presence of governance bodies such as a Procurement Review Board or AI Governance Committee, and executive roles such as CIO, CTO, or risk/compliance executives. Smaller organizations may need to adapt these structures.
Q: Does using this template guarantee compliance with AI regulations? A: No. This template provides a documentation framework that may support compliance efforts, but does not guarantee compliance with any regulation. Organizations should consult with qualified legal and compliance professionals to determine specific regulatory requirements applicable to their situation.
Ideal For Section
This template may be particularly relevant for:
- Mid-size to enterprise organizations beginning to formalize AI procurement governance
- Compliance and risk management teams establishing vendor assessment documentation
- IT and security departments integrating AI-specific criteria into existing vendor management processes
- Legal teams developing contract review checklists for AI acquisitions
- Organizations preparing for EU AI Act requirements that need to document vendor due diligence for high-risk AI systems
- Healthcare organizations requiring structured evaluation of AI vendors handling protected health information
- Cloud-first companies evaluating SaaS AI platforms against security frameworks
Pricing Strategy Options
Single Template: Contact for pricing based on organizational requirements and customization needs.
Bundle Option: May be combined with additional AI governance templates (such as AI Acceptable Use Policy or AI Risk Management Framework) depending on organizational compliance scope.
Enterprise Option: Available as part of comprehensive AI governance documentation suites for organizations requiring multiple policy and procedure templates.
⚖️ Differentiator
This playbook template provides a structured procurement workflow specifically designed for AI vendor evaluation, distinguishing it from generic vendor management procedures that may not address AI-specific risks such as model bias, algorithmic transparency, and the unique regulatory requirements emerging from frameworks like the EU AI Act. The template includes explicit alignment considerations for ISO 27001 supplier security controls and CSA guidance on AI supply chain risk, providing organizations with a starting framework that connects procurement activities to recognized governance standards. Unlike high-level guidance documents, this template offers procedural detail including eight defined procurement phases, cross-functional review coordination, and ongoing monitoring requirements that organizations can adapt to their specific governance structures.
Note: This template requires customization to reflect your organization’s specific technologies, processes, and regulatory environment. The document provides a framework and examples that must be tailored to your situation. Consultation with qualified legal and compliance professionals is recommended before implementation. Documents are optimized for Microsoft Word to ensure proper formatting and collaborative editing capabilities.
