Framework Explorer / ISO/IEC 42001
ISO/IEC 42001 in the AI Governance Framework Explorer
ISO/IEC 42001 is the first certifiable international management system standard for artificial intelligence. It defines how an organization establishes, implements, maintains, and continually improves an AI management system (AIMS) — the governance layer that makes AI development and deployment accountable.
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Every ISO/IEC 42001 entry, explained
Titles identify each requirement; the one-line summaries below are original Tech Jacks plain-English descriptions, not official standard text. Click any ID to open the full entry — implementation guidance, evidence checklists, risk analysis, and FAQs — in the interactive explorer.
4 — Context of the Organization5 entries
Determine external and internal issues relevant to the AIMS purpose and outcomes.
Identify interested parties and their requirements relevant to the AIMS.
Define boundaries and applicability of the AI management system.
5 — Leadership4 entries
Assign and communicate roles, responsibilities and authorities for the AIMS.
6 — Planning8 entries
Plan actions to address risks and opportunities affecting the AIMS.
Establish and maintain an AI risk assessment process for identifying, analyzing, and evaluating AI risks.
Define and apply an AI risk treatment process to select and implement controls.
Assess impacts of AI systems on individuals, groups, societies and the environment.
Establish AI objectives at relevant functions, levels, and processes.
7 — Support6 entries
Ensure persons doing work are aware of the AI policy, their contribution, and implications of non-conformity.
Include documented information required by this document and determined necessary for AIMS effectiveness.
8 — Operation5 entries
Plan, implement and control processes needed to meet requirements and implement planned actions.
Perform AI risk assessments at planned intervals or when significant changes occur.
Implement the AI risk treatment plan and retain documented information on results.
Perform AI system impact assessments at planned intervals or when significant changes occur.
9 — Performance Evaluation9 entries
Determine what needs to be monitored and measured, methods, and when to analyze results.
Conduct internal audits at planned intervals to verify AIMS conformity and effectiveness.
Review the AIMS at planned intervals to ensure its continuing suitability, adequacy and effectiveness.
Include status of actions, changes, feedback, audit results, and risk assessment results.
Decisions related to continual improvement opportunities and any need for changes.
10 — Improvement3 entries
Continually improve the suitability, adequacy and effectiveness of the AIMS.
React to nonconformities, evaluate the need for action, implement changes, and review effectiveness.
3 — Terms and Definitions19 entries
Person or group of people with its own functions, responsibilities, authorities, and relationships to achieve its objectives.
Person or organization that can affect, be affected by, or perceive itself to be affected by a decision or activity.
Set of interrelated or interacting organizational elements that establish policies, objectives, and processes.
Effect of uncertainty, often expressed as a combination of event consequences and associated likelihood.
Set of interrelated or interacting activities that uses or transforms inputs to deliver a result.
Action taken to eliminate the cause(s) of a nonconformity and prevent its recurrence.
Determining the status of a system, process, or activity through checking, supervising, or critical observation.
Measure that maintains and/or modifies risk, including any process, policy, device, practice, or action.
Person or group accountable for the performance and conformance of the organization.
Formal documented process to identify, evaluate, and address impacts on individuals, groups, and societies from AI systems.
Documentation of all necessary controls and justification for their inclusion or exclusion.
A.2 — AI Policies4 entries
An AI policy and topic-specific policies shall be defined, approved by management, published, communicated and acknowledged.
The organization shall determine where other organizational policies intersect with or are affected by AI objectives.
The AI policy shall be reviewed at planned intervals or if significant changes occur to ensure continuing suitability, adequacy and effectiveness.
A.3 — Internal Organization3 entries
A mechanism for reporting AI concerns and potential non-compliance shall be established.
A.4 — Resources for AI Systems6 entries
Relevant resources required for AI system lifecycle activities shall be identified and documented.
Information about the tooling resources utilized for the AI system shall be documented.
Information about the system and computing resources utilized for the AI system shall be documented.
Information about human resources and their competencies used for AI system lifecycle activities shall be documented.
A.5 — Assessing impacts of AI systems5 entries
Controls for assessing the impacts of AI systems on individuals, groups, and societies.
A process shall be established to assess the potential consequences of AI systems for individuals, groups, and societies.
The results of the AI system impact assessment shall be documented.
The potential impacts of AI systems to individuals or groups of individuals throughout the system lifecycle shall be assessed and documented.
The potential societal impacts of AI systems throughout their lifecycle shall be assessed and documented.
A.6 — AI Lifecycle11 entries
Controls covering the AI system lifecycle: impact assessment, development and acquisition, verification and validation, deployment, operations, monitoring, and retirement.
Objectives to guide responsible development of the AI system shall be identified, documented, and integrated into the development lifecycle.
Specific processes for responsible design and development of AI systems shall be defined and documented.
Requirements for new AI systems or material enhancements shall be specified and documented.
AI system design and development shall be documented based on organizational objectives.
Verification and validation measures and criteria for the AI system shall be defined and documented.
A deployment plan shall be documented and requirements verified before deployment of the AI system.
Necessary elements for ongoing operation shall be defined and documented, including system and performance monitoring, repairs, updates, and support.
Technical documentation needed for each category of interested parties shall be determined and provided.
The lifecycle phases at which event log recording should be enabled shall be determined and documented.
A.7 — Data for AI systems6 entries
Data management processes related to AI system development shall be defined, documented and implemented.
Data quality criteria for AI systems shall be defined, measured and maintained.
A.8 — Information for interested parties of AI systems5 entries
Controls for providing information about AI systems to interested parties.
Documentation and information about AI systems shall be provided to users and relevant interested parties.
Capabilities shall be provided for interested parties to report adverse impacts related to AI systems.
A plan for communicating AI system incidents to users shall be determined and documented.
Obligations for reporting information about the AI system to interested parties shall be determined and documented.
A.9 — Use of AI systems4 entries
Processes for responsible use of AI systems shall be defined and documented.
Objectives to guide responsible use of AI systems shall be identified and documented.
The AI system shall be used according to its intended uses and accompanying documentation.
A.10 — Third-party and customer relationships4 entries
Controls for managing relationships with third parties, suppliers, and customers regarding AI systems.
Responsibilities within the AI system lifecycle shall be allocated between the organization, partners, suppliers, customers and third parties.
A process shall be established to ensure supplier products and services align with the organization’s responsible AI approach.
The organization’s responsible AI approach shall consider customer expectations and needs.
Annex B — Implementation guidance for AI controls1 entries
Normative annex providing implementation guidance for all controls listed in Table A.1, organized in sections B.2 through B.12 corresponding to Annex A control families.
Annex C — Potential AI-related objectives and risk sources1 entries
Informative annex outlining potential organizational objectives (accountability, AI expertise, data quality, environmental impact, fairness, privacy, reliability, safety, security, transparency) and risk sources for AI systems.
How ISO/IEC 42001 maps to other frameworks
Sample audited mappings
All 95 mappings are browsable in the interactive explorer and its knowledge graph.
Implementation templates for ISO/IEC 42001
Related guides
Frequently asked questions
How many ISO/IEC 42001 entries does the Framework Explorer cover?
109 entries, each with a plain-English explanation, implementation guidance at three organization sizes, evidence checklists, and risk context. 88 entries carry source-grounded risk profiles.
How does ISO/IEC 42001 relate to the other AI governance frameworks?
The Framework Explorer documents 95 audited cross-framework mappings touching ISO/IEC 42001, connecting it to NIST AI RMF, EU AI Act, ISO/IEC 27001, OWASP LLM Top 10, OWASP Agentic AI Top 10, MITRE ATLAS. Every mapping was verified against the source documents.
Is this content the official ISO/IEC 42001 text?
No. Entry titles identify each requirement, and all explanations are original plain-English summaries written by Tech Jacks Solutions. For official text, consult the publishing body directly.