What is an AI Governance?

Governance sits above any single technical control, it's the organizational structure deciding who is accountable for AI risk, what gets reviewed before deployment, and how incidents are handled after the fact. This typically includes a defined risk classification process, some AI use cases are low-stakes and need minimal review, others (hiring, credit, healthcare) are high-stakes and require documented risk assessment before launch, plus clear ownership of the AI acceptable use policy and incident response plan. Effective governance connects policy to practice: it's not enough to have a document stating principles if there's no actual review gate before a new AI feature ships, or no mechanism for someone to flag a problem once it's live. Mature governance programs tie into existing compliance frameworks (SOC 2, ISO 27001, GDPR) so AI-specific risk isn't managed in a silo separate from the organization's broader security and privacy posture.