AI Governance Framework: Build One That Lasts

An AI governance framework is the structured approach your organisation uses to make decisions about AI: which tools to approve, what rules apply to their use, who is accountable, and how compliance is demonstrated. It's the difference between ad hoc AI adoption and AI adoption you can defend to a customer, regulator or board.

The four components of a working framework

1. Policy: your AI usage policy, version-controlled and distributed. 2. Registry: a live list of approved AI tools with their risk rating and approved use cases. 3. Process: how new AI tools are requested, evaluated and approved or rejected. 4. Attestation: proof that staff have acknowledged the policy, refreshed at least annually.

Governance without bureaucracy

For companies under 100 people, the entire framework can live in a single document and a simple tool. Over-engineering it (multiple committees, quarterly policy reviews, 40-page risk matrices) guarantees the framework is ignored in favour of just getting work done. Keep it lightweight and sustainable.

Who owns it?

Name a single owner: typically the COO, Head of IT, or a designated Privacy/Compliance Lead. Without a named owner, the framework becomes everyone's problem and no one's responsibility. The owner approves new tools, updates the policy and handles employee questions.

Greenlightly as your framework backbone

Rather than building the four components from scratch, Greenlightly gives you a policy generator (component 1), an AI tool directory (component 2), an approval workflow for new tools (component 3), and attestation tracking (component 4). Operational in a day, not a quarter.