4.1.2. AI Councils and Governance
💡 First Principle: AI councils are organizational traffic control—they don't fly the planes, but they set the flight paths and manage the airspace. Without this coordination, AI initiatives collide (duplicated efforts), crash (unmanaged risks), or get lost (no strategic alignment). When exam questions ask "who decides AI policy," the answer is the AI council; "who implements AI," the answer is project teams within council guardrails.
AI Council purpose and composition:
An AI council is a cross-functional leadership body that:
- Sets organizational AI strategy and priorities
- Establishes AI standards and policies
- Provides oversight for AI initiatives
- Ensures responsible AI principles are applied
- Coordinates AI investments across the organization
Typical AI council composition:
| Role | Contribution |
|---|---|
| Executive sponsor | Strategic authority, resource allocation |
| IT/Technology | Technical feasibility, infrastructure |
| Legal/Compliance | Regulatory requirements, risk |
| HR | Workforce impact, training |
| Business units | Use cases, adoption |
| Data/Privacy | Data governance, privacy |
| Ethics/Risk | Responsible AI, risk management |
Governance vs. operations:
AI councils focus on strategy and oversight, not day-to-day operations. They set the guardrails within which teams operate, review significant AI initiatives, and ensure alignment with organizational values and policies.
⚠️ Exam Trap: AI councils are for strategy and governance, not operational execution. Questions about who decides AI policy = AI council. Questions about who implements AI solutions = project teams operating within council-set guidelines.
Reflection Question: A department wants to deploy an AI solution that will affect customer-facing decisions. The AI council hasn't reviewed it. What should happen before deployment?
