SAAS
AI governance for a SaaS provider using ISO 42001
A SaaS provider needed a practical AI governance baseline that could support customer assurance, application security and future ISO 42001 readiness.
THE CHALLENGE
What needed to change
AI features had been added quickly across the product without a consistent register of use cases, model risks, access paths or evidence needed for customer reviews and future ISO 42001 alignment.
THE APPROACH
How Cybergaar responded
Cybergaar mapped AI use cases, reviewed data flows, aligned control expectations to ISO 42001 themes and built a lightweight governance workflow for risk ownership, logging, approvals and periodic review.
THE OUTCOME
The result
The SaaS provider gained a structured AI governance backlog, clearer ownership for model and data risk, and a reusable evidence model for enterprise customers asking about AI security and compliance.
THE CHALLENGE
What created the risk
Shadow AI Usage
Teams were using AI-enabled tooling without one consolidated register or approval workflow.
Application Risk
Model inputs, outputs and customer data exposure needed to be reviewed alongside normal application security controls.
Assurance Pressure
Enterprise customers wanted clear answers about AI governance before procurement and renewal.
THE SOLUTION
What changed in the architecture
AI System Inventory
Documented AI features, supporting vendors, data categories, access rights and business owners.
ISO 42001 Mapping
Mapped governance, risk, monitoring and improvement activities to ISO 42001 readiness themes.
Evidence Workflow
Created practical evidence expectations for approvals, risk reviews, logs and periodic control checks.
TECHNICAL HURDLES & MITIGATIONS
Issues handled during the engagement
Issue
Fast Product Change: AI features were evolving faster than formal governance could be written.
Architecture fix
Used a lightweight register and recurring review cadence instead of a heavy one-time policy exercise.
Issue
Unclear Ownership: product, engineering and security all owned part of the risk but no single workflow connected them.
Architecture fix
Defined control owners and escalation points for AI-related security, privacy and compliance decisions.
STORY STATUS