Speak AI fluently with every client.

Silhouette of a person facing a red-lit industrial tower, surveying the full system from a distance.
Advisory work requires seeing the full system. The consultant who maps the architecture earns the board conversation.

Clients are asking about AI governance, EU regulation, and strategic positioning. The quality of your answer in those conversations determines whether you are the person they call next quarter or the one they replace with someone who has a clearer framework.

Confident, accurate advice comes from structured knowledge: knowing which regulation applies, which standard is relevant, and which strategic framework gives the client a decision tool rather than an opinion.

This wiki covers the governance frameworks, technical vocabulary, and strategic tools that underpin board-level AI decisions.

Where advisory gaps show up

EU AI Act compliance questions arrive without a framework ready. A client asks whether their customer-facing AI feature falls under the Act. Without a working model of the four risk tiers, the answer is either wrong or vague. Neither serves the client or your position.

AI strategy conversations stay too abstract. “You should invest in AI” is not advice. A framework like Wardley Mapping makes the conversation concrete: where in the value chain does AI create real advantage, where is it commodity, and what does the sequencing look like?

Vocabulary gaps undermine credibility at the technical level. A CTO who hears an advisor use “machine learning” and “deep learning” interchangeably notices. So does an AI engineer in the room. Precision signals preparation.

Your reading path

Principles OECD AI Principles The international baseline for trustworthy AI. Referenced in most national frameworks and procurement requirements.
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Regulation EU AI Act Risk Framework The four risk tiers, obligations at each tier, and the timeline. Essential for any client operating in Europe.
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Standards ISO 42001 The AI management system standard. Appearing in enterprise procurement and public sector tenders.
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Operations LLMOps How AI systems are operated, monitored, and maintained in production. The operational vocabulary for AI.
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Models Foundation Models What a foundation model is, how clients access them, and the vendor dependency implications.
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Strategy Wardley Mapping for AI The strategic tool that makes AI investment conversations concrete, visual, and actionable.

Governance vocabulary for client conversations

EU AI Act risk classification: Unacceptable (prohibited uses, including social scoring and real-time biometric surveillance in public spaces), high risk (conformity assessment required before deployment), limited risk (transparency obligations), minimal risk (voluntary codes of practice). The classification depends on the use case, not the technology.

Conformity assessment: The process a high-risk AI system must pass before market placement. Can be self-assessment or third-party audit, depending on the system category.

Post-market monitoring: An ongoing requirement for high-risk AI systems. Operators must monitor performance and report serious incidents to the relevant national authority.

ISO 42001 scope: An AI management system (AIMS) covering the full lifecycle from design to decommissioning. Structured around Plan-Do-Check-Act. Compatible with ISO 9001 and ISO 27001 in integrated management systems.

OECD AI Principles: Five principles for trustworthy AI: inclusive growth, human-centred values and fairness, transparency and explainability, robustness and safety, accountability. Used in policy documents across 46 member countries.

Building credibility across client types

Different clients need different entry points into the same conversation.

A legal team needs the regulation layer: which Act, which tier, which obligations, which timeline. Start with the EU AI Act Risk Framework.

A technology leadership team needs the operational layer: how AI systems are built, deployed, and monitored. LLMOps and Foundation Models give you the vocabulary for that conversation.

A board or executive team needs the strategic layer: where AI creates value, what the risks are at an organisational level, and how to structure governance. Wardley Mapping and ISO 42001 are the tools for that conversation.

The frameworks on this wiki are designed to be combined. A client engagement that spans all three layers is more valuable than one that covers only the one the client first asked about.

Start here: OECD AI Principles

Also useful

  • EU AI Act Risk Framework : the four-tier regulatory framework and the compliance obligations at each level
  • ISO 42001 : the management system standard for AI, increasingly required in procurement and public sector contracts
  • Wardley Mapping for AI : the strategic mapping tool that makes AI investment conversations visual and specific
  • LLMOps : the operational vocabulary for AI systems in production, used by engineering and governance teams alike