AIMS (AI Management System)
An AI management system (AIMS) is the set of policies, processes, and controls an organization uses to govern the development, procurement, deployment, and retirement of AI systems — the AI equivalent of an ISMS for security or a QMS for quality.
What it governs
An AIMS covers the whole AI lifecycle: intended-purpose definition, data sourcing and quality, model development or procurement, impact and risk assessment, deployment with human oversight, monitoring for drift and incidents, and retirement. It also covers the organizational layer — roles, competencies, supplier management, and reporting to leadership.
ISO/IEC 42001 is the standard that defines what a conforming AIMS requires. Because it shares the Annex SL skeleton with ISO 27001 and ISO 9001, organizations already running those systems extend them rather than building a parallel structure — shared audits, shared document control, one management review.
Why organizations are building one
The EU AI Act makes AI governance a legal question, not an ethical preference. An AIMS gives you the inventory, risk process, and oversight evidence that regulators and enterprise customers increasingly request — and it is the only scalable way to answer what AI are we running and who is accountable for it.
Related Standards
- •ISO/IEC 42001:2023 — AIMS requirements
- •ISO/IEC 23894 — AI risk management guidance
- •Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 (EU AI Act)
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