Data & AI Governance Advisory
Build practical governance and controls around the data and AI technologies your organization increasingly relies upon.
Organizations are adopting artificial intelligence, analytics, automation, and data-driven processes faster than traditional governance structures can always keep up.
As these technologies become part of financial reporting, business processes, decision-making, and everyday employee activity, organizations need to understand how data is used, who is responsible for it, what risks exist, and which controls are appropriate.
Schmid CPA helps organizations assess data and AI governance risks and develop practical controls, responsibilities, policies, and oversight processes.
AI Governance & Risk Assessments
- Identify how AI is being used across the organization, evaluate related risks, and assess whether appropriate governance and oversight are in place.
AI Policies & Control Frameworks
- Develop or improve policies, responsibilities, approval processes, monitoring, and controls surrounding the use of AI technologies.
Data Governance & Controls
- Assess ownership, access, quality, integrity, retention, classification, and other governance considerations surrounding important organizational data.
AI Use-Case & Control Reviews
- Evaluate specific AI applications or use cases to understand their purpose, data dependencies, risks, human oversight, and control requirements.
Data & Reporting Reliability
- Evaluate controls surrounding data used in financial reporting, management reporting, analytics, automated processes, and other important business decisions.
Governance & Remediation Support
- Translate identified AI or data governance gaps into practical policies, controls, ownership structures, monitoring activities, and remediation plans.
One of the first governance challenges is simply understanding where AI has entered the organization.
Employees may use public generative AI tools. Business applications may introduce embedded AI functionality. Departments may automate processes independently. Vendors may use AI within services provided to the organization.
Without visibility, management may have difficulty understanding what information is being shared, what decisions are being influenced, and which risks require oversight.
Schmid CPA can help organizations establish a clearer inventory of AI use cases and evaluate where additional governance or controls may be appropriate.
Organizations may need support when:
★ Employees are using generative AI without established guidance
★ Management does not have visibility into AI use across the organization
★ Sensitive or confidential information may be entered into AI tools
★ AI capabilities are being introduced through existing software vendors
★ Responsibilities for approving or monitoring AI use are unclear
★ AI-generated information influences important business decisions
★ Human review requirements have not been clearly established
★ Data ownership is unclear
★ Access to important data is broader than intended
★ Data quality or integrity affects reporting and automated processes
★ Critical reports depend on complex data flows
★ Management needs an AI governance policy or control framework
★ Internal audit needs to assess AI-related risks
★ Existing IT risk processes do not yet address AI
Automation and AI can improve efficiency, but they can also create risk when outputs are relied upon without understanding how they were produced or whether appropriate review occurred.
Controls may need to address who can use a technology, which data can be provided, what decisions can be automated, when human review is required, how exceptions are handled, and who remains accountable for the result.
The objective is not to prevent useful technology from being adopted. It is to establish appropriate guardrails so organizations can use it responsibly.
AI, automated controls, analytics, financial reports, and management dashboards all depend on data.
If the underlying data is incomplete, inaccurate, improperly accessed, or poorly governed, the reliability of the resulting process can also be affected.
Schmid CPA helps organizations consider data ownership, access, integrity, reporting flows, and control responsibilities as part of the broader technology control environment.
AI governance does not necessarily need to become an entirely separate compliance program.
Many AI-related risks overlap with processes organizations already maintain for cybersecurity, access management, data governance, third-party risk, change management, internal controls, and technology governance.
Schmid CPA helps organizations identify these connections and incorporate AI considerations into existing risk and control structures where practical.
AI technology will continue to change.
A sustainable governance approach therefore needs more than a one-time policy. Organizations need clear ownership, a process for evaluating new use cases, appropriate controls, ongoing monitoring, and a way to adjust as technology and risks evolve.
Schmid CPA can help establish a practical governance structure that can develop alongside the organization’s use of data, automation, and AI.
Need practical governance around your organization’s use of data and AI?
Schedule a consultation to discuss your technology environment, current AI use, and governance priorities.