What’s Covered?
Rhymetec’s guide structures the ISO 42001 journey into four main phases:
1. Building a Foundation:
Organizations are coached to start with defining their AI management system scope, identifying relevant stakeholders, clarifying responsibilities, and performing an initial gap assessment. There’s emphasis on aligning AI use with organizational strategy and legal obligations—echoing ISO 42001’s core theme: risk-based governance of AI systems.
2. Executing the Compliance Blueprint:
This section covers implementing controls, policies, and procedures based on ISO 42001’s clauses, especially those related to lifecycle management, AI-specific risk treatment, and human oversight. Companies are encouraged to operationalize governance through documentation and training—not just policies on paper.
3. Preparing for External Audit:
Once systems are live, Rhymetec highlights the need for internal audits, management reviews, and evidence collection to satisfy audit expectations. This step focuses on proving not just design, but effectiveness.
4. Certification:
Finally, the guide breaks down what to expect during the audit itself, including how to work with a certification body and what issues typically delay approval.
The guide also includes a visual timeline estimating the duration of each phase (depending on whether you start from scratch or already have an ISO foundation like 27001). It finishes with an FAQ to address concerns around overlap with other standards, auditor expectations, and whether AI development needs to stop during audit preparation (spoiler: it doesn’t).
💡 Why it matters?
AI standards like ISO 42001 are becoming a trust signal—especially for SaaS companies selling AI services into regulated industries. This guide helps product and security leaders turn compliance from a vague aspiration into a project with milestones, reducing the risk of false starts or audit failure. By framing ISO 42001 as a tool for aligning AI risk management with business strategy, the document supports a more mature and cross-functional approach to AI governance.
What’s Missing?
While the guide is strong on structuring the ISO 42001 process, it doesn’t deeply explore examples of AI-specific controls or how to adapt them for different types of systems (e.g., foundation models vs. narrow NLP tools). It also assumes a high level of readiness—more coverage of challenges like vendor dependencies, unclear AI ownership, or training limitations would add depth. Lastly, it doesn’t provide sample documentation templates, which could be valuable for first-timers.
Best For:
Tech founders, CTOs, CISOs, and compliance leads at SaaS or AI-enabled companies preparing for ISO 42001 certification—especially those already familiar with ISO 27001. It’s also helpful for consultants and AI risk officers tasked with launching an AI governance program from scratch.
Source Details:
Rhymetec (2025). ISO 42001 Guide / Checklist.
This checklist is published by Rhymetec, a cybersecurity advisory firm specializing in compliance for high-growth tech firms. The guide blends ISO 42001 principles with SaaS-sector best practices, offering a client-facing resource to help leaders reduce time-to-certification. While not an official ISO document, it closely mirrors the standard’s structure and is rooted in field-tested advisory experience.
