Who Should Lead the Process
An ARAF assessment is a governance review, not a technical audit. Internal ownership should sit with governance leadership, with technical teams as critical contributors rather than process owners.
Recommended Lead by Organisation Stage
Section titled “Recommended Lead by Organisation Stage”| Organisation Stage | Recommended Lead | Rationale |
|---|---|---|
| Seed-stage | Founder or CEO (acting as AIOC) | Seed organisations typically operate with a named governance authority and a documented decision log. |
| Growth-stage | General Counsel or Head of Legal | Contract infrastructure and liability architecture are central assessment domains. |
| Enterprise | General Counsel, Chief Risk Officer, or AI Governance Lead | Assessment should be integrated into formal risk governance and committee oversight structures. |
Cross-Functional Responsibility Matrix
Section titled “Cross-Functional Responsibility Matrix”| Function | Role in Assessment Process |
|---|---|
| Legal / General Counsel | Own D3 and D4 preparation, regulatory interpretation, and overall engagement governance. |
| Risk / Compliance | Lead dimensional pre-assessment, multiplier analysis, and governance maintenance design. |
| Technical / AI Engineering | Provide architecture evidence, supply chain maps, autonomy parameters, and system change records. |
| Operations | Provide operational evidence, monitoring records, anomaly escalation records, and execution context. |
| Commercial / Finance | Provide leverage exposure context, customer/vendor contract realities, and dependency patterns. |
| Executive / Board | Set governance mandate, approve accountability design, and receive institutional reporting outputs. |
Common Failure Modes
Section titled “Common Failure Modes”- Treating assessment as an engineering exercise instead of a governance process
- Running without a single accountable internal lead
- Preparing documents without briefing interview participants
- Deferring legal contract and liability analysis until mid-assessment
Operating Principle
Section titled “Operating Principle”The strongest internal model is a governance-led, cross-functional process with clear accountability ownership and evidence discipline before assessor engagement begins.