Creating Harmony: AI Governance Playbook

https://www.wardandsmith.com/article/creating-harmony-ai-governance-playbook

Publish Date: 2026-03-24 05:02:00

During Ward and Smith’s annual In-House Counsel seminar, Mayukh Sircar, a cybersecurity, data privacy, and technology attorney, shared comprehensive guidance on the strategic role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the modern business landscape, the key risks associated with implementation, the evolution of AI regulations, and the playbook for AI governance. See Part 1 of this report here.

Developing the AI Governance Process

The first step in the AI governance process is to conduct a comprehensive inventory of existing AI systems and use cases. This involves:

Determining the purpose of the AI tool, understanding whether it serves internal operations or customers
Conduct an AI audit by partnering with IT and procurement to catalog all AI systems, including shadow ITs
Facilitating workshops to identify opportunities for AI integration, bringing in leaders from multiple organizational layers to brainstorm, provide feedback, and problem-solve
Deploying departmental questionnaires to uncover repetitive, data-heavy, or decision-intensive tasks that could benefit from AI, such as resume screening or fraud detection
Mapping use cases to legitimate business purposes to satisfy data privacy requirements

Proportionate Governance for Risk

Finding the right tool to align with the need of the business is essential. “The key here is applying proportionate governance,” mentioned Sircar. “You should consider how much data a particular tool might need. If there’s a different tool that accomplishes the same goal with less data, that is likely a better way to go.”

Balancing risk with business objectives is an ongoing challenge for legal departments, and the use of AI is no different. Resume screening and loan applications are tools that should be classified as high risk, as these impact legal and/or material rights.

“High-risk AI tools require strict oversight and formal impact assessments,” Sircar explained. “They may even be prohibited in certain…

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