21 May 2026 — Accelleo, a UK-based sovereign AI company serving the defence sector, becomes one of the first in its field to be certified by BSI for the international standard, ISO/IEC 42001 Information Technology – Artificial Intelligence Management System (AIMS).
The certification places Accelleo as one of the early adopters in the defence sector, to be independently assessed against the standard, which provides a structured framework for the responsible development, deployment, and governance of artificial intelligence.
After a comprehensive audit assessing Accelleo’s artificial intelligence (AI) governance, risk management and project delivery practices, the company was formally awarded the certification at a presentation ceremony held at BSI headquarters on Wednesday 22 April 2026.
ISO/IEC 42001 sets out requirements for establishing, implementing, maintaining, and continually improving an AI management system. It is designed to help organizations address risks associated with AI, including transparency, accountability, bias and security, while enabling innovation and building trust among stakeholders.
Accelleo’s certification covers its full-stack AI offering, including advisory services, proprietary and commercial AI technologies, and defence-grade compute infrastructure hosted in the UK. The company’s operating model integrates AI into core business processes, supporting organizations to adopt AI securely while improving performance, speed and decision-making confidence. The company already holds ISO/IEC 27001 certification for information security management, and the addition of ISO/IEC 42001 further strengthens its position as a provider of assured AI capabilities in complex and regulated environments.
Omkar Joshi, Global Managing Director, AI & Digital Solutions, BSI said: “AI is rapidly becoming embedded in critical systems and decision-making across sectors, making it essential that organizations have robust governance frameworks in place. Achieving certification to ISO/IEC 42001 demonstrates that Accelleo has implemented a structured and responsible approach to managing AI, aligned with internationally recognised best practice. As one of the early adopters in this space to achieve certification, Accelleo is helping to set the benchmark for trusted AI in high-assurance environments.”
James Hannam, CISO at Accelleo said: “In defence, assurance processes cannot rely on a single standard - and with the pace of change in AI, the stakes make that challenge critical. The unique way we have addressed this is to have mapped the landscape of frameworks the sector relies on and deliberately integrated security, continuity and risk into a modular architecture aligned with ISO, NIST and DCC across the UK, US and EU.
Our ISO 42001 and ISO 27001 certified processes, combined with a rigorous unique testing and monitoring methodology applied across the full lifecycle, ensure systems are secure by design and trusted where it matters most. We are setting a new benchmark for assured AI in defence.”
Further information on BSI’s AI management system certification can be found on the BSI website.
