14 October 2026 – New assessment and certification schemes for AI have been launched by BSI, designed to build trust by helping companies demonstrate that AI systems are safe, reliable, responsibly managed and fit for purpose.
The three new schemes are designed to help companies demonstrate responsible deployment, manage risk and meet regulatory or and market requirements. They provide support across a range of key AI challenges, including LLM performance, product-level AI risk management and readiness for EU AI Act conformity assessment requirements, helping organisations build assurance across the entire AI stack from individual AI use cases and agents to full AI system lifecycle certification.
The schemes build on BSI’s existing assurance offer around trusted AI, which includes certification and training against the international AI management standard ISO/IEC 42001, creating a suite of services that supports assurance at multiple layers of the AI ecosystem. It comes as research by FocalData shows that more than two-thirds (67%) of business leaders say they would trust AI tools more if they were validated by an external organisation.
One of the new schemes supports organisations preparing for EU AI Act conformity assessment requirements for high-risk biometric AI systems. BSI’s biometric AI pilot programme is being developed as BSI progresses towards designation as an AI Notified Body, helping organisations prepare for the applicable regulatory requirements and future EU market access.
While the EU is leading the way on regulatory requirements, other jurisdictions are watching closely amid a febrile regulatory landscape and enhanced scrutiny of how companies develop and deploy AI. Meanwhile, frontier AI leaders have been raising the role of standards to bring agility to model safety, as AI advances faster than regulation is likely to be able to.
Against this backdrop, BSI’s offer now includes AI Performance assessment for complex generative AI systems, including large language models (LLMs), to help companies understand how their derivative model performs with independent testing against measurable criteria for quality, safety and fitness for purpose.
The third new scheme involves AI risk management assessment and is designed to help model makers demonstrate how AI product risks are identified, controlled and managed through independent assessment against recognised risk frameworks including NIST AI Risk Management Framework and ISO/IEC 23894 AI guidance on risk management, supporting assurance at the product and application layer where AI interacts with users and business processes.
BSI is a leading company in the AI testing and assessment space, having been the first body accredited for ISO/IEC 42001 certification by the three accreditation bodies, ANAB, RvA and UKAS. BSI is also working with hundreds of companies globally to test and certify their AI products, or the use of AI within their organisation. Together, these capabilities position BSI to help organisations assure the entire AI stack, from models and systems to governance frameworks and regulatory compliance.
Research by BSI last year found that as adoption gathers pace, many firms are at risk of a governance gap. Despite sustained investment, the research found that just a quarter of business leaders reported having a formal AI governance programme in place, and only 28% knew what data sources were used to train or deploy their AI models.
Omkar Joshi, Managing Director, AI & Digital Soltuons, BSI, said: “Having led the way in the development of AI standards, BSI is committed to enabling AI’s adoption for good and is now expanding our offer to help AI providers demonstrate trust in their AI. Our ambition is to help organisations assure the AI stack end-to-end. Combined, the schemes we are launching provide independent assurance across the AI stack, helping organisations build trust from model performance to market access. We are now a one-stop shop for AI providers and companies embedding AI in their business to test and certify their AI practices, in line with regulatory expectations.”
For further information, visit bsigroup.com/ai
