Rockstable AI Leaders Programme · Unit 2 of 3

AI Governance and Procurement

Governance that survives contact with reality

Six modules that take you from naming the problem to a governance pack you could put in front of a board or a regulator - covering procurement, risk, ethics, law and assurance.
AI-Consultant TrainersOnline Delivery24 hours over 4 daysLevel 5 apprenticeship unit
Free for UK employees on PAYE

This is a government-approved apprenticeship unit (AU0010), carrying £750 of public funding per learner. Smaller employers pay nothing, and levy payers fund it from their Growth and Skills Levy account - so for eligible UK employees there is no cost to the learner.

Delivered in partnership with Working Knowledge as apprenticeship provider. View AU0010 on the Skills England register

Six modules, one real outcome

Each module works on your organisation's own challenge - you leave with work you can use, not just notes.
1
Frame the Adoption

Name the problem properly

Every governance failure starts with a problem no one named clearly enough to act on. You'll build the case for the problem you choose: where AI is already in use, what 'good' looks like, and how it ties to your risk appetite - so you'll know when you've actually solved it.

Example outcomes you can expect:

  • A problem statement and criteria you can act on
  • A clear read on where AI is already in use
2
Choose the Tool

Evaluate what is actually being used

Most governance problems are procurement problems in disguise. You'll apply a structured framework - cost, performance, risk, data readiness, lock-in, sustainability - to the tools at the heart of your problem, and see what they really cost to run at scale, not just the licence price.

Example outcomes you can expect:

  • A decision-grade evaluation of the tools in question
  • A true view of what they cost to run properly
3
Map the Risk

Classify the risk, don't just feel it

You'll classify risk systematically, not by instinct - technical, ethical, legal, operational, reputational and workforce. The human risks (jobs, trust, morale) sit alongside the technical ones, not apart from them - so you end with a register you could defend to a board.

Example outcomes you can expect:

  • A risk register that names the human risks too
  • Something you could defend to a sceptical board
4
Design the Governance

Build the operating model

You'll design a governance model that survives contact with reality, not a policy no one reads: who decides, who's accountable when it goes wrong, and what escalates to whom - the plumbing that makes governance real rather than aspirational.

Example outcomes you can expect:

  • An operating model with clear decision rights
  • Escalation paths that actually work
5
Embed Ethics & Law

Build in the guardrails, don't bolt them on

You'll work through the regulatory and ethical landscape - the UK assurance regime, the EU AI Act, ICO guidance, sector codes - and build ethics-by-design decision points into your model, not a compliance appendix at the end. AI plays devil's advocate against your own design.

Example outcomes you can expect:

  • Ethics and legal guardrails built into the model
  • A design stress-tested against the counter-case
6
Operate & Assure

Prove it works, not just that it exists

You'll build the assurance toolkit - documentation, transparency, monitoring, human-in-the-loop safeguards - that lets your model run day to day and stand up to scrutiny from a regulator, a journalist or your board. Governance becomes a living system, not paperwork.

Example outcomes you can expect:

  • A governance pack ready for board or regulator
  • Monitoring that keeps working after the course

Continue the programme

AI Governance and Procurement is unit 2 of 3 in the Rockstable AI Leaders Programme. The three units run as a sequence, and each also stands alone.
Unit 1 of 3
AI Strategy and Opportunity

Build a strategy you would stand behind in the room

View unit
Unit 3 of 3
AI Adoption and Enablement

Take AI from pilot to something people actually use

View unit