SECAI Core · phase 8 of 15 · noun

ISO/IEC 42001:2023

An ISO standard that specifies the requirements for an AI Management System (AIMS) covering policy, roles, risk management, lifecycle controls, and continuous improvement

The Explain card

Plain English
ISO/IEC 42001:2023 is the international standard for an AI Management System (AIMS). It specifies requirements for policy, roles, risk management, lifecycle controls and continuous improvement around AI.
Example
A software company seeking certification documents who owns each model, how AI risks are assessed and treated, how data and models are controlled from development to retirement, and how incidents feed back into improvements. An accredited auditor then verifies the system operates as described.
Why it matters
It gives defenders a recognised structure to hang AI security controls on, and a certificate that customers and regulators understand. Think ISO 27001, but pointed at AI.
Hook
27001 for AI: manage the system, not just the model.

Word knowledge

How the word is built, where it came from, and what it sits beside in memory.

In a sentence

Procurement keeps the inference API closed until a current ISO/IEC 42001:2023 certificate is on file.

Why these words
  • ISO Greek isos, equal, adopted as the organization's short name in 1947 names the Geneva house, so the title is a catalogue entry rather than a product brand
  • IEC English initialism of International Electrotechnical Commission, founded 1906 marks the text as a joint electrotechnical publication, not an ISO-only one
  • 42001 ISO catalogue number: 42 for the SC 42 AI block, 001 for a certifiable management-system requirements document supplies the document number, seating this title beside 9001, 14001 and 27001
  • 2023 the year of the first edition, written after a colon in ISO style pins the edition, so a later revision changes the year after the colon, not the five-digit number
Where it came from
Origin
Joint ISO/IEC catalogue title, from Greek isos, equal, plus the IEC initialism, a five-digit document number, and a colon year
Entered the language
2023
What changed
ISO was taken from Greek isos in 1947 so the short form would stay the same in every language. IEC has named the electrotechnical commission since 1906. Joint ISO/IEC numbers arrived with JTC 1 in 1987. After SC 42 formed in 2017, 42001 was issued in 2023 as the AI number in the management-system series that already held 9001, 14001 and 27001.
How it is spelled
Pattern
ISO and IEC stay in full capitals, joined by a slash with no spaces
Pattern
a space separates the bodies from the five-digit number
Pattern
a colon with no spaces introduces the four-digit edition year
Breaks the pattern
ISO is not the English initialism of International Organization for Standardization, which would be IOS
Breaks the pattern
the slash marks joint publication, not a fraction or an or
Breaks the pattern
the colon marks the edition year, not a ratio

Spelled like

  • ISO/IEC 27001:2022
  • ISO 9001:2015
  • ISO/IEC 23894:2023
Broken into chunks
  • iso
    • isotope
    • isometric
    • isomorphic
  • electro
    • electrode
    • electron
    • electromagnetic
  • 001
    • 9001
    • 14001
    • 27001
  • IEC
    • IEC 61131
    • IEC 62443
    • IEC 61508
What it sits beside

Same subject

Same shape

  • ISO/IEC 27001:2022
  • ISO 9001:2015
  • ISO/IEC 23894:2023

Joint ISO/IEC designations

  • ISO/IEC 27001:2022
  • ISO/IEC 27701
  • ISO/IEC 23894:2023

Management-system numbers ending in 001

  • ISO 9001
  • ISO 14001
  • ISO/IEC 27001
  • ISO 45001

SC 42 AI documents

  • ISO/IEC 22989
  • ISO/IEC 23053
  • ISO/IEC 23894

Where it sits in the deck

Phase 8: Governance, Risk, and Compliance Frameworks

Individual controls need a governance envelope — introduce the risk and compliance structures, standards bodies, and regulations that frame AI accountability at scale.

Neighbours in this phase