Frequently asked questions
Founded in 2016, the Responsible AI Institute (RAI Institute) is an independent, non-profit organization dedicated to fostering trustworthy AI adoption across industries. RAI Institute provides practical AI-driven tools, agentic AI services, and new AI verification, badging, and benchmarking programs that help organizations of all sizes deploy AI responsibly. With over 34,000 members and collaborators, our community spans technology, finance, healthcare, academia, and government agencies to lead the charge in operationalizing responsible AI through education, benchmarking, verification, and third-party risk assessments.
While policy frameworks and guidelines are essential, organizations need practical, real-world solutions to implement AI responsibly. The AI landscape is evolving rapidly, with regulatory uncertainty, increasing AI adoption, and growing concerns over safety, sustainability, fairness, and transparency. RAI Institute is responding by providing actionable tools, including AI-driven tools, agentic AI services, and new AI verification, badging, and benchmarking programs to help companies operationalize responsible AI at scale.
RAI Institute stands out by combining deep industry expertise, regulatory alignment, and hands-on operational tools that go beyond theoretical principles. Unlike traditional AI ethics organizations, we provide:
- Independent AI badging and verification programs on globally recognized standards, ensuring AI systems meet compliance, sustainability, transparency, and fairness requirements.
- AI governance and benchmarking tools that integrate seamlessly with enterprise AI systems to assess risk, monitor compliance, and optimize AI performance.
- RAISE AI Pathways, a suite of human-led risk monitoring and compliance agents designed to automate governance and safeguard AI deployments.
- Collaboration with global university AI labs in the U.S., U.K., and India, as well as leading cloud and AI tool vendors, ensuring RAI Institute stays at the forefront of AI advancements and regulatory shifts in this rapidly evolving industry.
- Workforce impact insights and upskilling programs to help organizations navigate AI-driven automation, ensuring smooth workforce transitions, bridging skill gaps, and mitigating economic impact as many lack structured transition plans.
RAI Institute is supported through a mix of:
- Annual memberships from enterprises, universities, and government agencies.
- Strategic partnerships with industry leaders, policymakers, and AI vendors.
- Secured funding from private foundations committed to advancing responsible AI adoption.
RAI Institute provides:
- AI Policy Conformity Assessments – Ensuring AI policies align with global regulatory frameworks.
- AI Advocacy and Lab collaboration – Enhance brand and access cutting edge applied AI research know-how.
- Independent AI Verification – Assessing governance and risk management adherence with ISO, NIST, EU AI Act, and other global standards.
- AI Governance Benchmarking – Comparing organizational AI maturity levels.
RAI Institute’s verification and badging program helps businesses demonstrate responsible AI adoption. The program awards AI systems that meet high governance, transparency, and fairness standards. Organizations can earn:
- Green AI eVerification – Verifies AI sustainability metrics.
- AI TCO eVerification – Validates AI cost efficiency and ROI.
- AI Security and Risk Assessment – Evaluates AI resilience against adversarial threats.
RAI Institute helps enterprises evaluate and manage vendor AI ecosystems by:
- Providing AI supplier risk assessments.
- Benchmarking vendor AI policy adherence.
- Offering pathways for suppliers to meet policy standards.
RAI Institute provides:
- AI maturity assessments to identify gaps.
- Governance framework education and insights.
- Training programs on responsible AI implementation.
- AI policy templates to accelerate enterprise compliance.
RAI Institute memberships are available to:
- Enterprises and startups looking to adopt AI responsibly.
- Universities and research institutions working on AI ethics and governance.
- Policymakers and regulators shaping AI governance frameworks.
- Industry partners and technology vendors providing AI solutions.
Beginning 2Q 2025, RAI Institute members will gain access to self-service AI maturity assessments, verification agents, and automated AI cost and carbon benchmarking.
RAI Institute hosts:
- AI governance summits and roundtables.
- Joint webinars and cross-posting of notable blogs and events.
- Industry working groups on AI safety and compliance.
- Member-only research briefings and policy updates.
- Hackathons with leading US, UK and India based universities (new).
The RAISE AI Pathways Program is a suite of AI-powered governance and compliance solutions designed to help organizations evaluate, benchmark, and verify their AI systems. It provides human-led AI oversight and automated compliance assessments, ensuring organizations can identify risks, improve AI governance, and align with regulatory standards.
The program consists of six specialized human-led AI agents that assist organizations in risk monitoring, compliance, and governance:
- RAI Watchtower Agent – Monitors AI models for compliance gaps, security vulnerabilities, and drift.
- RAI Corporate AI Policy Copilot – Assists in AI policy development and regulatory alignment.
- RAI Green AI eVerification – Assesses AI’s environmental impact in collaboration with the Green Software Foundation.
- RAI AI TCO eVerification – Verifies AI’s Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) in partnership with the FinOps Foundation.
- RAI Agentic AI Purple Teaming – Conducts adversarial testing to detect AI security risks.
- RAI Premium Research – Provides in-depth AI risk analysis and governance insights.
Starting in 2Q 2025, RAII will begin a phased rollout of these AI agents, initially providing early access to select members, industry partners, and university AI Labs. Organizations can integrate these AI tools to:
- Improve understanding and impact of the changing regulatory landscape
- Build capacity for understanding and managing AI risks across their value chain
- Benchmark and verify responsible AI compliance for vendors and internal development
To join the RAISE AI Pathways Early Access Program, organizations sign up here. Priority will be given to existing members and companies with active AI governance initiatives.
By leveraging RAISE AI Pathways, organizations gain:
- Proactive horizon scanning, AI risk detection and mitigation.
- Access automated AI governance and compliance checks.
- Independent verification of AI performance, cost, and sustainability.
- Faster regulatory compliance with AI-specific frameworks (NIST RMF, ISO 42001, EU AI Act, etc.).
RAI Institute is expanding its AI oversight, education, and workforce development programs, including:
- Scholarships, hackathons, and AI upskilling initiatives.
- A global advisory board for Agentic AI safety and regulation.
- A Responsible AI Testbed for real-world responsible AI case studies.
RAI Institute works with:
- Global regulators to align AI governance standards.
- Enterprise leaders to shape AI best practices.
- Industry groups like the Green Software Foundation and FinOps Foundation to drive AI sustainability and cost optimization.
Organizations can:
- Join as a member to access exclusive AI governance tools.
- Learn more about our AI verification and benchmarking programs.
- Participate in AI safety and compliance working groups.