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What is Responsible AI?
Responsible AI is the process of developing and operatingartificial intelligence systems that align with organizational purpose and ethical values, achieving transformative business impact. By implementing RAI strategically, companies can resolve complex ethical questions around AI deployments and investments, accelerate innovation, and realize increased value from AI itself. Responsible AI gives leaders the ability to properly manage this powerful emerging technology.
55%
of AI-related failures step from third-party AI tools
78%
of organizations use third-party AI tools
20%
of organizations using third-party AI tools fail to evaluate risks stemming from those tools
How We Help Companies Implement Responsible AI
So far, relatively few companies have unleashed this strategic approach to responsible AI. What’s the holdup? For some organizations, the leap from responsible AI ambition to execution has proved daunting. Others are waiting to see what form regulations take. But responsible AI principles can bring benefits now as they prepare companies for new rules and the latest emerging AI technology.
Our battle-tested BCG RAI framework minimizes the time to RAI maturity while maximizing the value responsible AI can create. Built on five pillars, it is tailored to each organization’s unique starting point, culture.
Responsible AI strategy
We help companies articulate the responsible AI principles they will follow. The key is to tailor responsible AI to the circumstances and mission of each client. By looking at an organization’s purpose and values, as well as the risks it faces, we develop responsible AI policies that don’t so much manage risk as adopt an integrated approach to address it. When companies know where (and how high) to set the guardrails, they can build both customer and employee trust, and accelerate AI innovation.
AI Governance
Our responsible AI consultants create the mechanisms, roles, and escalation paths that provide oversight for an RAI program. A critical component is a responsible AI council. Composed of leaders from across the company, this council oversees responsible AI initiatives, providing support while demonstrating the inherent need for such guardrails.
Key Processes
We define the controls, KPIs, processes, and reporting mechanisms that are necessary for implementing RAI. In a crucial step, we help companies integrate responsible AI into AI product development. And we help them develop the capability for continuous improvement: always looking at how to optimize responsible AI initiatives.
Technology and Tools
At the core of BCG’s own purpose is enablement: giving people the means to succeed. Technology and tools are a big part of that. The list of responsible AI enablers is long, and constantly growing, but some of our key focal points include code libraries and software tools, tutorials and interactive examples, technical playbooks, and data platforms and architecture.
Culture
Implementing RAI means building a culture that encourages and prioritizes ethical AI practices. We help create an environment where people are aware of responsible AI and the issues it raises, creating a sense of ownership where individuals feel empowered to speak up and ask questions. With developments in generative AI granting unprecedented access to AI technology, it’s more important than ever to get the cultural piece correct.
Our Clients’ Success in Responsible AI
BCG’s responsible AI consultants have partnered with organizations around the globe in many industry sectors, creating personalized solutions that provide AI transparency and value. Here are some examples of our work.
Implementing RAI for a leading annuity and life insurance firm's GenAI initiative. The client was developing its first GenAI application for seamless natural-language querying of its enterprise database. We established a comprehensive RAI governance framework, conducted detailed AI-specific risk mapping, and developed a thorough risk-and-controls registry. This proactive approach allowed the client to manage key risks early in the development process, ensuring trust in the application's capabilities and enhancing both user experience and adoption.
Shaping AI governance for a major US financial services firm. Amid the company’s rapid adoption of GenAI technologies, we helped it develop a comprehensive AI governance framework. Our tailored approach included an AI risk assessment and tiering methodology, a clear governance structure aligned with strategic goals, and specific roles and guidelines for users and developers. We also developed a bias-testing framework to ensure ethical decision-making. This foundational work enabled the client to identify and manage AI risks effectively, ensuring trust and compliance in their GenAI deployments.
BCG’s Tools and Solutions for Responsible AI
Our responsible AI consultants can draw on BCG’s global network of industry and technology experts. But they can also call on powerful tools for implementing RAI.
RAI Maturity Assessment
Supported by the data collected in our survey with MIT SMR, this proprietary tool benchmarks companies across the five pillars of BCG RAI, providing insight into strengths, gaps, and areas for focus.
RAI Maturity Assessment
Facet By BCG X
AI transparency is crucial to building trust and adoption. But it’s often elusive, as AI can be a ‘black box’ that produces results without explaining its decision-making processes. FACET opens the box by helping human operators understand advanced machine learning models.
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GenAI Evaluator by BCG X
Our comprehensive solution ensures GenAI systems are proficient, safe, and secure—allowing you to accelerate your strategic AI transformation with confidence.
GenAI Evaluator by BCG X
Introducing ARTKIT
ARTKIT is BCG X’s open-source toolkit for red teaming new GenAI systems. It enables data scientists, engineers, and business decision makers to quickly close the gap between developing innovative GenAI proofs of concept and launching those concepts into the market as fully reliable, enterprise-scale solutions. ARTKIT combines human-based and automated testing, giving tech practitioners the tools they need to test new GenAI systems for:
- Proficiency—ensuring that the system consistently generates the intended value
- Safety—ensuring that it prevents harmful or offensive outputs
- Equality—ensuring that it promotes fairness in quality of service and equal access to resources
- Security—ensuring that it safeguards sensitive data and systems against bad actors
- Compliance—ensuring that it adheres to relevant legal, policy, regulatory, and ethical standards
ARTKIT enables teams to use their critical thinking and creativity to quickly mitigate potential risk. The goal is to help business decision makers and leaders harness the full power of GenAI and our BCG RAI framework, knowing that the results will be safe and equitable—and will deliver measurable, meaningful business impact.
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Video
GenAI systems are getting too big and too complex for just human-based testing. ARTKIT brings together our human ability to identify novel threats and evaluate priorities with the machine ability to execute high-volume testing. Thish combined power enables business tech practitioners and leaders to harness the full power of GenAI.
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Video
GenAI is already demonstrating the power to transform business. To minimize rise and maximize value creation,Steven Mills, Chief AI Ethics Officer and Managing Director and Partner at BCG, illustrates why data scientists and engineers must build system guardrails as early as possible.
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Video
BCG X’s new ARTKIT toolkit solves key engineering challenges by streamlining manual and automated testing, evaluation, and reporting. Randi Griffin, Lead Data Scientist at BCG X, describes ARTKIT’s ability to bridge critical gaps so teams can focus on developing tailored GenAI solutions.
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At BCG, we lead with integrity—and the responsible use of artificial intelligence is fundamental to our approach. We aim to set an ethical standard for AI in our industry, and we empower our clients to make the right economic and ethical decisions.
See how we're fulfilling this commitment.
See how we're fulfilling this commitment.
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Our Insights on Responsible AI
Article
August 6, 2025
The AI Talent Promise is a commitment to employees and job candidates that lays out clear principles for using AI responsibly.
Article
March 27, 2025
Generative AI presents risks, but the go-to solution—humans reviewing the output—isn’t as straightforward as executives think. Oversight needs to be designed, not delegated.
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Video
Leaders need to place responsible AI (RAI) at the core of business strategies. Four BCG experts address RAI’s opportunities and challenges, demonstrating how companies can move from ambition to execution today.
Article
January 10, 2024
The opportunities presented by generative AI are significant, but leaders need to focus equally on the risks. What is a responsible C-suite member supposed to do?
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The experiences of a hypothetical company illustrate how ensuring responsible AI practices can address challenges and create new opportunities.
Article
November 7, 2024
Even with comprehensive testing and evaluation, the risk of system failure with GenAI will never be zero. Organizations must respond swiftly when failures inevitably occur.
Featured AI Ethics Consulting Experts
BCG’s responsible AI consultants are thought leaders who are also team leaders, working on the ground with clients to accelerate the responsible AI journey. Here are some of our experts on the topic.
