The demand for artificial intelligence (AI) solutions in enterprises has grown by leaps and bounds in the past few years, driven by improved data availability, advanced algorithms and increased processing power. While the use of AI tools delivers significant value, it is necessary to approach it carefully and avoid its potentially negative, and even dangerous, consequences. The World Economic Forum, in partnership with GEP, has released this comprehensive guide for commercial organisations – across industries – to facilitate the process of identifying, selecting and implementing AI solutions responsibly and ethically.

This report is a practical toolkit that will help navigate the challenges of AI procurement through a structured framework. It is directional, not prescriptive, and industry agnostic, not problem specific.

It discusses the need for AI solutions to be closely aligned with business goals, ethical standards and regulatory requirements, as well as the importance of stakeholder collaboration and an enterprise-wide evaluation process. It highlights five key considerations – business strategy, commercial strategy, data strategy, ethics and sustainability, and governance, risk and compliance – against which AI/machine learning (ML) solutions can be assessed for responsible AI acquisition, with procurement as the orchestrator driving the implementation of this framework.