Understand your AI exposure
Bring relevant tools, use cases, data flows and dependencies into view, including employee-led use that may sit outside formal approval processes.
2-sec AI practice / AI Risk Assessment
Know Where AI Creates Risk so You Can Decide What to Do Next
Get a clear view of how AI exposes your systems, data and business to risk, with practical priorities for reducing it.
2-sec assesses your AI use, examines the controls around it and helps you turn the findings into action.
For organisations adopting, using or developing AI.
Business contextRisk assessed against how you use AI
Systems & dataExposure across tools and integrations
Clear prioritiesFocus effort where it matters most
Practical supportHelp to address the findings
The starting point
You cannot prioritise AI risk you cannot see.
AI can enter through everyday tools, supplier services and new projects. Understanding the risk means looking at what those tools do, the information they handle and the decisions people make with them.
Separate material risks from general concerns
Assess potential harm against the purpose of each use case, the sensitivity of its data and the controls already in place.
Give teams a clear starting point
Agree which gaps need attention first and what evidence, decisions or changes are needed to move forward.
What is an AI Risk Assessment?
An AI risk assessment identifies and evaluates the risks arising from an organisation’s development, deployment or use of AI. It considers potential impact, existing controls and the actions needed to manage the remaining risk.
Risk Identification
Identifies how a specific AI use could cause harm, considering its purpose, data, users, integrations and dependencies within the agreed assessment scope.
Likelihood and Impact
Evaluates how plausible each risk scenario is and the consequences for people, information and business operations, making assumptions and evidence gaps explicit.
Control Effectiveness
Examines whether existing safeguards address the identified risks and where weaknesses remain, distinguishing documented controls from evidence that they work in practice.
Risk Prioritisation
Ranks the remaining risks against agreed criteria and identifies proportionate treatment options, helping owners decide what to address, investigate or formally accept.
What we assess
Follow the risk from the AI tool into the business.
The assessment scope reflects your AI environment and priorities. These areas help connect technical exposure with governance, operational decisions and potential harm.
Tools, use cases and accountability
Review where AI is used, what it is intended to do, who owns it and how new or changing uses are approved.
Information exposure and permissions
Examine the information AI can access, process or share, including confidential data, personal information and permissions across connected systems.
Security and misuse scenarios
Consider how AI connects to applications and workflows, where untrusted inputs could influence behaviour and what actions a compromised or misused tool could take.
Third-party AI risk
Review available supplier evidence, data-handling arrangements, shared responsibilities and reliance on external models or services.
Decision quality and human review
Assess how inaccurate, inappropriate or biased outputs could affect people and operations, and where human checks and escalation are needed.
Governance in everyday use
Examine acceptable-use rules, monitoring, incident processes and fallback arrangements to understand whether controls support the way AI is actually used.
Interviews, documentation and available system evidence inform the review. Technical testing, source-code review and specialist assessments are included only where agreed in scope.
What you receive
Findings your leadership can understand. Actions your teams can use.
Agree the outputs at the start of the engagement, so the assessment supports the decisions you need to make.
A clear assessment summary
An accessible explanation of the main exposures, their business implications and the decisions requiring leadership attention.
A prioritised risk register
Documented risks linked to use cases, available evidence, existing controls and the rationale for their priority, with uncertainties made explicit.
A practical treatment roadmap
Recommended actions, proposed owners and dependencies, distinguishing immediate improvements from work that needs further investigation or investment.
Illustrative example
An AI assistant can access more information than its users need.
The finding connects the data exposure to a business use case. The action plan might prioritise a permissions review, tighter access boundaries and a check that the changes work, with an owner for each action.
How the assessment works
A structured review, shaped around your AI use.
Start with a defined question and finish with a shared understanding of the findings and next steps.
Agree the scope
Identify the AI tools, business activities and decisions to cover. Agree the stakeholders, evidence requirements and assessment boundaries.
Build the evidence
Review relevant documentation, speak with owners and examine available information on data flows, integrations and existing controls.
Assess and prioritise
Evaluate credible risk scenarios, potential impact and control gaps. Explain the reasoning behind priorities and flag evidence limitations.
Review the action plan
Walk through the findings with your team, clarify responsibilities and agree where further assessment or implementation support is needed.
From understanding to improvement
Get help addressing the risks the assessment uncovers.
2-sec connects AI risk assessment with its wider work in cyber security, governance and assurance. Follow-on support is shaped by the findings and agreed with you.
Make responsibilities and rules usable
Strengthen acceptable-use policies, approval routes, supplier reviews and risk ownership so teams know how to use AI within agreed boundaries.
Turn priorities into control improvements
Plan the access, information-handling and integration changes needed to reduce exposure, working with your technology and security teams.
Check where deeper evidence is needed
Scope targeted technical testing or further review where assessment findings need validation, then define how controls should be monitored over time.
Implementation and follow-on testing are separately agreed. The assessment helps establish what work is justified and where to begin.
Part of 2-sec’s AI practice
Build governance around the risks that matter.
AI Risk Assessment gives your governance programme an evidence-based starting point. Use the findings to inform policies, controls, oversight and investment in securing AI systems and data.
If your organisation is pursuing ISO 42001, the assessment can also inform the wider management-system work. Certification readiness is a separate engagement.
A useful starting point when you are…
- Preparing to roll out an AI tool or connect it to business data.
- Trying to understand AI use that has grown across teams.
- Reviewing an AI-enabled product, workflow or supplier.
- Responding to leadership or customer questions about AI risk.
- Building a more consistent AI governance programme.
Questions before you start
Know what to expect from the assessment.
A focused scope helps you get useful answers without turning the engagement into a review of everything.
Do we need this if we only use third-party AI tools?
Yes. The assessment can focus on how your organisation uses those tools, the data and permissions involved, supplier dependencies and the checks around their outputs. You do not need to build your own models.
Can you assess a single tool or AI use case?
Yes. The scope can focus on a proposed deployment, an existing use case or a broader AI environment. The initial discussion establishes the business question and the depth of review needed.
Is this the same as AI penetration testing?
No. Risk assessment considers the wider business context, controls and potential impacts. Penetration testing investigates technical weaknesses through testing. Where the assessment identifies a need for that evidence, testing can be scoped separately.
What will you need from our team?
Typically, access to relevant business and technical owners, a list of known AI tools, and available policies, supplier information and system documentation. Evidence and access requirements are agreed before work starts.
Will the assessment confirm that all our AI is safe or compliant?
The assessment provides a view of risk within the agreed scope and based on the evidence available. It does not guarantee that every risk has been found or certify compliance. Changes in tools, data or use cases can require a further review.
How long does it take, and what does it cost?
Timing and cost depend on the number and complexity of use cases, the depth of review and the evidence available. We agree the scope, deliverables and timetable before the engagement begins.
Can 2-sec help us implement the recommendations?
Yes. We can discuss governance, security and assurance support against the prioritised findings. Responsibilities, deliverables and any further testing are agreed as follow-on work.
Your next step
Get a clearer view of your AI risks.
Tell us how you are using AI, what you are planning and where you need clarity. We’ll help define an assessment that gives you a practical starting point.
Discuss Your AI Risk Assessment →
Start with your AI use and the decisions ahead.