With a strong commitment to safeguarding children and adopting responsible AI practices, this client required guidance to develop a mature governance framework for AI in the workplace.
A client approached Flame Tree with a single, clear ambition: to embed responsible AI across their organisation in a way that was ethical, compliant and strategically sound. Although they were already committed to protecting their clients and staff, and using AI responsibly, they lacked a robust governance framework and needed guidance to strengthen AI practices across the organisation.
The brief was to develop a clear policy and roadmap to AI maturity, aligned to current industry standards. They needed stronger governance, better visibility of risks, staff education and alignment with ISO 42001 and Australian guidance for responsible AI.
Challenge
While the client clearly understood the potential and benefits of AI, they were keen to ensure their approach was safe, transparent and aligned with industry standards.
They faced several challenges, including:
- No clear roadmap for AI maturity
- Limited internal visibility into AI risk and governance
- A desire to align with ISO 42001 and Australian AI guidance
- Growing demand for staff education on AI use and risk
- A desire to lead their sector in responsible AI practice.
Our discovery process revealed that 65% staff were using AI for both internal and external communications.
Overall, this organisation wanted to enable staff to leverage AI, but with the right protections in place. We agreed that what they needed was a structured, practical and standards-aligned pathway to AI maturity.
Through our maturity assessment process, we provided the organisation with clear visibility of 13 AI-related risks, including 3 rated as high, which was a great starting point to build and improve their AI maturity.
Solution
Flame Tree delivered a full AI maturity and governance uplift, designed to help the organisation build both confidence and clarity around the use of AI within their organisation. This process included several phases, starting with discovery and engagement, and moving through risk assessment, roadmap development and finally education for 1700 staff.
1. Stakeholder Engagement
We began by surveying and interviewing key stakeholders across the organisation. This helped define the organisation’s AI risk appetite, identify existing governance gaps and clarify the desired maturity level.
Questions included:
How confident are you in using AI in your role?
How could AI support your work?
What is your biggest priority for AI adoption and management?
Do you think existing risk governance structures adequately support AI-specific risks?
✅ Output: Interview and survey summary capturing organisational priorities, concerns and appetite for AI-driven change.
2. Maturity and Risk Assessment
Using ISO 42001, the MITRE ATLAS model, the MIT AI Risk Library, Australian Privacy Principles and departmental guidance, we assessed the organisation’s current state and identified key risks and opportunities. Upon commencement, we identified that the organisation was only achieving 19% of their desired AI maturity assessment rating. Through the review of all policies, procedures and governance frameworks, and our interviews we measured their maturity against International Standards for AI Management Systems, Flame Tree helped the organisation achieve 78% of their target rating.
✅ Output: Maturity assessment report and organisation-specific AI threat and risk profile.
3. Strategic Roadmap
We built a practical roadmap to close the gaps between the current and desired maturity. This roadmap prioritised actions based on risk appetite, resources and impact.
✅ Output: Uplift roadmap highlighting key milestones, dependencies and outcomes.
4. Tailored Policy and Governance Framework
We developed an AI policy, privacy policy update and a governance framework tailored to the organisation’s environment and sector. The framework was aligned to ISO 42001 and grounded in legislative and ethical best practices.
✅ Output: AI policy, AI governance model, updated privacy policy.
5. Education and Awareness
To build a culture of responsible AI use, we created engaging education that highlighted real-world use cases and risks relevant to early learning.
✅ Output: Custom education package designed in partnership with QUT to bridge AI knowledge gaps.
Outcome
Upon completion of the engagement, the organisation were equipped with:
- A complete set of policies and frameworks to support AI governance
- Clear, actionable steps to mature their AI capabilities over time
- A defined risk appetite and better understanding of organisational exposure
- A tailored education package that embedded awareness and accountability across teams
- A foundation for leadership in AI ethics within the early childhood sector
This organisation’s success came from matching a strong strategic vision with Flame Tree’s pragmatic, risk-based approach. By grounding every recommendation in real risk, sector context and stakeholder input, the project delivered outcomes that were both standards-aligned and operationally relevant.
This engagement shows how responsible AI governance isn’t just about compliance – it’s about embedding ethical practice into the fabric of the organisation from the outset.
The organisation was only achieving 19% of their desired maturity assessment rating, but at the end of this process reached 78% of their target.
Ready to improve your AI maturity and governance?
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