Leidos is teaming with Arlington startup Trustible to make it easier for organizations to approve new AI projects while being clear about the potential risks.
Trustible, which builds compliance and risk software tied to emerging AI regulations, describes the tool as a “TurboTax” for AI governance. It can cut some reviews from weeks to hours, said cofounder and CEO Gerald Kierce, by standardizing the common questions teams have to answer, like where a project will be used, what it’s intended to do and whether it’s for employees or customers.
“Everybody wants AI governance, but at the end of the day, no one really wants to do it.”
Geoffrey Schaefer, Leidos
By the end of the year, the goal is for the tool to automate about 80% of governance reviews for customers of the Fortune 500 IT company, said Geoffrey Schaefer, Leidos vice president of AI strategy and governance. The remaining 20% will still have humans involved.
“Everybody wants AI governance, but at the end of the day, no one really wants to do it,” Schaefer told Technical.ly. “If we can come to market with a solution that is 80% automated … all of a sudden, that’s a really attractive product.”
While there’s been widespread AI adoption, and a market pushing for more, there’s little guidance on how to do it safely, per Kierce.
“Agencies and commercial customers will be forced/encouraged to adopt more and more AI, to be more efficient, to drive better outcomes,” Kierce said. “But the expertise is not necessarily going to be there.”
Federal agencies report hundreds of AI implementations, after White House orders to deploy more of the tech. NASA reported 420 use cases last year, for example, and the Department of Justice noted 295. In the private sector, use is soaring: Nearly half (47%) of companies using the expense software Ramp had paid for an AI subscription as of December.
Leidos and Trustible are starting to identify potential customers, and are working together in establishing a go-to-market strategy for the first half of the year, Schaefer said. Trustible’s software has been embedded in Leidos’ existing AI governance platform for the past six months, Kierce noted, so they can make their pitch with real-world stats, like average time saved and other metrics.
Speaking with potential customers, Schaefer said, most recognize the need for governance — but lack of infrastructure for it.
Most companies can’t hire new teams to focus on AI adoption, he said, and don’t have existing employees who can spend adequate time on monitoring and risk management. And doing it right requires a wide range of skills.
“You have to be an expert in ethics. You have to be an expert in organizational design, technical controls, the ins and outs of how AI works,” Schaefer said. “Our job is to really synthesize all of that down into something that is really easy to automate and implement by just a handful of folks.”
