As artificial intelligence (AI) continues to reshape industries, the urgency to help ensure that these systems are secure, compliant, and ethically governed has never been higher. While innovation often races ahead of regulation, organizations must discover ways to build trust in their AI initiatives from the ground up. That’s where HITRUST comes in.
HITRUST, long recognized as a leader in information risk management and compliance, is emerging as a critical framework for organizations seeking to responsibly deploy AI. Companies can meet regulatory requirements and position themselves as reputable innovators by aligning their AI development with this framework’s standards.
Challenges to Responsible AI Deployment & Utilization
AI can appear to be inherently complex with potentially evolving risks, and organizations can mitigate these risks by leveraging the power and efficiency which AI provides. AI large language models (LLMs) process sensitive data at substantial rates, can make significant decisions, and can also evolve unexpectedly. Keeping up and managing these complexities is a challenge, and organizations should be cognizant of the following:
- Security vulnerabilities may arise within data systems and AI model deployments;
- HIPAA, General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), and emerging AI-specific regulations may have compliance gaps; and
- Bias, transparency, and accountability are some, but not all, of the ethical concerns which may arise from AI.
Without a structured framework, organizations may struggle to address these risks consistently and broadly.
HITRUST’s common security framework (CSF) integrates and harmonizes requirements from dozens of standards and regulations, such as the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), GDPR, and HIPAA. HITRUST provides a cohesive and scalable approach to managing risk across these regulations. In addition, the framework’s broad reach makes it well suited for AI systems spanning multiple domains or jurisdictions.
Advantages of HITRUST Applied to AI Governance
Security by Design
HITRUST promotes proactive risk management, helping to ensure that AI systems are built with robust controls from the outset, including secure data handling, access controls, and monitoring, all of which are critical for protecting sensitive training data and model outputs.
Regulatory Alignment
HITRUST’s regulatory factors enable organizations to strategically select regulatory requirements that help organizations navigate duplicate compliance measures and help ensure that AI deployments meet current and novel legal requirements with global standards in mind.
Ethical Assurance
As one of the only certifications which utilizes an impartial and independent quality assurance review to evaluate the validation, HITRUST helps ensure transparency, accountability, and continuous improvement. Organizations can demonstrate that their systems are secure and compliant, as well as fair and responsible, when utilizing HITRUST.
Third-Party Trust
Within an ecosystem in which AI models are often built, trained, or deployed by third parties, a HITRUST certification provides a common language of trust. It simplifies vendor risk assessments and accelerates partnerships.
HITRUST Impacts on AI-Driven Industries
- Healthcare: When AI is applied to diagnostics and patient engagement, the models must comply with HIPAA and safeguard Protected Health Information (PHI). HITRUST helps to ensure that these processes meet privacy and security requirements.
- Finance: Transparency and data integrity are crucial to fraud detection and credit scoring with AI. HITRUST helps financial institutions align with the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) and the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA) requirements while maintaining ethical oversight.
- Technology: Software as a Service (SaaS) platforms integrating AI features can use HITRUST to help enterprise clients maintain their commitment to secure and responsible innovation.
How HITRUST Offers Strategic Advantages to Organizations
Certified organizations may also yield benefits from HITRUST aside from risk mitigation:
- Reduce compliance bottlenecks by accelerating AI adoption within their operations;
- Achieve enterprise contracts that require HITRUST certification;
- Create a foundation of trust, and build a reputation of integrity among customers, partners, and regulators; and
- Set themselves up for change and future-proof operations as AI governance standards evolve.
In a world in which trust is currency, a HITRUST certification is a valued differentiator.
AI holds immense promise, but only if it’s built responsibly. HITRUST provides the structure, credibility, and assurance needed to help turn that promise into reality. Embedding HITRUST into their AI strategy can help organizations innovate with confidence, knowing that they are protecting their users, complying with the law, and leading with integrity.
Responsible innovation isn’t just about what AI can do; it’s about how we do it. HITRUST is the gold standard for getting it right. For more information on our SOC & HITRUST Services, please reach out to a professional at Forvis Mazars.
In addition, learn more about responsible AI during our upcoming webinar, “The SOCial Hour – Certifying AI With HITRUST®,” on Tuesday, October 28.
