Enhancing Corporate Responsibility and Risk Management

Orica is a global leader in the mining services sector and an early adopter of technology and AI systems. Its Digital Solutions business develops AI applications in-house to provide customers with improved orebody and blast intelligence, and other divisions such as Discrete and Continuous Manufacturing are also beginning to use AI in their processes.

Like many other companies, Orica is also exposed to third-party AI as vendors of enterprise software begin to release AI-enabled features.

Orica’s directors and executives are committed to conducting the company’s business ethically and in accordance with high standards of corporate governance. They want to ensure they have an appropriate governance framework in place to mitigate AI risks and manage AI systems consistent with Orica’s values and objectives.

Orica’s management requested Red Marble AI to conduct a technical and commercial review of current controls and to recommend steps to improve AI governance.

We reviewed existing processes and artifacts as well as conducted interviews and a series of workshops with key stakeholders. We then compared Orica’s current state with our database of emerging best practices recommended by authoritative sources such as NIST and CSIRO.

Outcome

By the end of the 8-week project, Red Marble AI provided Orica with a maturity assessment and accompanying recommendations to enhance Orica’s governance of AI.

We also delivered on some of the key recommendations by:

• developing a set of corporate AI principles and a group standard for AI governance;
• documenting the terms of reference for a new AI governance body;
• defining the structure and suitable repository for an AI asset inventory; and
• creating a bank of due diligence questions for typical procurement scenarios.

Orica’s investment has provided it with a world-class AI governance framework for development and use of AI. Importantly, it has brokered a better understanding and an ongoing conversation within the company about AI risk management.

Not only is Orica better positioned to comply with emerging regulation, it has consolidated and enhanced its reputation for corporate responsibility.