AI adoption is colliding with a critical barrier: a lack of trust. Businesses struggle to demonstrate that AI systems are reliable, compliant, and generate value; citizens doubt that companies are accountable for harms resulting from AI; and governments lack consistent mechanisms to oversee AI across complex value chains.
Independent AI assurance offers the solution that is needed to bridge this AI trust gap. AI assurance is the process of measuring, evaluating, and communicating the trustworthiness of AI systems, components, and development practices. Building on established quality infrastructure, it promises a practical, scalable way to improve system quality, reduce risk, demonstrate regulatory compliance, enable accountability, and support efficient, competitive markers.
While the need for assurance is known, and some organisations are already conducting high quality assurance, the ecosystem that is needed to broaden this process remains incomplete and fragmented.
Titled ‘Strengthening the AI Assurance Ecosystem’, this publication is the first of a series of papers we’re releasing in collaboration with Partnership on AI (PAI) to promote the development of the AI assurance ecosystem. It provides a critical tool for policymakers by:
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Clarifying the role of independent assurance in building justified trust
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Mapping out the essential elements of the ecosystem, including elements frequently excluded in policy discussions - and illustrating the mutual interdependence of these elements
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Identifying key ecosystem needs and priority issues for policy action
Concerted efforts are needed in order to develop standardised approaches to evaluating AI systems; mechanisms to establish the credentials of independent assurers; improve information flows; and incentivise actors across the value chain to engage assurers and facilitate their work. This paper provides a roadmap for these efforts while identifying the initial key steps that are needed.
Resaro joined Partnership on AI in October 2025 to advance trustworthy and innovative AI together with PAI’s multi-stakeholder community. Through our collaboration on this publication series, Resaro contributes its expertise on AI assurance and testing to support the development of an ecosystem that creates value and trust in AI adoption.