AIMS Audit Prep (ISO 42001)

Operational playbook for ISO 42001:2023 AI Management System (AIMS) audit preparation. Whether targeting initial certification, surveillance audit, or annual internal audit.

When to use this skill vs. iso42001-ai-management:

• This skill: audit imminent; need readiness sprint
• iso42001-ai-management: building AIMS from scratch; multi-quarter program

When to use this skill

| Situation | Skill applies | |-----------|---------------| | ISO 42001 Stage 1 audit scheduled | Yes — documentation review prep | | Stage 2 (onsite/operational) audit | Yes — operational evidence sprint | | Annual surveillance audit | Yes — surveillance prep | | Internal AIMS audit | Yes — internal audit playbook | | AI Impact Assessment for new system | Yes — scripts/ai_impact_assessment_checker.py | | Building AIMS from scratch | Use ra-qm-team/iso42001-ai-management |

ISO 42001 audit structure

Stage 1 (documentation review)

• Auditor reviews AIMS documentation (typically 1-3 days)
• Confirms scope, applicability, key documents present
• Identifies gaps before Stage 2
• Typically 2-3 weeks before Stage 2

Stage 2 (operational assessment)

• Auditor onsite (or remote) verifies AIMS operating effectively
• 3-10 days depending on scope + system count
• Walkthroughs, interviews, evidence sampling
• Conclusion: certification recommended (subject to non-conformity closure) or not

Surveillance audits

• Annual; reduced scope vs initial
• Typically 1-3 days
• Focus on high-risk areas + changes since prior audit

Re-certification (year 3)

• Full audit; similar to initial
• Typically every 3 years

AIMS audit-prep sprint

4-week sprint (mature AIMS, surveillance audit)

Week 1: Internal audit + gap analysis
Week 2: Remediation + AI inventory refresh
Week 3: Documentation review + walkthrough rehearsal
Week 4: Auditor onsite

8-week sprint (Stage 1 + Stage 2 initial certification)

Weeks 1-3: AIMS documentation completion (Annex A controls coverage)
Weeks 4-5: Stage 1 audit + gap closure
Weeks 6-7: Stage 2 operational evidence prep + mock walkthroughs
Week 8: Stage 2 audit

ISO 42001 clauses + Annex A controls

Clauses (4-10): management system

| Clause | Topic | |--------|-------| | 4 | Context of the organization | | 5 | Leadership | | 6 | Planning (including AI risk + AI objectives) | | 7 | Support (resources, competence, awareness, communication, documentation) | | 8 | Operation (AI lifecycle, supplier relationships) | | 9 | Performance evaluation (monitoring, internal audit, management review) | | 10 | Improvement (nonconformity, continual improvement) |

Annex A controls (10 areas)

| Annex A area | Topics | |--------------|--------| | A.2 | Policies related to AI | | A.3 | Internal organization | | A.4 | Resources for AI systems | | A.5 | Assessing impacts of AI systems | | A.6 | AI system lifecycle | | A.7 | Data for AI systems | | A.8 | Information for interested parties | | A.9 | Use of AI systems | | A.10 | Third-party relationships |

Critical audit areas

AI Inventory + Impact Assessments

| Item | Evidence | Common gap | |------|----------|------------| | Complete AI system inventory | Inventory document | Shadow AI not captured | | AI Impact Assessment (AIIA) per system | Per-system AIIA | Skipped for "low-risk" systems | | AIIA reviewed periodically | Review records | One-time only | | Risk classification of systems | Per system | Not documented |

AI Policy + Governance

| Item | Evidence | Common gap | |------|----------|------------| | AI policy approved + dated | Signed policy | Not signed / stale | | AI ethics principles | Documented principles | Generic; not actionable | | AI governance body | Charter / minutes | Not formalized | | Roles + responsibilities | RACI | Not defined |

AI Lifecycle Management (Annex A.6)

| Item | Evidence | Common gap | |------|----------|------------| | AI development lifecycle defined | Process documentation | Not formalized | | Data quality controls | Per system | Generic only | | Model validation procedures | Per system | Validation skipped | | AI system testing | Per system | Inadequate testing | | Deployment controls | Per system | No controls | | Operational monitoring | Per system | Drift not monitored | | Decommissioning procedures | Per system | Not defined |

Data Governance (Annex A.7)

| Item | Evidence | Common gap | |------|----------|------------| | Data sources documented | Per system | Vague | | Data quality assessed | Quality metrics | Not measured | | Data lineage tracked | Documentation | Untracked | | Sensitive data protection | Controls | Insufficient |

Third-party AI (Annex A.10)

| Item | Evidence | Common gap | |------|----------|------------| | Third-party AI inventory | List | Incomplete | | Vendor due diligence for AI | Per vendor | Generic IT only | | Contract terms for AI vendors | AI-specific clauses | Standard MSA only |

Clarify First

Before running the audit-prep, confirm these inputs. If any is unknown or vague, ASK — do not assume:

• ] Audit type and stage — Stage 1 documentation review, Stage 2 operational, surveillance, or internal (sets sprint length and whether the focus is documentation or operational evidence)
• ] AIMS maturity — mature system vs building from gaps (picks the 4-week vs 8-week sprint)
• ] AI systems in scope — which systems and how many (drives the AIIA count and Annex A coverage)

Stop rule: ask only the 2-3 that most change the output. If the user says "just draft it," proceed and list your assumptions at the top of the readiness assessment.

Quick start

1. Run readiness score: python3 scripts/aims_readiness_score.py --config aims-controls.yaml
2. Check AIIA per system: python3 scripts/ai_impact_assessment_checker.py --aiia system-aiia.yaml
3. Pick sprint length based on score
4. Execute sprint per references/iso42001-aims-readiness-checklist.md

Common AIMS audit findings

• AI inventory incomplete — shadow AI not captured
• AIIA missing for systems that look "small" but have impact
• AI lifecycle process not implemented (designed only)
• Data governance generic — not AI-specific
• Performance monitoring missing — drift not detected
• AI policy stale — written before current AI deployment
• Third-party AI vendors not assessed
• Continual improvement not evidenced

Tooling

| Script | Purpose | |--------|---------| | scripts/aims_readiness_score.py | Score AIMS readiness per clause + Annex A area | | scripts/ai_impact_assessment_checker.py | Validate AI Impact Assessment completeness |

References

• iso42001-aims-readiness-checklist.md — punch list per clause + Annex A
• aims-internal-audit-playbook.md — internal audit execution playbook

Related skills

• ra-qm-team/iso42001-ai-management — deep ISO 42001 AIMS program management
• ra-qm-team/eu-ai-act-specialist — EU AI Act regulatory companion
• ra-qm-team/audit-prep/ai-act-readiness — AI Act audit-prep variant
• ra-qm-team/audit-prep/compliance-readiness — multi-framework readiness