This newsletter provides practical guidance, tools and resources for the real work of governing safe, secure and lawful AI.

Newsletter #63 - August 2026

Feature Article

The Gap Between Job Ads and the Real Work Being Done in AI Governance Roles

By James Kavanagh

"When people ask me what the job of being an AI governance practitioner really looks like, beyond the list of tasks, and stripped of the language in job ads, I've landed on a fairly steady answer. We do 8 things."

I read a lot of AI governance job ads. And through AI Career Pro, I also talk to AI governance practitioners doing the work every day. And I can tell you, very often the job the ad and the work look very, very different.

What the ads mostly include is a pile of tasks or activities. And an odd mix of experience and qualification requirements that can unfortunately rule out many great candidates. And worse, the gap doesn't set up the newly appointed governance practitioner for success.

In this article I've set out that gap I see between what is being sought and what the work really looks like in practice. I break it down into the eight objectives that I have found the most effective AI governance practitioners focus on.

If you're hiring or seeking a job in AI governance right now, this article could help you.

Program Spotlight

From the Blog

The real work that comes after ISO 42001 certification

The feature article above sets out the eight objectives of an AI governance lead, and at number 8 is the work to seek independent verification. Getting someone outside your function checking that a specific claim holds up against real evidence. Earlier this year I wrote an article that explores where that objective gets difficult, and why you should think of achieving something like ISO42001 certification more as a starting line than the finish line.

What we're working on

While busy preparing for our next cohort to start next week, we're preparing a big overhaul to our AIGP Exam Preparation course to add more resources for exam success - more on that soon.

Plus a new website that moves us closer to releasing our Balcony AI governance design tools - watch this space.

As always, reach out if you have questions about any of this, or if you're trying to work out your next move professionally and want a second opinion. We're learning alongside you, and the questions you send genuinely shape what we build next.

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