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Providing practical guidance, tools and resources so you can do the real work of governing safe, secure and lawful AI. |
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Newsletter #65 - October 2026 |
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๐ฐ Feature Article
The Practice of Adaptive Governance
By James Kavanagh
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So I'm writing a book, one article at a time, called The Practice of Adaptive Governance. And publishing it in the open.
I decided to start writing this a few months ago, as I found myself learning, teaching and working with clients more and more on the challenges of governing agentic AI in the enterprise. And in the process finding that conventional forms of governance just won't work.
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Iโve always been drawn to the lessons we can learn from disasters, research and the practices of safety-critical industries. I've applied them throughout my professional career, and drawing from them, my central thesis and belief has become quite straightforward.
It's that the practices of governance that we've inherited are no longer fit for the challenge of governing the complex, unbounded, dynamic and autonomous nature of AI systems in use.
Conformity and control does not achieve safety in complex systems. Rather, safety is created through adaptive capacity within systems of people and technology. Their diversity, resilience, flexibility and responsiveness are what actually prevent mistakes turning into disasters.
My argument is not that this is some new revelation. Safety-critical industries from aviation to military to chemical plants already know this, they've learned it from disaster and proven it in research. Resilience engineering, safety-II practices, human factors, safety culture - they all focus on building adaptive capacity as the principal driver of safety. I believe it's time to apply those lessons to AI Governance more fully. The nature of our technology has changed, and governance needs to change with it.
So that's what I'm writing about.
It's maybe 30% done, but rather than wait until every part is fully written, I wanted to begin publishing in individual articles for feedback, ideas and correction. They're a combination of stories and theory, design and practice. All aimed at answering this one question of how to keep agentic AI in the enterprise safe, secure and lawful in operation.
So this is Article Zero - why Iโm writing this book and what the idea is all about. I do hope you find it useful, and I welcome any thoughts or feedback.
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PS. You'll notice this article series is back on Substack. Be sure to subscribe so you don't miss an edition.
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๐จ๐ผโ๐ซ Guided Practitioner Cohort #3 starts October 26
Finish the year with AI governance work you can show.
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There's a point where more reading about AI governance stops helping. What moves you forward from there is doing the work, alongside someone who has done it before.
That's what our Practitioner cohort is for. If you're already working in AI governance, or moving into it from GRC, legal, or engineering, you'll spend eight weeks working through the Foundation Track with me as your guide, building a portfolio of governance artifacts as you go. When an interviewer or a client asks how you'd approach a governance problem, you'll answer from work you've done.
You won't be doing it alone. The group is capped at 15, we meet live (virtually) every two weeks, and you'll have 1:1 check-ins with me along the way. Between sessions, you can reach me and your cohort peers in a dedicated community space.
You'll finish with the Practitioner Award, AI Governance Foundations, and the work to back it up.
Here's how Kemi Ajayi described her Cohort #1 experience:
"The AI Governance Practitioner Program helped me move from understanding AI governance conceptually to applying it in practice. The hands-on work gave me practical experience with building AI inventories, assessing real-world AI risk, designing governance mechanisms, and developing policies. It has given me the confidence to interview for AI governance roles and speak concretely about how I would approach governance challenges, rather than relying only on frameworks and theory."
- Kemi Ajayi, USA
This is our last cohort for 2026. It starts Monday, October 26, and costs US$899 (or US$649 if you're already enrolled in the self-paced Foundation Track and you want upgrade - just reply to this email and we'll send you an upgrade code.)
Limited to 15 places. Cohorts 1 & 2 were fully subscribed.
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๐๏ธ The AI Governor podcast with me (James Kavanagh)
How much technical fluency do you need to govern AI?
Special Guest: Oliver Patel
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Our latest podcast episode on The AI Governor was with Oliver Patel. Many of you may know Oliver from his incredible work leading AI governance in practice, and sharing insights and tips within his own newsletter, Enterprise AI Governance.
In this episode, we talk about his unconventional journey into AI governance at one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world, and the day-to-day realities of doing the work in a large, complex enterprise.
We cover how much technical fluency professionals from non-technical backgrounds really need to work in AI governance, his 'three Gs' for governing AI at enterprise scale, his motivation for writing a book, and a whole lot more.
If you're exploring a career in AI governance, you're just getting started or you're already doing the work of accelerating innovation while making sure that deployed AI is safe, secure and lawful - you won't want to miss this one.
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Listen (and subscribe) to The AI Governor podcast wherever you get your podcasts. |
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What we're working on
We're fast approaching AI Career Pro's 1-year anniversary. It's amazing to think that in that short space of time, we've seen over 1,800 professionals take at least one of our courses.
It's been so rewarding to see brand new entrants to our field gain credentials, build their confidence, win new roles and even create new companies. And to those practitioners who were already doing the work, it's been humbling to have you as part of our courses, cohorts and the AI Career Pro community.
We have listened to every idea, every question and every ask you've shared with us, and we can't wait to show you how we've turned them into the next big step at AI Career Pro. New tools, new courses, whole new learning-by-doing experiences, all coming very, very soon. You're going to love it.
Until next time and as always, reach out if you have questions or feedback for us.
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