GEP and WEF Launch Guidelines for Responsible AI Procurement GEP and WEF Launch Guidelines for Responsible AI Procurement

An associate partner of the World Economic Forum (WEF), GEP is driving a global discussion on the potential impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on sustainability, diversity, and social and economic equity.   

As a leading provider of AI-powered supply chain and procurement software and strategy to Fortune 500 and Global 2000 enterprises, GEP leveraged its expertise to lead the WEF’s initiative to create clear guidelines for businesses on how to acquire and adopt artificial intelligence solutions responsibly.

Today, global companies are rapidly deploying AI solutions. But without a structured framework to guide companies on how to evaluate and procure AI tools responsibly, AI can dehumanize decisions and promote biases and ethics issues. A holistic approach that emphasizes considerations across the spectrum and provides a balanced framework is the need of the hour.

GEP led a task force, along with WEF, which comprised 25+ community partner companies, including BP, Dell, Hitachi and Huawei, to coalesce our collective knowledge of AI and procurement. After collating inputs, reviews and feedback over a one-year period, GEP has drafted a set of guidelines that will help enterprises assess AI suppliers and technology, identify risk and responsibly procure solutions that are aligned to business goals and organizational values. The report was published in June 2023.  

The comprehensive report, Adopting AI Responsibly: Guidelines for Procurement of AI Solutions by the Private Sector, lays down a customizable framework to help businesses acquire ethical AI technology.

What’s Inside:

  • It discusses the five pillars for responsible AI acquisition, highlighting key considerations and questions to be raised and addressed both internally and externally.
  • It offers guidance — directional parameters rather than prescriptive rules — on evaluating potential solutions based on bias, privacy and security, and shares recommendations on integrating ethical principles into procurement criteria and processes.
  • Why procurement should orchestrate the acquisition of AI solutions and how it can enable the implementation of the framework. It’s essential reading for business and procurement leaders who want to make sure their organizations adopt socially responsible AI solutions.