Brand AI Report - Episode 1: What Makes AI "Good" for Business?
Every AI interaction is a brand engagement. When customers read your AI-generated marketing copy, chat with your automated systems, or hear about your (mis)use of AI, they're experiencing your brand. How you safeguard your employees, customers, the public, and the planet from AI risk is also a new and urgent feature of your brand trust. That means AI strategy and brand strategy can't be separate anymore.
The Brand AI Report helps executives make smarter decisions by evaluating AI innovation and use-cases through a brand lens. By providing relevant headlines, research, and interviews with brand and AI leaders, I help organizations explore this critical Brand+AI link to better manage their own transformation.
Host: Michael Quinn is a Fractional CAIO and senior consultant who helps brands navigate AI adoption (contact and creds below). He advises C-suite executives and board members on responsible AI strategy and governance.
Guest: In this conversation, Michael interviews Nusrat Farook, founder and CEO of effectivRAI (www.effectivRAI.com), about the importance of responsible AI in corporate settings. They discuss the trust and responsibility gaps in AI implementation, varying leadership mindsets regarding AI, and the critical need for robust governance and training within organizations.
Key Topics Covered
Moving past the hype to define what "good" AI truly means for organizations
The essential link between brand strategy and AI governance
Core principles of Responsible AI (RAI) in corporate settings
Evaluating AI partners and systems for brand safety and trustworthiness
The role of responsible AI as defense against cybersecurity threats
Managing internal and external risks in AI implementation
Key Takeaways
EffectivRAI addresses the trust and responsibility gap in AI
Corporate leadership operates at different stages of AI readiness
Mindset change is crucial for successful AI implementation
Responsible AI serves as a cybersecurity asset
External audits build trust in AI systems
Brand trust directly links to responsible AI practices
Communication between boards and management is vital
The digital divide affects AI adoption globally
Selected Research Insights
On building RAI capabilities quickly: "Responsible AI doesn't have to be slow—it needs to be deliberate. Speed comes from structure. Start by forming a high-level, cross-functional AI Steering Group. This isn't a committee—it's a special forces team."
On crisis preparedness: "AI moves at the speed of virality—your crisis plan has to, too. Preparation begins with your Steering Group acting as a rapid response team with protocols in place before a breach."
On governance frameworks: "You wouldn't run your books without a financial audit. Why run your AI without a trust audit? It's not just about being compliant—it's about being strategically competent with AI."
Keywords: Responsible AI, AI Governance, AI Implementation, Leadership, Brand Strategy, Cybersecurity, AI Ethics, Corporate Strategy
Connect with Michael Quinn:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelquinn-ai/
Website: https://www.michaelquinn.ai
Schedule a consultation: https://calendly.com/michael-michaelquinn/30min
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Newsletter: https://www.BrandAIReport.com
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@BrandAIReport
Research
When researching effectivRAI before our recorded conversation, I asked Nusrat several questions about her vision and process. Her thoughtful (and thought-provoking) responses are below.
0. What is the origin of effectivRAI?
I had been working in Washington D.C. at Global Internet Forum to Counterterrorism (GIFCT) founded and funded by Meta, Twitter, Microsoft and YouTube. I met Dr. Derek Leebaert who was completing an advisory project at the Pentagon. He's now a partner at effectivRAI and has spent his career at the intersection of high tech, management consulting, and finance. We identified the market need for an agile, top-credentialed CEO advisory and tech firm dedicated to the use of trustworthy, responsible AI by corporations, banks, and other enterprises.
We then did two things. First, we recruited what might be the world's most experienced cross-functional team for AI use. It's able to focus on every facet of AI implementations from law & governance, to cybersecurity & political risk, to business strategy. Derek or I have worked with these people for years. Second, we made sure that effectivRAI's services are augmented by proprietary, state-of-the-art tools, including AI agents, timed simulations (for selecting AI steering groups), and a data curation platform. Not least, we provide thought leadership too--as shown by our books, articles, and media appearances. We launched in February.
Soundbite: “We founded effectivRAI to meet a growing C-suite and Board need: trusted, cross-functional guidance on responsible AI—delivered by leaders who’ve operated at the highest levels of government, tech, and enterprise.”
1. The proliferation of Agents and Agentic AI is fast, but building Responsible AI muscle in large organizations is slow. What is your advice for leaders feeling the urgency?
● Responsible AI (RAI) doesn’t have to be slow—it needs to be deliberate. Speed comes from structure.
● Start by forming a high-level, cross-functional AI Steering Group (COO, CFO, CHRO, CIO, CAIO, etc.). This isn’t a committee—it’s a special forces team.
● The Group ensures everyone uses the same RAI playbook aligned with business strategy. effectivRAI runs simulations to build judgment and agility into that team.
● RAI muscle = applied trust + decision-making + cross-functional synergy.
Soundbite: “Responsible AI isn’t a slow lane—it’s a smart lane. The real acceleration happens when everyone’s steering with the same hands on the wheel.”
2. Given the strategic risks posed by advanced AI, including generative and agentic AI, what are the top 3 potential threats the C-suite should evaluate to mitigate?
- Brand Risk: Misinformation, bias, security failures—like AI-generated fake book lists, damaging news outlets.
- Workforce Risk: On the corporate battlefield, morale can crumble fast. Loyalty and excitement are lost.
- Compliance Risk: Global regulatory misalignment—from the EU AI Act to U.S. federal memos. Noncompliance is expensive.
effectivRAI uses its RAI Risk Matrix to assess and mitigate these enterprise-wide.
Soundbite: “If AI is nuclear power, your brand is the reactor core—one leak and trust melts down.”
3. What is your advice for where to start for preserving information integrity, protecting your brand, and managing communications during potential AI-driven reputational crises or disinformation campaigns?
● Preparation begins with your Steering Group acting as a rapid response team.
● Have protocols in place before a breach. Think of it like the Tylenol crisis —preparation, transparency, and stakeholder trust matter.
● Management needs to engage Boards quickly, engage regulators early, and assume AI increases the scale and speed of crisis.
● We design AI-crisis comms playbooks, modeled on real-world case studies, adapted for today’s speed and scale.
Soundbite: “AI moves at the speed of virality—your crisis plan has to, too.”
4. How do you determine whether a client organization is embedding RAI principles into their overall business strategy and operations, and aligning with regulations?
● The answer is an end-to-end third-party RAI audit, or external RAI review—objective, external, and holistic.
● We assess alignment across five categories: safety, ethics, legality, reliability, and human involvement.
● It’s not just about being compliant—it’s about being strategically competent with AI.
● Think of it like a financial audit, but for trust, risk, and innovation.
Soundbite: “You wouldn’t run your books without a financial audit. Why run your AI without a trust audit?”
5. Can you describe a specific governance framework or internal processes you recommend ensuring robust risk mitigation and trust-building in an AI system?
● The Steering Group is central, but must be augmented with all AI-related governance and processes. For example, an audit builds trust in the efficacy of the organization’s AI systems —by balancing risk and opportunity.
● Our approach blends compliance with creativity—we build frameworks that don’t stifle innovation by applying best practices for AI trust & safety.
● We help Top Management to deploy trusted, responsible AI that boosts the organization’s performance, meets CEO expectations for execution, and accomplishes all this without compromising privacy, civil liberties, or ethics.
Soundbite: “RAI governance isn’t about saying no to innovation—it’s about knowing when to say GO.”
6. What do you advise C-suite clients to do to ensure their organization is adequately prepared, in terms of defense posture, incident response protocols, and information sharing, to counter evolving AI-powered cyber threats?
● In my previous role at GIFCT, I was leading the transformation of incident response protocols for 30+ tech companies and more than four international bodies. Another colleague, Dr. Nidhi Rastogi is a cyber security and AI expert. So, we bring in experts to prepare enterprises for AI-enhanced cyber threats.
● Your defense posture must include data-driven AI, intelligence sharing protocols, and adversarial simulations.
● Steering Groups become cyber-aware hubs. Incident playbooks become muscle memory.
Soundbite: “The threat landscape has AI—we help your defense posture evolve to match it.”
7. Do you work with both Boards and Management? How do the Board's primary concerns regarding AI risks, align with or diverge from Management's operational focus on implementation risks, resource allocation, efficiencies, etc.
● Boards focus on existential risks, trust, and reputation; Management focuses on ROI and execution.
● effectivRAI aligns the two: RAI = ROI. We help ensure AI investments tie directly to mission, compliance, and innovation goals.
● We support shared frameworks, crosswalks between implementation and oversight, and board education on AI literacy.
Soundbite: “ROI doesn’t exist without RAI. Responsible AI is how you get return on investment.”
8. What specific mechanisms or information flows do you look for to ensure that an organization's Board receives comprehensive, yet appropriately high-level, insights into the organization's AI risk landscape?
● Recommend forming a Board-level AI Committee (akin to today’s Compensation or Nominating committees).
● Provide AI briefings, to the board, tied to enterprise goals and regulatory outlooks.
● effectivRAI experts have deep experience at briefing Boards and Board committees—striking a balance between detail and summary.
Soundbite: “The Board doesn’t need all the code—but it does need the compass. That’s what we deliver.”
9. How does your AI strategy guidance/process account for geopolitical risks, varying regulations, and the importance of engaging with diverse stakeholders?
● Providing guidance to client companies regarding such risks is highly specialized. It involves cross-functional capabilities.
● Our team includes national security and international governance experts (e.g., Derek Leebaert, Mohammadou Kah, Jim Strock).
● Responsible AI is local and global. We bridge AI adoption across languages, cultures, and regulatory environments.
Soundbite: “AI is global by default. RAI must be local by design.”
10. Beyond internal controls, what is your organization's approach to engaging in public-private partnerships or collaborating with governments, NGOs, and other external stakeholders to collectively address the systemic risks?
● Responsible AI demands public-private-NGO alignment—like civil aviation’s safety transformation.
● We work directly with the UN and other multilateral bodies to shape AI ecosystems, especially in underserved regions.
● Our experts co-chair UN commissions and bring that collaborative model to the private sector.
Soundbite: “If you want AI to work for humanity, humanity has to work together on AI.”
11. Can you talk about the health of a client's data integrity in the effectivRAI process? Does a client's lack of data robustness derail your process, or do you stay involved to insure that integrity improves?
● Data integrity is foundational—bias, language gaps, and poor pipelines undermine trust.
● We stay involved to fix what’s broken and strengthen pipelines.
● Our advisory role means we build lasting RAI capabilities, not one-off fixes.
Soundbite: “Your AI is only as trustworthy as your data—and we don’t walk away until it is.”
