InsightGovernance
A policy is not an audit trail: what operational AI governance actually requires
Written expectations describe intent. Assurance requires a record of what a system did, who reviewed it and on what basis.
Coming soonAI Governance & Implementation for Accountancy and Law Firms
AI that stands upto scrutiny.
We help accountancy and law firms implement AI with the governance, evidence and human oversight required to use it confidently - today and under tomorrow’s scrutiny.
The assurance questionFig. 01
Your firm may already be using AI. The harder question is whether you can prove it’s being used safely.
01
Regulator
Compliance and enforcement
02
Insurer
Risk assessment and coverage
03
Client
Trust and confidentiality
Governance × ImplementationDefensible AI
Built for regulated professional services
- Law Firms
- Accountancy Firms
- Risk & Compliance
- Operations
- AI & Innovation
The gap
Your firm has adopted AI. Can you prove it’s under control?
Most firms are past the question of whether to use AI. What is usually missing is the record: a policy sets out what should happen, but it does not show what actually happened on a matter, an engagement or a client file.
Where AI is working well, the risk is quieter. The system produces useful output, but the decision points, review steps and audit trail that make that output defensible were never designed in. The result is an evidence gap - and evidence is what a regulator, an insurer or a client will ask for.
Invisible AI use
Staff adopt tools faster than policy changes. Usage spreads through teams before anyone has assessed the data, the vendor or the review point.
Governance on paper
Policies exist and training has been delivered, but the controls are not embedded into the workflows where the work is actually done.
Automation without evidence
Systems work reliably, yet decision logs, defined review points and audit trails are missing - so nothing can be reconstructed after the fact.
The path
From AI pilot to audit-ready operation.
A proven four-step path that closes the gap between innovation and assurance - so you can adopt AI with confidence and scale responsibly.
Governance × Implementation
The gap is between the policy and the system.
Policy-only consultancy
“A policy tells people what should happen.”
Useful as a statement of intent. It does not produce a record of what a system did or who accepted the outcome.
Alacrix
Alacrix connects governance to implementation - so the controls, evidence and human oversight exist inside the way AI is actually used.
One engagement designs the control environment and builds the workflow, rather than treating them as separate projects.
Build-only automation
“A working automation proves only that it works.”
Delivery without a control design leaves the firm carrying the regulatory and professional exposure alone.
Governance×Implementation=Defensible AI
Who we help
Two professions, one assurance standard.
Firms whose licence to operate depends on confidentiality, professional judgement and the ability to evidence how work was performed.
Law firms
Move from experimentation to governed adoption.
Midsize practices are already using AI for drafting, review and research. The task now is to make that use consistent with confidentiality obligations, professional duties and the supervision expectations your clients and insurer assume are in place.
- Client confidentiality and data handling across tools and vendors
- Human oversight and supervision at defined review points
- Explainability: what the system did and on what basis
- Evidence that satisfies insurer and client due-diligence questions
- Practical staff adoption without shadow tooling
- Implementation of governed workflows, not just a written policy
Accountancy firms
Scale AI without losing professional judgement or control.
Mid-tier practices are automating preparation, review and reporting work. Governance keeps the review controls, working-paper trail and professional judgement intact as more of the process becomes machine-assisted.
- Client data confidentiality across engagement workflows
- Review controls that remain effective on generated output
- Professional judgement retained at the points that matter
- Auditability: repeatable evidence of how work was produced
- Workforce training aligned to permitted and prohibited use
- Governed process automation across the engagement lifecycle
How governed implementation works
Governance should live inside the workflow.
Controls that sit outside the system are optional in practice. Alacrix designs the control environment at the same time as the implementation, so every run of the workflow produces its own evidence.
The result is an operational record: what entered the process, which controls applied, what the model did, who reviewed it, what was decided and what was retained.
AI input
Document, message or data enters the workflow.
Control
Permitted-use, data and confidentiality checks apply.
AI action
The model extracts, drafts, classifies or reconciles.
Human review
A named person reviews at a defined threshold.
Decision
The outcome is approved, amended or rejected.
Evidence
Inputs, versions, reviewer and rationale are logged.
AI activityVerified control / human reviewDecision & evidenceUnresolved risk
Entry point
Start with what you’re already using.
AI Risk & Readiness Audit
A short one-to-three day diagnostic that maps current AI use across the firm, identifies material governance gaps, prioritises risks by exposure and produces an implementation roadmap you can act on.
Designed for mid-tier accountancy practices and midsize law firms.
Deliverables
- 01AI use-case inventory
- 02Risk and control assessment
- 03Human-oversight review
- 04Evidence and audit-trail gap analysis
- 05Prioritised remediation roadmap
Insights
AI governance for people who have to make it work.
InsightImplementation
Why human oversight fails when it is added after deployment
Review steps bolted on to a live workflow become optional in practice. Oversight has to be a designed part of the process.
Coming soonInsightRisk & Assurance
The questions your insurer may eventually ask about AI
Professional indemnity conversations are moving from whether a firm uses AI to how its use is controlled and evidenced.
Coming soonBook an audit
If your AI use was challenged tomorrow, what could you prove?
Start with an AI Risk & Readiness Audit and find the gap between current use, current controls and defensible practice.