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Most company leaders acknowledge that running an organization today requires implementing risk management strategies. According to the 2023 PwC Pulse Survey, 57% of key risk officers are looking to increase their annual spend on risk monitoring processes to combat diverse risk scenarios, such as potential data breaches and loss of customer trust.
Despite this heightened awareness of the risk landscape, organizations often find it challenging to integrate extensive risk management practices into their core processes — which is why implementing a risk management framework (RMF) is a smart move.
The idea behind an RMF is to help organizations adopt a comprehensive, systemized approach to identify, assess, and mitigate risks to their business. It not only enables early risk detection and mitigation but has various other benefits as well. In this guide, we’ll discuss:
- Common concepts and use cases of risk management frameworks.
- Five well-known frameworks alongside the best practices for adopting them.
- Steps necessary to implement any RMF.
What is a risk management framework (RMF)?
A risk management framework is a templated set of guidelines, references, and best practices an organization uses to effectively identify, evaluate, and eliminate risks across categories, such as security, vendor, and third-party risks. RMFs are designed by federal and international agencies and may include formalized policies, procedures, and models that can be directly integrated into your risk culture.
A risk management framework serves several use cases and end goals, most notably:
- Protecting an organization from cybersecurity threats.
- Fostering customer trust with enhanced security practices.
- Enabling stable business growth through risk-informed decision-making.
- Optimizing revenue and resource allocation by comparing potential risks and rewards.
Components of a risk management framework
Strip away the branding, and every major risk management framework performs the same five activities. The names change. The substance doesn't. The components below make the rest of this article easier to read, because each framework you'll meet later is essentially a different opinion about how to do these five things well.
Identification
The first activity is finding what could go wrong. This means cataloging the threats, vulnerabilities, and uncertain events that could affect your business, your customers, your assets, or your obligations. ISO 31000 calls this "risk identification." COSO ERM folds it into "event identification." NIST CSF 2.0 covers it under "Identify." All three are asking the same question, which is what's on your radar that could hurt you.
Assessment
Once you've named the risks, you have to measure them. Assessment is the activity of estimating how likely each risk is and how much damage it would do if it occurred. Some frameworks favor qualitative scoring (high, medium, low). Some favor quantitative scoring (expected annual loss in dollars). FAIR is the quantitative outlier on this list. Most of the others let you choose, which means you'll choose qualitatively until someone on your board asks for a number.
Treatment
Treatment is the decision about what to do with each assessed risk. There are four choices. You can avoid the risk by not doing the activity that creates it. You can reduce it by adding controls. You can transfer it through insurance or contractual terms. Or you can accept it and document why. ISO 31000 calls this "risk treatment," COSO calls it "risk response," and NIST CSF groups the related controls under "Protect" and "Respond." Same underlying activity, different labels.
Monitoring
Risk isn't static. A vendor that was safe last quarter might be in the middle of a breach this quarter. Monitoring is the activity of keeping watch as conditions change, so your assessments and treatments stay current. This is where most programs fall short, because annual reviews can't keep up with weekly change. Continuous monitoring is the modern answer.
Governance
Governance is the activity of assigning ownership, defining authority, and making sure the program is actually being run rather than just documented. It answers the question of who decides, who's accountable, and who reports to whom. NIST CSF 2.0 added "Govern" as a core function in February 2024 specifically because most GRC teams treated this work as implicit and then suffered when no one owned a decision in a crisis.
{{cta_withimage4="/cta-blocks"}}
Why your organization should implement an RMF
A well-implemented risk management framework brings more certainty to your operations by giving you a defined approach to risk identification and mitigation. The key benefits of an RMF include:
- Proactive threat detection: Helps anticipate notable threats. Spotting them early can reduce the chances of their unnoticed escalation and subsequent disruption to your operations.
- Data-driven decision-making: Enables real-time visibility of crucial data, such as risk limits and real-time compliance posture, serving as a playbook for making informed decisions.
- Improved reputation: Customers and investors are more likely to choose organizations that maintain a robust RMF. Your business also gets a blueprint to comply with industry standards and regulations more easily, which further strengthens its reputation.
- Better organizational resilience: Besides preventing risks, an RMF acts as a buffer during unfavorable events with built-in procedures to withstand and recover from active threats without too much disruption.
Popular risk management frameworks you should know about
Several risk management frameworks have been developed to help organizations calibrate their risk appetite, but it’s worth understanding the nuances that set them apart.
Here are five important frameworks you should know about:
- NIST RMF
- COBIT
- OCTAVE
- COSO ERM
- TARA
We have presented a brief overview of these frameworks below, as well as the process for implementing each.
1. NIST RMF
Issued by the National Institute for Standards and Technology, NIST RMF is a set of steps for managing information privacy and security risks within an organization, with an emphasis for U.S. federal agencies. It’s widely recognized as one of the most effective frameworks for securing information systems and can be implemented by any organization regardless of its industry or size.
Implementing the framework consists of these six steps:
- Categorize the data your information system processes, stores, and transmits, and perform an impact analysis.
- Select a baseline of controls you’ll put in place to protect your information systems and critical infrastructure.
- Implement chosen controls with the help of policies and document processes and outcomes.
- Assess your controls against preset benchmarks.
- Leverage reports to analyze the status of permitted risks and track ineffective controls.
- Continuously monitor the controls and adjust them as needed to ensure the effectiveness of information systems.
2. COBIT
COBIT stands for Control Objectives for Information and Related Technology. It’s a framework developed by ISACA to help organizations reconcile control requirements, technical issues, and business risks, providing a common ground in terms of IT management and governance. While any organization can implement COBIT, it’s particularly useful if you’re pursuing ISO 27001 certification.
To implement the latest version of this framework, COBIT 2019, you need to design your RMF around six principles:
- Meet stakeholder needs.
- Build a holistic IT governance system.
- Ensure the governance system is dynamic and responds well to changes.
- Separate governance activities from management.
- Tailor the framework to enterprise needs.
- Prioritize having an integrated, end-to-end governance system that encompasses all IT functions.
To implement these principles, COBIT suggests paying attention to the following seven enablers within your RMF for comprehensiveness:
- Principles, policies, and frameworks
- IT processes
- Organizational structures
- IT-supportive culture, ethics, and behavior
- Optimized storage and dissemination of information
- Services, infrastructure, and applications
- People, skills, and competencies
{{cta_withimage28="/cta-blocks"}} | AI Security assessment template
3. OCTAVE
The OCTAVE (Operationally Critical Threat, Asset, and Vulnerability Evaluation) framework was developed in 1999 for the United States Department of Defense but has since become a reliable model for managing information security risks. OCTAVE focuses on identifying an organization's critical assets, their vulnerabilities and other threats, and evaluating the potential business impact if the threats were to occur.
OCTAVE is a highly actionable framework that can take months to implement, depending on the complexity of your risk profile. The process here is quite straightforward, typically entailing three steps:
- Map out your IT assets and threats that can affect them.
- Identify the most pressing vulnerabilities within your organization’s infrastructure. To evaluate the efficacy of your system, you’ll need to perform various tests and assessments (e.g., penetration testing, systems audits, access reviews, etc.).
- Define a security risk management strategy tailored to your business.
4. COSO ERM
The COSO ERM (Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission’s Enterprise Risk Management) framework is focused on optimizing an organization’s internal controls and promoting better corporate governance. It was commissioned and published in 2004 and has been revised several times to address developments in risk management.
To implement this framework, you have to visualize a structure called a COSO cube, which gives you a bird’s-eye view of your entire risk management culture. Here are the steps you can follow to design the cube’s three dimensions:
- Outline four categories of your risk management objectives — strategic, operations, reporting, and compliance. This forms the topmost face of the cube.
- For the front face of the cube, define the eight components necessary for achieving your risk management objectives and internal controls, namely:some text
- Internal environment
- Objective setting
- Event identification
- Risk assessment
- Risk response
- Control activities
- Information and communication
- Monitoring
- Explain your organizational structure (subsidiary, business unit, division, and entity level) using the lateral face to pinpoint the areas where the risk management and internal controls are active.
5. TARA
MITRE’s TARA (Threat Assessment and Remediation Analysis) framework is used to identify, assess, and mitigate cybersecurity threats. It was developed in 2010 and has various use cases, such as program protection and vulnerability assessment planning, as well as system architecture analysis.
TARA relies on catalogs of attack vectors (AVs) and countermeasures (CMs), where AVs are quantified and ranked by risk level, while CMs are ranked by cost-effectiveness. The framework essentially combines threat-based and quantitative risk assessment methodologies, providing a comprehensive ecosystem to understand your cybersecurity risk landscape.
To implement TARA assessments, you should go through the following three steps:
- Define the assessment scope, including the evaluation targets and range of threats you’ll assess.
- Conduct the cyber threat susceptibility analysis (CTSA) and create the threat matrix.
- Perform the cyber risk remediation analysis (CRRA) to develop mitigation recommendations.
6. ISO/IEC 42001
ISO/IEC 42001 is the first international management system standard for artificial intelligence, published by the International Organization for Standardization in December 2023. It specifies the requirements for establishing, implementing, maintaining, and continually improving an AI Management System (AIMS). Its structure mirrors ISO 27001, with 10 clauses and a set of Annex A controls, which makes it familiar territory for anyone who's been through an ISO 27001 certification. The standard applies to any organization that develops, provides, or uses AI systems, which now covers most of the software industry.
To implement ISO/IEC 42001, work through the following steps.
- Define the scope of your AI Management System. Document which AI systems, business units, and use cases fall under the program, and align the scope with the standard's 10 clauses.
- Establish governance and accountability. Assign roles for AI decisions, define your AI policy, and put oversight structures in place that satisfy the standard's leadership and planning clauses.
- Conduct an AI-specific risk assessment under Clause 6.1. Identify risks unique to AI systems, including bias, transparency, security, and unintended consequences, and document how you'll evaluate them.
- Run AI system impact assessments. Evaluate each AI system's potential impact on individuals, groups, and society, and document the findings.
- Implement the Annex A controls that apply. Select controls across areas like data management, lifecycle processes, third-party AI suppliers, and human oversight, and document any controls you've excluded.
- Measure performance and continually improve under Clause 9. Define indicators, monitor against them, run internal audits, and use the results to refine the program.
ISO/IEC 42001 is certifiable through independent accredited bodies, which is the practical reason most organizations adopt it. Certification gives you something concrete to show enterprise prospects, regulators, and procurement teams who are now asking detailed questions about AI governance during due diligence. It also pairs cleanly with NIST AI RMF, the voluntary U.S. framework released in January 2023. ISO/IEC 42001 is the management system layer that defines how you run an AI program. NIST AI RMF is the risk-focused content that sits underneath it. Many organizations are now adopting both, ISO/IEC 42001 for certification and NIST AI RMF for the technical risk work.
Pick ISO/IEC 42001 if your organization develops AI products, deploys AI in customer-facing workflows, or operates in regulated industries where AI use is being scrutinized. The EU AI Act, which started phasing in obligations in 2024 and 2025, makes a documented AI management system close to mandatory for any company selling AI-related services into European markets. Platforms like Vanta now support ISO/IEC 42001 in their framework libraries, which lets organizations map AI controls alongside their existing ISO 27001 or SOC 2 programs rather than running AI governance as a separate, manual track.
{{cta_withimage28="/cta-blocks"}} | AI Security assessment template
How to choose the right risk management framework
Framework selection comes down to three questions, what are you trying to govern, how mature is your program, and what audit or regulatory pressure are you under. The table below maps each framework to the use case it's built for and the type of organization it serves best.
In practice, organizations rarely use just one. Most mature programs run a governance-level framework like COSO ERM at the top, a cyber-level framework like NIST RMF or OCTAVE underneath, and now an AI-level framework like ISO/IEC 42001 alongside both. The more frameworks you adopt, the more cross-mapping matters. A single control like multi-factor authentication often satisfies requirements across SOC 2, ISO 27001, NIST RMF, and ISO/IEC 42001 simultaneously, but only if your program is structured to recognize the overlap. Without cross-mapping, you end up doing the same control work three or four times in parallel spreadsheets, which is where most multi-framework programs break down.
How to implement a risk management framework
The specific steps for implementing a risk management framework can vary greatly depending on the exact framework you opt for. Still, there are six standard steps you can follow regardless of your chosen option:
- Set clear objectives: Consider your risk landscape, organizational needs, and overarching security and privacy objectives to decide which framework you should implement.
- Conduct comprehensive risk assessment: Risk assessments are at the heart of every framework. Ideally, an organization should employ adequate tools to conduct them effectively and identify risk areas to assess.
- Develop risk mitigation strategies: Create risk mitigation strategies and incident response processes to fortify your organization’s resilience. From there, define specific actions and procedures for your response team.
- Document risk management workflows: Process documentation is crucial for monitoring the effectiveness of your framework — make sure to have everything on record and specify ways to centrally track your workflows.
- Conduct regular audits: Periodic audits of your RMF help you adapt and enhance your security and privacy processes to get ahead of newly identified threats.
It’s evident that building and maintaining an RMF requires a significant investment of time and resources. However, one of the main reasons organizations hesitate to implement one is the potential fragmentation of the framework’s underlying processes. For instance, risk leaders often cannot dedicate the time and focus necessary to handle complex and labor-intensive steps — like compiling documentation, tracking requirements through spreadsheets, and preparing for audits — over extended periods.
The good news is that there are several ways to implement RMFs more efficiently, such as:
- Designating a dedicated risk management team to constantly monitor your RMF.
- Leveraging risk management software to centralize RMF workflows.
Automate RMF implementation with Vanta
Vanta offers a comprehensive Risk Management solution for businesses of all sizes. It lets you streamline your RMF implementation through niche capabilities, such as suggested mitigation controls and linked control tracking, that fast-track and centralize manual and complex risk management processes.
Vanta is pre-configured to support controls mapped to over 20 top standards and frameworks, including ISO 27001, NIST CSF, and NIST AI RMF. You can also build custom frameworks and utilize 50+ pre-built risk scenarios and assessment workflows within Vanta’s risk library, which makes the process easier for non-expert users as well.
If you’re looking to mature your enterprise risk management program, leverage the platform’s complementary AI and automation functionalities to implement frameworks on a larger scale. For instance, you can:
- Centralize documentation to reduce the inefficient exchange of screenshots and emails.
- Automate risk scoring to prioritize vulnerabilities accordingly.
- Enable continuous monitoring through pre-built automated control tests.
- Assign risk owners for better accountability tracking.
- Complete security questionnaires faster with Vanta AI.
- Create color-coded risk matrices and assessment reports with minimal administrative work.
Vanta also enables your task management with native features and 300+ integrations, fostering cohesive collaboration and bringing your teams on the same page.
To learn more about Vanta’s Risk Management solution, visit the product page or get a custom Vanta demo for a more tailored overview of the platform’s features.
{{cta_simple4="/cta-blocks"}}
Risk
An essential guide to establishing a risk management framework (RMF)
Looking to upgrade to continuous, automated GRC and get visibility across your entire program?
Most company leaders acknowledge that running an organization today requires implementing risk management strategies. According to the 2023 PwC Pulse Survey, 57% of key risk officers are looking to increase their annual spend on risk monitoring processes to combat diverse risk scenarios, such as potential data breaches and loss of customer trust.
Despite this heightened awareness of the risk landscape, organizations often find it challenging to integrate extensive risk management practices into their core processes — which is why implementing a risk management framework (RMF) is a smart move.
The idea behind an RMF is to help organizations adopt a comprehensive, systemized approach to identify, assess, and mitigate risks to their business. It not only enables early risk detection and mitigation but has various other benefits as well. In this guide, we’ll discuss:
- Common concepts and use cases of risk management frameworks.
- Five well-known frameworks alongside the best practices for adopting them.
- Steps necessary to implement any RMF.
What is a risk management framework (RMF)?
A risk management framework is a templated set of guidelines, references, and best practices an organization uses to effectively identify, evaluate, and eliminate risks across categories, such as security, vendor, and third-party risks. RMFs are designed by federal and international agencies and may include formalized policies, procedures, and models that can be directly integrated into your risk culture.
A risk management framework serves several use cases and end goals, most notably:
- Protecting an organization from cybersecurity threats.
- Fostering customer trust with enhanced security practices.
- Enabling stable business growth through risk-informed decision-making.
- Optimizing revenue and resource allocation by comparing potential risks and rewards.
Components of a risk management framework
Strip away the branding, and every major risk management framework performs the same five activities. The names change. The substance doesn't. The components below make the rest of this article easier to read, because each framework you'll meet later is essentially a different opinion about how to do these five things well.
Identification
The first activity is finding what could go wrong. This means cataloging the threats, vulnerabilities, and uncertain events that could affect your business, your customers, your assets, or your obligations. ISO 31000 calls this "risk identification." COSO ERM folds it into "event identification." NIST CSF 2.0 covers it under "Identify." All three are asking the same question, which is what's on your radar that could hurt you.
Assessment
Once you've named the risks, you have to measure them. Assessment is the activity of estimating how likely each risk is and how much damage it would do if it occurred. Some frameworks favor qualitative scoring (high, medium, low). Some favor quantitative scoring (expected annual loss in dollars). FAIR is the quantitative outlier on this list. Most of the others let you choose, which means you'll choose qualitatively until someone on your board asks for a number.
Treatment
Treatment is the decision about what to do with each assessed risk. There are four choices. You can avoid the risk by not doing the activity that creates it. You can reduce it by adding controls. You can transfer it through insurance or contractual terms. Or you can accept it and document why. ISO 31000 calls this "risk treatment," COSO calls it "risk response," and NIST CSF groups the related controls under "Protect" and "Respond." Same underlying activity, different labels.
Monitoring
Risk isn't static. A vendor that was safe last quarter might be in the middle of a breach this quarter. Monitoring is the activity of keeping watch as conditions change, so your assessments and treatments stay current. This is where most programs fall short, because annual reviews can't keep up with weekly change. Continuous monitoring is the modern answer.
Governance
Governance is the activity of assigning ownership, defining authority, and making sure the program is actually being run rather than just documented. It answers the question of who decides, who's accountable, and who reports to whom. NIST CSF 2.0 added "Govern" as a core function in February 2024 specifically because most GRC teams treated this work as implicit and then suffered when no one owned a decision in a crisis.
{{cta_withimage4="/cta-blocks"}}
Why your organization should implement an RMF
A well-implemented risk management framework brings more certainty to your operations by giving you a defined approach to risk identification and mitigation. The key benefits of an RMF include:
- Proactive threat detection: Helps anticipate notable threats. Spotting them early can reduce the chances of their unnoticed escalation and subsequent disruption to your operations.
- Data-driven decision-making: Enables real-time visibility of crucial data, such as risk limits and real-time compliance posture, serving as a playbook for making informed decisions.
- Improved reputation: Customers and investors are more likely to choose organizations that maintain a robust RMF. Your business also gets a blueprint to comply with industry standards and regulations more easily, which further strengthens its reputation.
- Better organizational resilience: Besides preventing risks, an RMF acts as a buffer during unfavorable events with built-in procedures to withstand and recover from active threats without too much disruption.
Popular risk management frameworks you should know about
Several risk management frameworks have been developed to help organizations calibrate their risk appetite, but it’s worth understanding the nuances that set them apart.
Here are five important frameworks you should know about:
- NIST RMF
- COBIT
- OCTAVE
- COSO ERM
- TARA
We have presented a brief overview of these frameworks below, as well as the process for implementing each.
1. NIST RMF
Issued by the National Institute for Standards and Technology, NIST RMF is a set of steps for managing information privacy and security risks within an organization, with an emphasis for U.S. federal agencies. It’s widely recognized as one of the most effective frameworks for securing information systems and can be implemented by any organization regardless of its industry or size.
Implementing the framework consists of these six steps:
- Categorize the data your information system processes, stores, and transmits, and perform an impact analysis.
- Select a baseline of controls you’ll put in place to protect your information systems and critical infrastructure.
- Implement chosen controls with the help of policies and document processes and outcomes.
- Assess your controls against preset benchmarks.
- Leverage reports to analyze the status of permitted risks and track ineffective controls.
- Continuously monitor the controls and adjust them as needed to ensure the effectiveness of information systems.
2. COBIT
COBIT stands for Control Objectives for Information and Related Technology. It’s a framework developed by ISACA to help organizations reconcile control requirements, technical issues, and business risks, providing a common ground in terms of IT management and governance. While any organization can implement COBIT, it’s particularly useful if you’re pursuing ISO 27001 certification.
To implement the latest version of this framework, COBIT 2019, you need to design your RMF around six principles:
- Meet stakeholder needs.
- Build a holistic IT governance system.
- Ensure the governance system is dynamic and responds well to changes.
- Separate governance activities from management.
- Tailor the framework to enterprise needs.
- Prioritize having an integrated, end-to-end governance system that encompasses all IT functions.
To implement these principles, COBIT suggests paying attention to the following seven enablers within your RMF for comprehensiveness:
- Principles, policies, and frameworks
- IT processes
- Organizational structures
- IT-supportive culture, ethics, and behavior
- Optimized storage and dissemination of information
- Services, infrastructure, and applications
- People, skills, and competencies
{{cta_withimage28="/cta-blocks"}} | AI Security assessment template
3. OCTAVE
The OCTAVE (Operationally Critical Threat, Asset, and Vulnerability Evaluation) framework was developed in 1999 for the United States Department of Defense but has since become a reliable model for managing information security risks. OCTAVE focuses on identifying an organization's critical assets, their vulnerabilities and other threats, and evaluating the potential business impact if the threats were to occur.
OCTAVE is a highly actionable framework that can take months to implement, depending on the complexity of your risk profile. The process here is quite straightforward, typically entailing three steps:
- Map out your IT assets and threats that can affect them.
- Identify the most pressing vulnerabilities within your organization’s infrastructure. To evaluate the efficacy of your system, you’ll need to perform various tests and assessments (e.g., penetration testing, systems audits, access reviews, etc.).
- Define a security risk management strategy tailored to your business.
4. COSO ERM
The COSO ERM (Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission’s Enterprise Risk Management) framework is focused on optimizing an organization’s internal controls and promoting better corporate governance. It was commissioned and published in 2004 and has been revised several times to address developments in risk management.
To implement this framework, you have to visualize a structure called a COSO cube, which gives you a bird’s-eye view of your entire risk management culture. Here are the steps you can follow to design the cube’s three dimensions:
- Outline four categories of your risk management objectives — strategic, operations, reporting, and compliance. This forms the topmost face of the cube.
- For the front face of the cube, define the eight components necessary for achieving your risk management objectives and internal controls, namely:some text
- Internal environment
- Objective setting
- Event identification
- Risk assessment
- Risk response
- Control activities
- Information and communication
- Monitoring
- Explain your organizational structure (subsidiary, business unit, division, and entity level) using the lateral face to pinpoint the areas where the risk management and internal controls are active.
5. TARA
MITRE’s TARA (Threat Assessment and Remediation Analysis) framework is used to identify, assess, and mitigate cybersecurity threats. It was developed in 2010 and has various use cases, such as program protection and vulnerability assessment planning, as well as system architecture analysis.
TARA relies on catalogs of attack vectors (AVs) and countermeasures (CMs), where AVs are quantified and ranked by risk level, while CMs are ranked by cost-effectiveness. The framework essentially combines threat-based and quantitative risk assessment methodologies, providing a comprehensive ecosystem to understand your cybersecurity risk landscape.
To implement TARA assessments, you should go through the following three steps:
- Define the assessment scope, including the evaluation targets and range of threats you’ll assess.
- Conduct the cyber threat susceptibility analysis (CTSA) and create the threat matrix.
- Perform the cyber risk remediation analysis (CRRA) to develop mitigation recommendations.
6. ISO/IEC 42001
ISO/IEC 42001 is the first international management system standard for artificial intelligence, published by the International Organization for Standardization in December 2023. It specifies the requirements for establishing, implementing, maintaining, and continually improving an AI Management System (AIMS). Its structure mirrors ISO 27001, with 10 clauses and a set of Annex A controls, which makes it familiar territory for anyone who's been through an ISO 27001 certification. The standard applies to any organization that develops, provides, or uses AI systems, which now covers most of the software industry.
To implement ISO/IEC 42001, work through the following steps.
- Define the scope of your AI Management System. Document which AI systems, business units, and use cases fall under the program, and align the scope with the standard's 10 clauses.
- Establish governance and accountability. Assign roles for AI decisions, define your AI policy, and put oversight structures in place that satisfy the standard's leadership and planning clauses.
- Conduct an AI-specific risk assessment under Clause 6.1. Identify risks unique to AI systems, including bias, transparency, security, and unintended consequences, and document how you'll evaluate them.
- Run AI system impact assessments. Evaluate each AI system's potential impact on individuals, groups, and society, and document the findings.
- Implement the Annex A controls that apply. Select controls across areas like data management, lifecycle processes, third-party AI suppliers, and human oversight, and document any controls you've excluded.
- Measure performance and continually improve under Clause 9. Define indicators, monitor against them, run internal audits, and use the results to refine the program.
ISO/IEC 42001 is certifiable through independent accredited bodies, which is the practical reason most organizations adopt it. Certification gives you something concrete to show enterprise prospects, regulators, and procurement teams who are now asking detailed questions about AI governance during due diligence. It also pairs cleanly with NIST AI RMF, the voluntary U.S. framework released in January 2023. ISO/IEC 42001 is the management system layer that defines how you run an AI program. NIST AI RMF is the risk-focused content that sits underneath it. Many organizations are now adopting both, ISO/IEC 42001 for certification and NIST AI RMF for the technical risk work.
Pick ISO/IEC 42001 if your organization develops AI products, deploys AI in customer-facing workflows, or operates in regulated industries where AI use is being scrutinized. The EU AI Act, which started phasing in obligations in 2024 and 2025, makes a documented AI management system close to mandatory for any company selling AI-related services into European markets. Platforms like Vanta now support ISO/IEC 42001 in their framework libraries, which lets organizations map AI controls alongside their existing ISO 27001 or SOC 2 programs rather than running AI governance as a separate, manual track.
{{cta_withimage28="/cta-blocks"}} | AI Security assessment template
How to choose the right risk management framework
Framework selection comes down to three questions, what are you trying to govern, how mature is your program, and what audit or regulatory pressure are you under. The table below maps each framework to the use case it's built for and the type of organization it serves best.
In practice, organizations rarely use just one. Most mature programs run a governance-level framework like COSO ERM at the top, a cyber-level framework like NIST RMF or OCTAVE underneath, and now an AI-level framework like ISO/IEC 42001 alongside both. The more frameworks you adopt, the more cross-mapping matters. A single control like multi-factor authentication often satisfies requirements across SOC 2, ISO 27001, NIST RMF, and ISO/IEC 42001 simultaneously, but only if your program is structured to recognize the overlap. Without cross-mapping, you end up doing the same control work three or four times in parallel spreadsheets, which is where most multi-framework programs break down.
How to implement a risk management framework
The specific steps for implementing a risk management framework can vary greatly depending on the exact framework you opt for. Still, there are six standard steps you can follow regardless of your chosen option:
- Set clear objectives: Consider your risk landscape, organizational needs, and overarching security and privacy objectives to decide which framework you should implement.
- Conduct comprehensive risk assessment: Risk assessments are at the heart of every framework. Ideally, an organization should employ adequate tools to conduct them effectively and identify risk areas to assess.
- Develop risk mitigation strategies: Create risk mitigation strategies and incident response processes to fortify your organization’s resilience. From there, define specific actions and procedures for your response team.
- Document risk management workflows: Process documentation is crucial for monitoring the effectiveness of your framework — make sure to have everything on record and specify ways to centrally track your workflows.
- Conduct regular audits: Periodic audits of your RMF help you adapt and enhance your security and privacy processes to get ahead of newly identified threats.
It’s evident that building and maintaining an RMF requires a significant investment of time and resources. However, one of the main reasons organizations hesitate to implement one is the potential fragmentation of the framework’s underlying processes. For instance, risk leaders often cannot dedicate the time and focus necessary to handle complex and labor-intensive steps — like compiling documentation, tracking requirements through spreadsheets, and preparing for audits — over extended periods.
The good news is that there are several ways to implement RMFs more efficiently, such as:
- Designating a dedicated risk management team to constantly monitor your RMF.
- Leveraging risk management software to centralize RMF workflows.
Automate RMF implementation with Vanta
Vanta offers a comprehensive Risk Management solution for businesses of all sizes. It lets you streamline your RMF implementation through niche capabilities, such as suggested mitigation controls and linked control tracking, that fast-track and centralize manual and complex risk management processes.
Vanta is pre-configured to support controls mapped to over 20 top standards and frameworks, including ISO 27001, NIST CSF, and NIST AI RMF. You can also build custom frameworks and utilize 50+ pre-built risk scenarios and assessment workflows within Vanta’s risk library, which makes the process easier for non-expert users as well.
If you’re looking to mature your enterprise risk management program, leverage the platform’s complementary AI and automation functionalities to implement frameworks on a larger scale. For instance, you can:
- Centralize documentation to reduce the inefficient exchange of screenshots and emails.
- Automate risk scoring to prioritize vulnerabilities accordingly.
- Enable continuous monitoring through pre-built automated control tests.
- Assign risk owners for better accountability tracking.
- Complete security questionnaires faster with Vanta AI.
- Create color-coded risk matrices and assessment reports with minimal administrative work.
Vanta also enables your task management with native features and 300+ integrations, fostering cohesive collaboration and bringing your teams on the same page.
To learn more about Vanta’s Risk Management solution, visit the product page or get a custom Vanta demo for a more tailored overview of the platform’s features.
{{cta_simple4="/cta-blocks"}}
| Role: | GRC responsibilities: |
|---|---|
| Board of directors | Central to the overarching GRC strategy, this group sets the direction for the compliance strategy. They determine which standards and regulations are necessary for compliance and align the GRC strategy with business objectives. |
| Chief financial officer | Primary responsibility for the success of the GRC program and for reporting results to the board. |
| Operations managers from relevant departments | This group owns processes. They are responsible for the success and direction of risk management and compliance within their departments. |
| Representatives from relevant departments | These are the activity owners. These team members are responsible for carrying out specific compliance and risk management tasks within their departments and for integrating these tasks into their workflows. |
| Contract managers from relevant department | These team members are responsible for managing interactions with vendors and other third parties in their department to ensure all risk management and compliance measures are being taken. |
| Chief information security officer (CISO) | Defines the organization’s information security policy, designs risk and vulnerability assessments, and develops information security policies. |
| Data protection officer (DPO) or legal counsel | Develops goals for data privacy based on legal regulations and other compliance needs, designs and implements privacy policies and practices, and assesses these practices for effectiveness. |
| GRC lead | Responsible for overseeing the execution of the GRC program in collaboration with the executive team as well as maintaining the organization’s library of security controls. |
| Cybersecurity analyst(s) | Implements and monitors cybersecurity measures that are in line with the GRC program and business objectives. |
| Compliance analyst(s) | Monitors the organization’s compliance with all regulations and standards necessary, identifies any compliance gaps, and works to mitigate them. |
| Risk analyst(s) | Carries out the risk management program for the organization and serves as a resource for risk management across various departments, including identifying, mitigating, and monitoring risks. |
| IT security specialist(s) | Implements security controls within the IT system in coordination with the cybersecurity analyst(s). |
Explore more GRC articles
Introduction to GRC
Implementing a GRC program
Optimizing a GRC program
Governance
Risk
Compliance
Continuous control monitoring
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