# Teams, Roles and Operating Model — AI Strategy, Ethics and Governance

Source: https://www.geekswithgeeks.com/en/ai-strategy-governance/biz-operating-model

> Decide who owns AI work: central team, embedded teams or a hybrid with shared standards.

## Who does what

Typical roles: an **executive sponsor** who funds and unblocks; a **product owner** who owns the business outcome; **engineers and data specialists** who build; **domain experts** who define "good" and review outputs; **security, privacy and legal** advisers; and a **risk or governance lead**. Organisations usually choose between a **centre of excellence** (central team sets standards and builds shared tools), **embedded teams** in each business unit, or a **hybrid**: a small central team for standards, platform and governance, with product teams doing the delivery.

## A simple RACI

R = does the work, A = accountable (one person), C = consulted, I = informed. One accountable owner per decision avoids "everyone thought someone else approved it".

```text
Decision / activity            Sponsor  Product  Eng  Legal/Priv  Risk
Choose use case & success metric   A       R       C      I          C
Approve data use                    I       C       C      A          C
Set evaluation pass criteria        I       A       R      C          C
Approve launch                      A       R       C      C          C
Handle an incident                  I       A       R      C          C
```

**Quiz:** Why name exactly one accountable person per decision?

- [x] So responsibility is clear and nothing falls between roles
- [ ] Because committees are illegal
- [ ] To reduce the number of meetings to zero
- [ ] Accountability slows decisions down by design

*Answer:* So responsibility is clear and nothing falls between roles. A single owner can be asked, decide and be held to account.