TLDR: A new policy paper, ‘AI Assessments: Enhancing Confidence in AI,’ released by EY and the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), urges businesses and policymakers to adopt structured assessment frameworks for artificial intelligence systems. The report highlights the critical need for comprehensive evaluations across governance, compliance, and performance to ensure AI is trustworthy, effective, and responsibly deployed amidst its accelerating adoption.
London, August 5, 2025 – Global professional services organization EY and the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) have jointly released a pivotal policy paper titled ‘AI Assessments: Enhancing Confidence in AI.’ This comprehensive report underscores the urgent need for robust and structured assessment frameworks for artificial intelligence systems to build public and business trust, ensure compliance, and maximize the technology’s potential for innovation and growth.
The paper, published on August 4th and 5th, 2025, argues that as businesses increasingly integrate AI into their operations, comprehensive evaluations are essential to ensure AI solutions are not only effective but also trustworthy and adhere to ethical and legal standards.
The report identifies three core types of AI assessments crucial for this endeavor:
Governance assessments: These evaluate the internal structures and processes overseeing AI deployment within an organization.
Conformity assessments: These verify that AI systems align with relevant laws, regulations, and industry standards.
Performance assessments: These measure the AI system’s output against predefined quality and efficiency benchmarks.
The policy paper acknowledges the fast-evolving regulatory landscape, citing initiatives like the U.S. AI Action Plan, and highlights common obstacles to robust AI assessment frameworks. These challenges include vague objectives, inconsistent methodologies, and a shortage of qualified assessment providers.
To address these gaps, EY and ACCA offer actionable recommendations for both business leaders and policymakers. Business leaders are urged to embrace both voluntary and mandatory assessments to bolster corporate governance, integrate AI assessments into their risk management strategies, and build confidence among customers and employees.
For policymakers, the report recommends establishing clear, internationally harmonized frameworks for AI assessments, defining their purpose, components, methodology, and criteria. Furthermore, it calls for support in building market capacity to provide high-quality, consistent, and cost-effective assessments, while ensuring standards are minimally burdensome on businesses.
Marie-Laure Delarue, EY Global Vice-Chair for Assurance, emphasized the critical juncture AI faces: “AI has been advancing faster than many of us could have imagined, and it now faces an inflection point, presenting incredible opportunities as well as complexities and risks. It is hard to overstate the importance of ensuring safe and effective adoption of AI. Rigorous assessments are an important tool to help build confidence in the technology, and confidence is the key to unlocking AI’s full potential as a driver of growth and prosperity.”
Helen Brand, Chief Executive of ACCA, added, “As AI scales across the economy, the ability to trust the technology is vital for the public interest. This is an area where we need to bridge skills gaps and build trust in the AI ecosystem as part of driving sustainable business.”
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The report concludes that effective AI assessments are paramount for businesses to deploy AI systems that are more likely to be effective, reliable, and trusted, ultimately fostering innovation, productivity, and sustainable growth.
