We are currently witnessing a boom in the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI), and this is only likely to continue in the coming years. There is no doubt that AI brings huge potential benefits, but it is easy to get ­distracted by all the issues that AI promises to solve and the temptation to jump in at the deep end is strong.

However, the use of AI comes with challenges, including vendor management; the AI supply chain is complex, and many organisations are heavily reliant on third parties to provide the AI systems they use. This entails its own specific risks; many of the emerging legal and regulatory obligations surrounding AI require an element of control and visibility over systems that may not be immediately available to anyone other than the developer. For AI deployers, managing vendors can feel like speed dating: trying to elicit as much information as possible from vendors whose promises appear alluring and believable, often in restricted time.