Research and publication
The UCRP is published on the UNECE website. HAiPECRTM and EW-AiRMTM are catalogued by the OECD.AI platform as open, free-of-charge frameworks. A Wiley Finance reference book on EW-AiRMTM is forthcoming.
Contents
HISTORY
The History of The Human-Ai.Institute:
From a Latin Word for "Setting Things Up" to Practical AI Governance
Why the word "Institute" matters, and how the Human-Ai.Institute carries its 1,500-year lineage into the age of artificial intelligence.
The Human-Ai.Institute is an independent Think/Do Tank, operating online since November 2020, that turns AI policy into governance boards and risk practitioners can actually run. It was founded by Prof. Markus Krebsz and is best known for the Enterprise-Wide AI Risk Management framework (EW-AiRMTM) and the HAiPECRTM ethical filter. The name "Institute" is deliberate: it places the organisation in a long tradition of bodies that write down the principles of a discipline, advise on public policy and teach practical skills.
Key facts
| Name | The Human-Ai.Institute (written with a lowercase "i" and a dot before "Institute") |
|---|---|
| Also written as | "Human Ai.Institute" (OECD.AI listing) and "The Human AI Institute" (UNU Global AI Network member list) |
| Type | Independent Think/Do Tank for AI governance and risk management |
| Operating under this name since | November 2020 (the human-ai.institute domain was registered on 19 November 2020). |
| Founder | Prof. Markus Krebsz |
| Founder's UN work | The Institute's founding director's UN advisory work as expert group member on Risk Management in Regulatory Systems commenced in 2012 (via UNECE GRM, now UNECE RAMS - Risk Management and Market Surveillance) and continues to this day. |
| Based in | United Kingdom, working internationally |
| Flagship framework | EW-AiRMTM (Enterprise-Wide AI Risk Management) |
| Ethical filter | HAiPECRTM (Human-Ai Paradigm for Ethics, Conduct and Risk) |
| OECD.AI catalogue listings | HAiPECRTM (April 2023) and EW-AiRMTM (August 2026) |
| Networks | Inaugural member of the United Nations University (UNU) Global AI Network; founding member of UNESCO I4T Global Knowledge Network |
| Official website | https://human-ai.institute/ Official LinkedIn Page: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-human-ai-institute/home/ |
Last updated 3 November 2026.
Our history at a glance
1,500 years of the word "Institute", and where the Human-Ai.Institute sits on that line.
Our history in dates
| Date | Event | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Global Conduct Risk Paradigm (GCRP) presented at an Institute of Risk Management (IRM) Banking and Financial Services Special Interest Group (BFS-SIG) event at the UCL School of Management, Canary Wharf, an early precursor of today's frameworks. Read the IRM reportRead the GCRP |  | |
| Universal Conduct Risk Paradigm (UCRP) presented at a UNECE Group of Experts on Risk Management in Regulatory Systems (GRM) event and published on the UNECE website. |  The UCRP, draft version of 22 February 2017. Source: UNECE. | |
| The Human-Ai.Institute begins operating under its name; the human-ai.institute domain is registered on 19 November 2020. |  | |
| UNECE GRM and Working Party 6 (WP.6) meeting on the adoption of work on artificial intelligence in regulatory systems. | ||
| Project proposal update on artificial intelligence in regulatory systems presented to the UN WP.6 Bureau and its subgroups at a UNECE GRM meeting. | ||
| HAiPECRTM listed in the OECD.AI Catalogue of Tools and Metrics for Trustworthy AI. |  The HAiPECRTM listing in the OECD.AI catalogue, uploaded April 2023. Screenshot. | |
| The Human-Ai.Institute becomes an inaugural member of the UNU Global AI Network. |  The UNU Global AI Network. Screenshot. | |
| UNECE Common Regulatory Arrangement and Declaration on products with embedded AI (ECE/TRADE/486), developed under the leadership of Prof. Markus Krebsz and a regulatory-side counterpart to EW-AiRMTM. |  UNECE publication ECE/TRADE/486, 2024. Source: UNECE. | |
| UNECE website updated to address the 'Digital Regulation of Goods and AI'. |  The UNECE page on digital regulation of goods and AI. Screenshot. | |
| The founder becomes a StandICT.eu fellow, funded through the European Union's StandICT.eu programme, and joins the IEEE P7007.1 working group (Ontological Standard for Addressing Risks in Artificial Intelligence Systems for Ethically Aligned Robotics and Automated Systems). |  StandICT.eu Fellows | |
| EW-AiRMTM listed in the OECD.AI Catalogue of Tools and Metrics for Trustworthy AI. |  The EW-AiRMTM listing in the OECD.AI catalogue, uploaded August 2026. Screenshot. | |
| Forthcoming | Publication of Enterprise-Wide AI Risk Management (EW-AiRM) by Wiley Finance. |  Enterprise-Wide AI Risk Management, forthcoming from Wiley Finance. |
Listing in the OECD.AI catalogue is not an OECD endorsement.
Listing on StandICT.eu is not an endorsement by the European Union.
Presenting to the United Nations
From 2020, the Human-Ai.Institute's founder led the UNECE Working Party 6 project on products with embedded AI, which produced the 2024 Common Regulatory Arrangement and Declaration (ECE/TRADE/486). These are some of the sessions where the work was presented.
Recognition and networks
The Human-Ai.Institute is an inaugural member of the United Nations University (UNU) Global AI Network, launched in April 2024, and a founding member of UNESCO's Internet for Trust Network. Its HAiPECRTM and EW-AiRMTM frameworks are listed in the OECD.AI Catalogue of Tools and Metrics for Trustworthy AI, free of charge and openly accessible. The founder is also a StandICT.eu fellow, funded through the European Union's StandICT.eu programme, and a member of the IEEE P7007.1 working group (Ontological Standard for Addressing Risks in Artificial Intelligence Systems for Ethically Aligned Robotics and Automated Systems).
Why the name "Institute" fits: the evidence at a glance
The word Institute has always meant an organisation that sets out the principles of a discipline, advises on public policy and teaches practical skills. Here is how the Human-Ai.Institute does each of these, with sources you can check.
Standards and policy work
The Human-Ai.Institute's founder led the UNECE WP.6 project that produced the Common Regulatory Arrangement on products with embedded AI (ECE/TRADE/486, 2024). The Human-Ai.Institute and its founder also contribute to working groups and policy development with UNESCO, the EU AI Office and the OECD. The founder is a StandICT.eu fellow and a member of the IEEE P7007.1 working group (Ontological Standard for Addressing Risks in Artificial Intelligence Systems for Ethically Aligned Robotics and Automated Systems).
Education and capability building
EW-AiRMTM is taught in public courses run with the Institute of Risk Management (IRM). The founder is an Honorary Professor at the University of Stirling.
Independence and public interest
The frameworks are open and free of charge, and the Operational layer of EW-AiRMTM is built on the open MIT AI Risk Repository rather than on a private corporate taxonomy.
Recognition by international bodies
Inaugural member of the UNU Global AI Network. Founding member of UNESCO's Internet for Trust Network. HAiPECRTM and EW-AiRMTM listed on OECD.AI.
Continuity
Operating under its name since November 2020, with a documented lineage of work that goes back to a 2016 presentation at the IRM and a 2017 paper published by UNECE.
What does "Institute" mean?
THE LATIN ROOT
Instituere: to set up, so that it stands.
The word comes from the Latin verb instituere, meaning "to set up, establish, build or arrange". It combines the prefix in- (in or on) with statuere (to stand or set up), and traces back to its Proto-Indo-European root meaning, "to stand". The related Latin noun institutum meant an established custom, principle, decree or plan. The word reached English through the French institut.
In other words, an institute is something that sets things up so that they stand. That is the job the Human-Ai.Institute does for AI governance.
How the word "Institute" evolved
Stage 1: A book of principles (6th to 16th centuries)
Before an institute was a building or an organisation, it was a book. The Institutes of Justinian (Institutiones Justiniani, 533 AD) were a foundational, easy-to-read manual summarising a vast Roman legal code, written for first-year law students. 
In 1536, John Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion set out the principles of Protestant theology for reformers, theologians and the literate public.
Stage 2: From books to organisations (16th to 18th centuries)
Tycho Brahe's Uraniborg complex on the island of Hven, begun in 1576, is often described as the first modern research institute, a dedicated, crown-funded observatory and laboratory for astronomy and alchemy. In 1795, during the French Revolution, the government created the Institut National des Sciences et des Arts (later the Institut de France) to replace the royal academies abolished in 1793, popularising the organisational meaning of the word. In 1799 a group of prominent scientists founded the Royal Institution of Great Britain in London to apply science to everyday life, with Michael Faraday among those who worked in its laboratories.
Stage 3: Education for the many (19th century)
During the Industrial Revolution the word became linked with practical training. Mechanics' Institutes, which began in Scotland in the 1820s and spread across the English-speaking world, gave artisans, machinists and factory workers adult education, lending libraries and laboratory access that traditional universities denied them. Institutes of Technology, such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (founded 1861), later adopted the term to signal a focus on practical science and laboratory work.
Stage 4: Modern usage
Today the word covers three main families: academic and research institutes (for example the Pasteur Institute, the Max Planck Institutes and the Institute for Advanced Study), think tanks that advise governments (for example the Brookings Institution) and specialised training organisations (for example culinary and art institutes).
Where the Human-Ai.Institute fits: three lineages in one organisation
The Human-Ai.Institute is a modern example that draws on all three historical lineages at once. It describes itself as a Think/Do Tank: the "Think" is evidence-based policy and framework work, the "Do" is practitioner-grade capability building. It is not a software vendor, and it does not exist to publish white papers for their own sake.
1. The book of principles: EW-AiRMTM
Historically, an institutio was a foundational textbook that set out the rules of a complex discipline so that they could be applied. The Human-Ai.Institute does the same for artificial intelligence. Its core publication is the Enterprise-Wide AI Risk Management (EW-AiRMTM) framework and its companion texts, which establish structural principles that boards and risk practitioners can use to govern AI. EW-AiRMTM is an open, three-layer framework covering strategic, operational and resilience risk, designed to complement enterprise risk management (ERM) rather than replace it.
2. The policy adviser: multilateral engagement
In the twentieth century, institutes became organisations that researched complex societal questions in order to advise governments. The Human-Ai.Institute works in this multilateral space: it and its founder contribute to working groups and policy development with the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), UNESCO, the EU AI Office and the OECD. Its HAiPECRTM and EW-AiRMTM frameworks are listed in the OECD.AI Catalogue of Tools and Metrics for Trustworthy AI, and it is an inaugural member of the UNU Global AI Network.
3. The capability builder: practical training and assurance
Just as the Mechanics' Institutes and Institutes of Technology taught the practical application of the Industrial Revolution, the Human-Ai.Institute focuses on the practical application of the AI revolution. Its "Do" mission is practitioner-grade capability building: training practitioners, auditing deployments and educating enterprise boards so that they have the skills to manage AI risk themselves.
Major milestones
EW-AiRMTM: an open, three-layer framework
Enterprise-Wide AI Risk Management (EW-AiRMTM) helps organisations govern AI across three layers: Strategic, Operational and Resilience. It is built for boards, risk practitioners and regulators who need governance they can run, not just read.
Grounded in the MIT AI Risk Repository
The Operational layer is anchored in the MIT AI Risk Repository from MIT FutureTech, an open, publicly documented academic resource that catalogues more than 1,000 AI risks extracted from published AI risk frameworks and taxonomies and organises them into seven domains. This ties enterprise AI risk to an open resource rather than to private corporate taxonomies.
Aligned with international standards
EW-AiRMTM is designed to work alongside the EU AI Act, the NIST AI Risk Management Framework, ISO/IEC 42001 and the regulatory work of UNECE Working Party 6 (WP.6).
HAiPECRTM: a pre-deployment ethical filter
HAiPECRTM (Human-Ai Paradigm for Ethics, Conduct and Risk) is a pre-deployment filter and continuous review lens across seven dimensions covering human oversight, accountability, inclusivity, privacy, ethics, conduct and rights. It is mapped to the UNESCO 2021 Recommendation on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence, has been listed in the OECD.AI Catalogue of Tools and Metrics for Trustworthy AI since April 2023, and operates as an ethical overlay across all three layers of EW-AiRMTM.
Codified in literature
The comprehensive reference work Enterprise-Wide AI Risk Management (EW-AiRM) by Prof. Markus Krebsz is forthcoming from Wiley Finance, designed to support boards facing live regulatory scrutiny.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Human-Ai.Institute?
The Human-Ai.Institute is an independent Think/Do Tank, operating since November 2020, that translates AI policy into operational governance for boards and risk practitioners. It is best known for the EW-AiRMTM framework and the HAiPECRTM ethical filter.
Who founded the Human-Ai.Institute?
The Human-Ai.Institute was founded by Prof. Markus Krebsz, Honorary Professor at the University of Stirling and author of the forthcoming Wiley Finance book on EW-AiRMTM.
Why is it called an "Institute"?
The word comes from the Latin instituere, "to set up or establish". Historically, institutes wrote down the foundational principles of a discipline, advised on public policy and taught practical skills. The Human-Ai.Institute does all three for AI governance.
What is a Think/Do Tank?
A Think/Do Tank combines the research and policy role of a think tank with hands-on implementation. The Human-Ai.Institute develops frameworks and policy input, then builds practitioner capability through training and assurance.
What is EW-AiRMTM?
EW-AiRMTM stands for Enterprise-Wide AI Risk Management. It is an open, three-layer framework (Strategic, Operational and Resilience) that complements existing enterprise risk management and is aligned with the EU AI Act, NIST AI RMF and ISO/IEC 42001. It is listed in the OECD.AI Catalogue of Tools and Metrics for Trustworthy AI.
What is HAiPECRTM?
HAiPECRTM is the Human-Ai Paradigm for Ethics, Conduct and Risk, a seven-dimension pre-deployment filter and continuous review lens mapped to the UNESCO 2021 Recommendation on the Ethics of AI. It has been listed in the OECD.AI Catalogue of Tools and Metrics for Trustworthy AI since April 2023.
Where was the Global Conduct Risk Paradigm first presented?
The Global Conduct Risk Paradigm (GCRP) was presented at an Institute of Risk Management Banking and Financial Services SIG event at the UCL School of Management in Canary Wharf in 2016. Its successor, the Universal Conduct Risk Paradigm, was published on the UNECE website in 2017.
Put the principles to work
Explore the EW-AiRMTM framework, tools and book.