Create a short set of guiding principles that express your organisation’s expectations for how AI should be used responsibly. These principles should reflect your values and help guide decisions about how AI is used in ways that are fair, transparent, and safe.
You can adapt well-known frameworks or co-design your own with input from teams across your organisation. These principles work best when they are simple, visible, and easy for people to apply in day-to-day work. Once in place, principles act as a north star for policy, risk assessment, system design, procurement, and staff behaviour. They can be of great help when navigating new or uncertain uses of AI.
Why it matters
Clear principles help everyone in the organisation understand what responsible AI means in your context. They make it easier to explain your approach, build trust, and support consistent decisions, in particular when the risks or options are not obvious. Keeping them visible supports culture change, transparency, and alignment as teams experiment with new tools or integrate AI into services and products.
Implementation tips
- Use 3–7 clear principles that are easy to remember, written in plain English.
- Adapt existing frameworks (e.g. OECD, NZ Public Service, or Microsoft) to suit your context
- Involve people from existing functions across the organisation (e.g. legal, Māori engagement, operations, service delivery, technology, sustainability).
- Link each principle to examples of what it means in practice.
- Publish the principles as a standalone resource (e.g. poster, intranet post).
- Refer to the principles in your policy, risk assessment process, and training.
- Consider mapping your principles to external frameworks for assurance or public reporting.
Support materials
OECD – AI Principles
A widely used global reference for trustworthy AI.
AI Forum NZ’s Trustworthy AI in Aotearoa AI ethical principles
A New Zealand-focused resource offering locally grounded guidance on developing trustworthy and inclusive AI principles.
NZ Public Service – AI Principles
A values-based set of principles developed for public sector use in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Australia – AI Ethics Principles
Australia’s government-endorsed principles for the ethical use of AI.
Microsoft – Responsible AI Principles or Google – AI Principles
Two corporate examples of how to frame and communicate principles.
