Unique Blog 2024

Success Story: Our Journey to ISO/IEC 42001 Certification

Written by Dr. Sina Wulfmeyer | May 6, 2025 12:27:09 PM

The certification has not only enhanced client trust and competitive differentiation but also positioned Unique as a leader in responsible AI within the financial services sector, providing a strong foundation for future growth.

 

From AI Innovation to Industry Leadership

 

As a fintech startup providing AI solutions to the financial services industry, Unique has always been at the forefront of responsible AI development. With the changing regulatory landscape, particularly the EU AI Act, we recognized early that responsible AI practices would become not just a regulatory requirement but a competitive advantage.

 

The Challenge: Pioneering in Uncharted Territory

 

When we decided to pursue ISO/IEC 42001 certification in mid 2024, we faced a significant challenge. As Dr. Sina Wulfmeyer, our Chief Data Officer, explains: "Responsible AI and explainability are increasingly frequent topics in our conversations with clients from the financial industry."

The standard was published only in December 2023, making us one of the first companies to pursue certification. Key challenged with are faced with:

  • Navigate the requirements of a new standard with limited precedent

  • Identify a certification partner ready to perform the audit

  • Balance our rapid growth with establishing robust AI governance

Our Approach: Building on Strong Foundations

 

We already held ISO 9001, ISO/IEC 27001, and SOC 2 Type 2 certifications, which provided us with a solid foundation. To bridge the gap to ISO/IEC 42001, we partnered with Trail-ml, whose AI governance platform helped us transform abstract requirements into actionable steps.

Trail-ml's solution enabled us to conduct a comprehensive gap analysis by mapping our existing AI governance, structures, and processes against the standard's requirements and provided crucial capabilities that accelerated our certification:

  • AI-powered policy builders that helped us create a comprehensive AI policy aligned with ISO/IEC 42001

  • Structured workflows for conducting risk assessments and impact reviews

  • Centralized registry for all our AI systems with complete technical documentation

  • Automated tracking of compliance progress with flagging for potential issues

  • Exportable compliance reports that streamlined the audit process

Our strategy included:

  1. Leveraging existing governance structures: We extended our information security management system to highlight AI-specific risks, such as hallucinations and bias.

  2. Developing a comprehensive AI policy: This formalized our commitment to responsible AI practices and communicated our values to stakeholders.

  3. Enhancing lifecycle management: We strengthened our processes for AI system development, deployment, and monitoring.

  4. Implementing rigorous impact assessments: We created structured approaches to evaluate AI risks and mitigation strategies.

As Michael Dreher, our CISO, notes: "At our AI-first company, artificial intelligence is naturally embedded throughout our processes. As we worked towards ISO 42001 certification, we highlighted the role of AI in relation to areas such as hallucinations and bias."

 

The Certification Process: From Preparation to Audit

 

The certification journey took approximately three months from initial gap analysis to successful certification (while keeping in mind that we already had many things in place). We selected TÜV SÜD as our certification partner, making this the first ISO/IEC 42001 certification they issued in Europe.

The one-week hybrid audit was conducted partly on-site and partly remotely. It included a thorough review of our AI systems, governance framework, and risk management approach. The audit process was intense but conducted in a constructive atmosphere, allowing us to showcase.

 

Results and Business Impact

 

Achieving ISO/IEC 42001 certification has positioned Unique as a pioneer in responsible AI within the financial services sector. The certification is prominently displayed at our Swiss headquarters and on our website, serving as a visible commitment to AI excellence.

The business benefits have been substantial:

  • Enhanced client trust: The certification provides independent verification of our responsible AI practices, addressing a key concern for financial institutions.

  • Competitive differentiation: As Dr. Wulfmeyer emphasizes, "Today, providing an AI feature is no longer sufficient. It is vital to demonstrate responsible use of artificial intelligence. That is a critical distinction, and we are now pioneers in this field."

  • Structured growth: The certification has equipped us with consistently structured, documented AI processes—ideal for a company in a growth phase.

  • Sales enablement: When clients inquire about our risk management, testing protocols, and use case verification, we can point to our certified processes as evidence.

  • Knowledge sharing: Our experience positions us to contribute to the broader responsible AI community.

For other organizations considering ISO/IEC 42001 certification, Dr. Wulfmeyer offers this advice: "Ensure management is on board, appoint an interdisciplinary team, and engage in dialogue with the community. We also found Trail-ml's tool was extremely helpful in working systematically through the requirements and checking whether we had interpreted them correctly."

As we continue to grow following our recent US$30 million Series A funding round, our ISO/IEC 42001 certification provides a robust framework for scaling our AI solutions responsibly and maintain our position at the cutting edge of innovation in financial services AI.

 

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