About AIQI
About AIQI
The AIQI Consortium is a global initiative launched to address digital trust and ethical challenges posed by the rapid development and deployment of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Originally spearheaded by the Lord Mayor of the City of London at the TIC Council AI Summit in May 2024 as the Walbrook Accord, where summit participants acknowledged the critical role quality infrastructure has in ensuring AI is safe, compliant, and aligned with societal values.
Working in partnership, TIC Council and the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS) have operationalised the initiative a proposal to implement the Walbrook Accord by establishing a consortium of quality infrastructure partners. The consortium brings together organisations and other stakeholders from over 25 countries.
The initiative is built on a collaborative and voluntary basis, encouraging international cooperation to create a unified approach to AI governance, thereby ensuring AI's positive impact on society while mitigating its potential risks. It acts in an independent, open and non-commercial manner for the benefit of specifiers and users of accredited conformity assessment including wider society and regulators referring to conformity assessment.
The AIQI Consortium is a global initiative launched to address digital trust and ethical challenges posed by the rapid development and deployment of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Originally spearheaded by the Lord Mayor of the City of London at the TIC Council AI Summit in May 2024 as the Walbrook Accord, where summit participants acknowledged the critical role quality infrastructure has in ensuring AI is safe, compliant, and aligned with societal values.
Working in partnership, TIC Council and the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS) have operationalised the initiative a proposal to implement the Walbrook Accord by establishing a consortium of quality infrastructure partners. The consortium brings together organisations and other stakeholders from over 25 countries.
The initiative is built on a collaborative and voluntary basis, encouraging international cooperation to create a unified approach to AI governance, thereby ensuring AI's positive impact on society while mitigating its potential risks. It acts in an independent, open and non-commercial manner for the benefit of specifiers and users of accredited conformity assessment including wider society and regulators referring to conformity assessment.
AIQI Leadership
Adam Leon Smith is an expert in AI regulation and technical standards and works on research and strategy projects in that area.
He is Chair of the AIQI Consortium, a global initiative to promote the use of the quality infrastructure for responsible AI, and Deputy Chair of the UK’s national AI standards committee. He has led four AI standardisation projects in ISO/IEC SC 42 as an Editor and two as a Convenor of SC 42 JWG 2 (Testing of AI systems).
He is also very active at CEN/CENELEC JTC 21, where he is Project Leader for two projects in response to the AI Act - the Quality Management System for EU AI Act Regulatory Purposes, and AI System Logging. He is also Chair of the BCS Fellows Technical Advisory group.
Before involvement in quality infrastructure, Adam spent 20 years in senior technology roles, delivering verification and validation solutions for highly complex or high-risk industry challenges.
In 2024, the University of Bath awarded Adam an honorary doctorate in recognition of his work and its impact on the profession.
Adam Leon Smith, Chair
Richard Skalt is Advocacy Manager at TÜV SÜD’s Cybersecurity Office (CSO), where he drives strategic initiatives in cybersecurity policy, regulatory alignment, and advocacy.
Working closely with the Global Head of CSO, he leads TÜV SÜD’s engagement in key industry associations to shape cybersecurity and AI standards and promote digital trust. This includes serving as Advocacy Workstream Lead in the Charter of Trust and contributing to initiatives within the TÜV-Verband, TIC Council and AIQI Consortium.
He also represents TÜV SÜD in standardization committees (DIN/DKE, CEN/CLC, ISO/IEC), advancing conformity assessment guidelines, and strengthening cybersecurity and AI standards.
Richard has demonstrated expertise in the evolving EU regulatory landscape, including NIS2, DORA, GDPR, the Cyber Resilience Act, and the AI Act. Within the Charter of Trust (CoT), he has been instrumental in promoting robust baseline standards that balance regulatory ambition with practical security needs. He also develops insights on emerging regulations to ensure TÜV SÜD’s global alignment with international cybersecurity and AI practices, and regularly contributes to regulatory initiatives. In this role, he combines governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) expertise with a Testing, Inspection, and Certification (TIC) perspective.
Previously, Richard was Manager at ESMT Berlin’s Digital Society Institute, advising on strategy and policy, leading a research project on Europe’s cloud computing market, and contributing to the Cyber Policy Digest. His earlier experience includes roles at the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP), Check Point Software Technologies, and Hotwire Global.
He holds a Double Degree Master in Political Science (M.Sc./M.A.) from Stockholm University and Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich.
Richard Skalt, Vice-Chair
AIQI Members
The AIQI Consortium is a truly global initiative, bringing together over 60 member organisations from across the world. These members represent the full breadth of the quality infrastructure ecosystem, including accreditation bodies, conformity assessment bodies, standards organisations, research organisations and national metrology institutes.
This diverse and international membership reflects both the increasing importance of AI assurance and the central role that quality infrastructure plays in enabling trust in AI systems. The consortium’s strength lies in this collaboration, bringing together organisations with complementary expertise to address emerging challenges in a coordinated and practical way.
Below, you can explore a selection of our member organisations and learn more about their work through links to their websites.
Jeff Ruddle is an experienced leader in the Testing, Inspection and Certification (TIC) sector, with a strong background in accreditation, assurance, and operational transformation. He serves as Secretariat to the AIQI Consortium, supporting the coordination and delivery of its global activities, including membership engagement, workstream oversight, and strategic development.
Jeff is an independent consultant to the Tic Sector, advising organisations on accreditation readiness, management systems, and the effective use of digital technologies within conformity assessment. He has extensive experience working with accreditation bodies, certification bodies, inspection bodies and laboratories, helping them navigate conformity assessment standards and improve operational performance.
Prior to this, Jeff spent 19 years at the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS), where he served as Executive Director and Board Member. In this role, he led the Operations the Strategic Development Directorates, overseeing service delivery across a broad portfolio of accredited organisations and playing a key role in driving improvements in customer experience, performance, and digital capability.
He also led the development of CertCheck, a national certificate verification service designed to strengthen trust and transparency in accredited certification. Jeff’s work increasingly focuses on the role of the quality infrastructure in supporting trustworthy AI, including the application of standards such as ISO/IEC 42001 and the development of practical approaches to AI assurance within conformity assessment.
Jeff Ruddle, Secretariat