Guided by the NIST AI Risk Management Framework
Assess an AI Tool for Adoption
Using the NIST AI Risk Management Framework
A mentoring program from The Tech Academy
Build a complete AI assessment you can show, and learn to explain every decision.
Assess a fictional company’s proposed customer-support AI tool and build one report you can explain in interviews or advisory work.
What we heard
When people tell us what holds them back, the same answers come up. They have studied AI governance, and they want practical work they can show and explain.
“I want to be able to defend what I have learnt and actually do the job.”
“Something real which can make employers interview me.”
Why I built this program
A few years ago, I referred a well-qualified career changer for an interview. Afterward, the hiring manager told me her qualifications showed she had studied the concepts, but he could see no evidence she could apply them or explain what she had produced. That call led me to design learning around realistic cases, the work products professionals produce, and reasoning you can defend.
You can build evidence of your skills through realistic work you can explain and defend.The work
What you build
One report for TechFlow, a fictional software company whose vice president wants to buy an AI tool that drafts customer support replies. Each step adds one section. For example:
- A charter that turns a one-line request into an agreed assignment
- A profile of the proposed use, including where customer information would go and who could be affected
- A risk register with ratings, reasons, and the priorities management needs first
- A control design naming safeguards, owners, timing, and conditions before a pilot
- A test plan saying what would be checked, by whom, and what result would be satisfactory
- A decision brief recommending whether to proceed, and on what conditions
See all six report sections
- AI Assessment Charter and Scope Statement
- AI Use-Case Profile and Preliminary Assessment
- AI Risk Register and Priority Summary
- AI Control Design Matrix and Risk Treatment Plan
- Control Test Plan and Evidence Requirements
- Management Decision Brief
An AI assessment examines a proposed AI use so that management can decide what to do about it: what the tool would do, where information would go, who could be affected, what could go wrong, and what must be checked first.
Your report is an assessment of a proposal at a fictional company. Present it as a case-based project.
The method
How it works
- Learn It. Short videos explain the ideas and show them on a small example organization.
- Build and Defend It. You complete that step's report section for TechFlow and write a short defense of your choices.
- Use It Professionally. You practice explaining your work, as you would to an employer or a client.
Each step also opens with a short recording on how that work is being carried out in organizations now, so you have something to say about it in interviews and with clients.
The foundations
What guides the work
- The NIST AI Risk Management Framework. You use its four functions, Govern, Map, Measure, and Manage, to shape how you examine the proposed use, assess its risks, design safeguards, and advise management.
- The organization's own requirements. Every decision also answers to TechFlow's policies, contracts, resources, and the conditions management has set.
- The limits of your role. You assess and recommend. Management decides, and legal and technical questions go to specialists.
Two ways to use it
- A job inside a company. Use your report sections in interviews to show how you scope an assessment, assess AI risk, design safeguards, and advise on a decision.
- Advisory work. Use the same method to help organizations examine the AI tools they are being offered, once you have the experience to offer it as a service.
Completion & recognition
What you finish with
- A Certificate of Achievement from The Tech Academy When your complete report passes the Completion Check.
- A reference letter from Dr. Shumba Your mentor, on request once you have completed all the work, describing what you built.
- A foundation for the pathway. This program is the first of three, and the assessment skill you build here is used in the AI System Impact Assessment program and the AI Governance Build-and-Defend Studio.
Is it for you?
Who it is for
- Entering AI governance Recent graduates and career changers who want a non-coding role and practical work to show.
- Handling AI questions at work People in IT, security, audit, privacy, or compliance who are being asked whether an AI tool is safe to adopt.
- Preparing for advisory work People who want to offer organizations help examining the AI tools they are being offered.
Inside the program
What you get
- The TechFlow case file and video lessons for every step
- A short recording at the front of every step on how the work is used in organizations now
- One report template, in Word, with all six sections
- Professional activities in every report section, for interview answers, résumé bullets, and client descriptions
- Practice questions with a separate answers file, a plain-English guide to the NIST framework, and a word list
- Individual feedback on every section you submit during your first 90 days
- Office hours with Dr. Shumba every two weeks during your first 90 days, for members only
- An optional Saturday group session, with questions posted by Thursday night
- 6 months of access to all lessons and materials
Pace and enrollment
Self-paced. Suggested pace: 12 weeks at 2 to 3 hours a week.
Program price: $397, or 2 monthly payments of $219 (total $438). Your second payment is charged one month after the first.
Paying in full opens every step at once. On the payment plan, Steps 1 to 3 open with your first payment, and Steps 4 to 6 open after your second payment.
Your mentor
Dr. Rose Shumba has over 20 years in cybersecurity education. She is a former director of an NSA/DHS Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense. Her PECB credentials as an ISO/IEC 42001 Lead Implementer and an ISO/IEC 27001 Senior Lead Implementer are for the work she does with organizations: setting up the policies, roles, risk checks, and oversight they need to use AI responsibly, and building the systems that protect their information. She has helped hundreds of professionals move into technology and cybersecurity careers. Read Dr. Shumba's full bio.
Building and defending realistic work is a practical way to turn GRC and AI governance knowledge into evidence you can explain to employers and clients.
Details and questions
After you buy
You have access right away and can get started. We also send you a Calendly link to book Dr. Shumba's office hours.
Pace
Self-paced. Suggested pace: 12 weeks at 2 to 3 hours a week.
Access and support
6 months of access. Mentor support and section feedback run for 90 days from your enrollment date, whatever pace you study at.
Feedback
Submit each section when you finish it and receive written feedback within three working days: what worked, what needs attention, and one question to take further.
Payment plans
Steps 1 to 3 open with your first payment. Steps 4 to 6 open after your second payment. Paying in full opens every step at once.
Refunds
This is a digital product, and access opens as soon as you buy. All sales are final. Please review the program details before enrolling.
Do I need a technical background?
Coding is not required. Step 1 explains the terms in plain English.
What do I need?
A computer, Microsoft Word or a program that opens Word files, a Google account for your working folder, and 2 to 3 hours a week.
Is TechFlow a real company?
TechFlow is fictional. Describe your report as a case-based project.
Does this program certify me in the NIST framework?
The program awards The Tech Academy's Certificate of Achievement. NIST does not certify individuals, and this certificate is not issued or endorsed by NIST, ISO, or IEC.
How is this different from your AI Governance Build-and-Defend Studio?
This program assesses one proposed AI tool and advises management on it. The Studio designs the organization's ongoing system for proposing, assessing, approving, using, reviewing, and retiring AI. You can take either one first.
Where do I get help?
Office hours every two weeks and individual section feedback during your first 90 days, and email at info@kudzaiedugroup.com. Office hours are for members only; you book them through the Calendly link sent after you buy.
Your next step
Assess it. Defend it. Use it.
Build a complete AI assessment you can show, and learn to explain every decision.
Program price: $397, or 2 monthly payments of $219 (total $438). Your second payment is charged one month after the first.
Iron sharpens iron, Dr. Rose Shumba
