A new standard has been published in the ISO 42000 series to provide a structured approach to AI System Impact Assessments, which form a key part in ethical AI governance and compliance with legislation such as the EU AI act.
ISO/IEC 42005:2025, titled Information technology — Artificial intelligence (AI) — AI system impact assessment, was published in June 2025.
What is ISO 42005?
ISO 42005 is an international standard that offers guidance for organisations to assess the impact of AI Systems to individuals, groups of individuals and societies.
It outlines a structured process for conducting AI system impact assessments including when and how to perform them throughout the AI system lifecycle. The standard also ephasises the importance of documenting the assessment process and integrating it into an organisation’s AI risk management and AI management system (ISO 42001).
How ISO 42005 Supports ISO 42001?
While not mandatory to ISO 42001 Certification, ISO 42005 can play an important role in supporting the impact assessment requirements in clause 6.1.4 and clause 8.4 of ISO 42001.
ISO 42001 sets out the requirements for an Artificial Intelligence Management System which can be certified, while ISO 42005 supports this but is not generally certified to in its own right.
ISO 42005 Relevance to the EU AI Act
The EU AI Act aims to regulate AI Systems to ensure they are safe, transparent and respect fundamental rights.
ISO 42005 aligns with the objectives of the EU AI Act by providing a structured approach to assessing the impact of AI systems.
How Assent’s ISO 42005 Consultants Can Help
At Assent we have over 20 years of experience implementing ISO standards within organisations, and have already taken companies through the ISO 42001 Certification process.
Our ISO 42005 consultants have experience with identifying and managing AI system impacts, risks and opportunities to ensure compliance with the standard and local legislation.
We can provide an ISO 42005 compliance impact assessment framework and help you complete it for your use, integration or development of AI systems, as a stand alone exercise or as part of a wider AI Management System (AIMS).
