How AI Governance Works: Laws, Standards, and Everything Between

The instruments of AI governance and how to tell them apart: hard law versus soft law, horizontal versus sectoral regulation, risk-based versus rights-based philosophies, the regulatory toolbox, how to read statutes and standards, and an orientation tour of the three pillars — the EU AI Act, NIST AI RMF, and ISO/IEC 42001.

Content current as of 2026-09.

Lessons

1. The governance stack: hard law, soft law, and everything between
2. Regulatory philosophies: risk-based, rights-based, and the shape of scope
3. The regulatory toolbox: bans, obligations, disclosure, certification, liability
4. Standards, statutes, and how to actually read them
5. The three pillars: EU AI Act, NIST AI RMF, ISO/IEC 42001