AuditBoard has finalized an agreement to acquire FairNow, an AI Governance platform, enhancing its offerings in the audit, risk, and compliance sectors.
This acquisition aims to empower AuditBoard customers with enhanced abilities to manage AI-related risks and meet the expanding global AI Governance requirements.
New AI solutions for Governance, Risk, and Compliance Teams
Alongside the acquisition of FairNow, AuditBoard unveiled Accelerate, a new AI solution designed for Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) teams. By incorporating FairNow’s AI governance technology, AuditBoard aims to provide a comprehensive platform that integrates natural-language workflows, continuous auditing, monitoring capabilities, and document intelligence to manage risks.
This development builds upon AuditBoard's previous commitment to AI innovation and safety, following a prior launch of an AI governance solution.
Addressing AI Governance Gaps
FairNow's platform offers tools such as an AI registry, dynamic risk assessments, and automated compliance guidance
FairNow's platform offers tools such as an AI registry, dynamic risk assessments, and automated compliance guidance to streamline AI governance processes.
This acquisition is positioned to address significant gaps in AI governance execution. According to AuditBoard’s recent Risk Intelligence Report, fewer than 30% of leaders feel adequately prepared for the new AI governance mandates, which indicates a need for clear responsibilities to preserve trust.
Many organizations are now working to comply with standards like the NIST AI Risk Management Framework, ISO/IEC 42001, and the EU AI Act, all of which provide guidelines for responsible AI development.
Advancing the Connected Risk Platform
Raul Villar Jr., CEO of AuditBoard, remarked on the critical nature of connected AI governance for organizations. He stated, "Integrating FairNow into AuditBoard's Connected Risk Platform delivers the most comprehensive and modern solution on the market, directly addressing the enormous risks that come alongside this technology."
The merger with FairNow, along with the launch of Accelerate, positions AuditBoard to enhance its risk and compliance programs.
Expansion of AuditBoard's AI Governance Capabilities
Guru Sethupathy, CEO and Founder of FairNow, emphasized the role of governance in the age of AI. "FairNow believes that governance will be the key enabler in the age of AI - managing risks while building trust and driving adoption," Sethupathy stated.
With the acquisition, AuditBoard aims to strengthen its offering as a global solution for modern risk management through intelligent, automated, and connected approaches. The legal guidance for AuditBoard during this acquisition was provided by Morrison & Foerster LLP.
AuditBoard, the pioneering AI-powered global platform for connected risk transforming audit, risk, and compliance, announced it has reached a definitive agreement to acquire FairNow, an end-to-end, purpose-built AI Governance (“AI Gov”) platform.
FairNow further enhances AuditBoard’s industry-pioneering capabilities with intelligent, automated, and step-by-step AI compliance guidance. With AI Governance requirements expanding globally, AuditBoard customers are now uniquely positioned to stay compliant and mitigate AI-related risks.
New AI solution for GRC teams
This acquisition is coupled with the release of Accelerate—AuditBoard's powerful, new AI solution for GRC teams, also announced now. The integration of FairNow’s dedicated AI Governance solution aligns with the strong foundation of AuditBoard’s natural-language workflows, continuous auditing and monitoring, document intelligence, and agentic AI, creating a truly end-to-end AI-powered platform for managing risk.
All of which builds on AuditBoard’s existing commitment to both AI innovation — and safety — following the announcement of its first AI governance solution earlier this year.
Upcoming AI governance requirements
FairNow's platform enables organizations to simplify their end-to-end AI governance with a streamlined AI registry, dynamic risk assessments, and intelligent automated compliance. This unified offering directly addresses the execution gap in AI governance.
A key finding in AuditBoard’s Risk Intelligence Report, released just last week, identified that fewer than 30% of pioneers feel prepared for upcoming AI governance requirements, indicating a lack of clear ownership that undermines trust.
For many organizations this means seeking compliance with frameworks such as the NIST AI Risk Management Framework, ISO/IEC 42001, and the EU AI Act, which provide structured guidelines for responsible AI development and deployment by addressing areas like fairness, transparency, risk management, and data governance.
AuditBoard’s Connected Risk Platform
“The speed of AI adoption has made robust, connected AI governance a mission-critical function for enterprises across every industry,” said Raul Villar Jr., CEO of AuditBoard.
“Integrating FairNow into AuditBoard’s Connected Risk Platform delivers the most comprehensive and modern solution on the market, directly addressing the enormous risks that come alongside this technology."
"Combined with the launch of Accelerate, this acquisition will set AuditBoard apart by leapfrogging nascent competitive offerings and empowering our customers to transform their risk and compliance programs.”
AI-powered connected risk
Guru Sethupathy, CEO and Founder of FairNow, echoed this excitement. “FairNow believes that governance will be the key enabler in the age of AI - managing risks while building trust and driving adoption,” said Sethupathy.
“Our mission to simplify AI governance will be accelerated with AuditBoard, the clear pioneer in AI-powered connected risk. Joining AuditBoard is the logical next step in our journey to scale our impact. We look forward to working with the AuditBoard team to solidify the platform’s position as the global go-to solution for modern risk management - intelligent, automated, and connected.”
The acquisition is intended to significantly expand AuditBoard’s platform, creating a unified, AI-first solution for managing all enterprise risk. Morrison & Foerster LLP served as AuditBoard’s legal advisor.
