More and more procurement packs and due diligence questionnaires now ask how you use and govern AI. If the answer is a shrug, you lose ground with a cautious buyer or investor. If you can answer in a few clear sentences, you turn a potential blocker into a point of trust.
Here is what they ask, and how to be ready.
What they are actually asking
The wording varies, but the questions come down to a few things: do you know where AI is used in your business, do you have rules for using it, how do you protect data that goes near AI, do you keep a human in the loop for decisions that matter, and can you show any of this if pressed. They are checking that AI is managed, not improvised.
How to be ready
Have a register. Be able to say where AI touches your business and what data each use sees. “We do not really know” is the answer that loses deals.
Have a policy. A short acceptable use policy shows there are rules, and gives you something to point to rather than describe from memory.
Name an owner. Being able to say who is accountable for AI decisions signals this is managed, not accidental.
Know your data line. Be clear that sensitive data does not go into unapproved tools, because that is the question buyers worry about most.
Keep short evidence. A one-page summary of your position, ready to attach, saves you rewriting an answer under time pressure every time a questionnaire lands.
Draft the answers once
The efficient move is to write your standard answers to the common AI questions once, in plain English, and reuse them. A short, confident, consistent response across questionnaires reads far better than a scramble each time, and it stops different people in your business giving different answers.
What good looks like
When the AI section arrives, you attach a one-page governance summary, answer the specific questions from your prepared responses, and move on. The buyer sees a business that has thought about this, which shortens the trust conversation and sometimes the whole process.
Where this comes from
Being able to answer these questions is simply the visible output of decent AI governance: a register, a policy, an owner and a data line. Do that quiet groundwork and the questionnaire stops being a problem.
Where ScaleAround fits
Our free AI Governance Starter Kit gives you the register and policy that these answers draw on, and our AI governance advisory helps you build the position and the standard responses, particularly in regulated sectors.
Our founder, Oliver Smith, established and ran an AI and machine learning function in regulated financial services and facilitates sessions at the CDO Financial Services Exchange on the data challenges specific to machine learning. He is a Fellow of the British Computer Society. Our engagements are led by senior practitioners with at least 15 years of relevant experience.
Frequently asked questions
What AI questions do procurement and due diligence questionnaires ask? Whether you know where AI is used, have rules for using it, protect data near AI, keep a human in the loop for important decisions, and can show evidence.
How do we answer them well? Have a register, an acceptable use policy, a named owner and a clear data line, and draft standard answers once so responses are consistent and quick.
What answer loses deals? “We do not really know where AI is used.” It signals AI is improvised rather than managed.
Do we need formal documentation? A short one-page governance summary and a policy are usually enough for most SME questionnaires.
How is this linked to governance? The answers are the visible output of a register, policy, owner and data line, which is exactly what AI governance provides.
Want to answer AI questionnaires with confidence? Our free AI Governance Starter Kit gives you the groundwork, and our AI governance advisory helps you build the position. Book a 30-minute scoping call to get ready.