AI Responsibility Capstone: Scaling Fast vs Governing Smart - SME tech start-up

About the Course

Course Type

Executive Leadership | AI Governance Capstone Simulation

Institution

C-Lab Institute

Overview

Artificial Intelligence in fast-scaling tech start-ups moves at the speed of innovation — but governance often struggles to keep up.

This capstone is the culminating stage of the C-Lab Institute AI Responsibility pathway. Participants are placed in a high-growth SME technology company that has rapidly deployed an AI-powered product now facing customer complaints, investor scrutiny, and emerging regulatory risk.

Revenue is accelerating.
Media attention is rising.
Governance controls are minimal.

The leadership team must decide whether to:

Scale aggressively,
Slow down and redesign safeguards,
Or restructure governance before further deployment.

This is not a theoretical discussion.
It is a board-level decision under pressure.

Capstone Objective

Participants will act as Chair of the AI Governance & Risk Committee and prepare a formal Board Advisory Memorandum recommending a responsible scaling strategy.

The capstone evaluates the leader’s ability to:

• Identify commercial, regulatory, and reputational risks
• Assess data governance and model integrity weaknesses
• Evaluate bias, security, and safety exposure
• Design scalable oversight and accountability structures
• Propose testing, monitoring, and incident response mechanisms
• Make a defensible scale / pause / redesign recommendation

What Participants Must Submit

A structured 1,800–2,000 word Executive Governance Brief including:

Risk Identification

Strategic risk
Regulatory exposure
Data governance gaps
Bias and fairness risk
Model reliability concerns
Cybersecurity vulnerabilities
Investor and reputational risk

Governance Framework Proposal

Board oversight structure
Defined AI accountability roles
Human-in-the-loop controls
Pre-deployment testing standards
Ongoing monitoring & model audit
Incident reporting and escalation process
Vendor and third-party accountability
Transparency & customer disclosure measures

Scaling Decision

Scale Immediately / Scale with Conditions / Pause & Redesign

Conditions required for responsible scaling

Clear 12-month governance roadmap

Reflection

“What does responsible AI leadership require when growth pressure conflicts with governance discipline?”

Assessment Criteria

Submissions are evaluated on:

• Depth of Risk Analysis
• Practicality of Governance Design
• Commercial & Ethical Balance
• Clarity of Scaling Decision Logic
• Executive-Level Strategic Judgement

Award

🏅 300 Responsibility Coins
📜 C-Lab Institute AI Responsibility Capstone Certificate

Primary 3R Dimension: Responsibility (Do)
Progression Path: Leader → Fellow