On September 3, 2025, the United Kingdom’s Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) released the "Trusted Third-Party AI Assurance Roadmap," a strategic policy paper outlining the current state and challenges of the UK’s AI assurance market, alongside government actions to address these challenges and foster the growth of this emerging sector. The roadmap aims to bolster public confidence in AI systems by promoting a multi-stakeholder model that drives AI assurance profession, develops skills and competencies, maps information requirements, and supports innovation. This initiative positions the UK to become a global leader in AI assurance, a critical component for ensuring the safe and responsible development and deployment of AI technologies.
The UK’s AI assurance market, as described in a DSIT research report from November 2024, encompasses economic activities and ecosystems that provide tools and techniques to measure, evaluate, and communicate the trustworthiness of AI systems. This market is pivotal in enabling consumers, industries, and regulators to trust that AI systems operate as intended. With approximately 500 UK companies currently offering AI assurance products and services, the sector is projected to reach a market value of £18.8 billion by 2035. The roadmap builds on this foundation, articulating a vision to transform AI assurance into a robust industry and ecosystem.
To achieve this, the roadmap details government actions across four key dimensions. First, in professionalization, the government will convene a coalition of UK stakeholders to establish ethical guidelines and frameworks, beginning with a voluntary professional code of ethics for AI assurance. This code will embed professional practices and behavioral standards into the nascent industry, fostering accountability and trust. Second, in skills development, a framework for AI assurance skills and competencies will be created to address ambiguities around required expertise, paving the way for structured learning pathways and future professional certification schemes. Third, to improve information access, the roadmap commits to mapping the information requirements for various AI assurance services, providing practical guidance for companies utilizing these services. Finally, to support innovation, the government will establish an AI Assurance Innovation Fund with £11 million in funding to drive the development of innovative assurance mechanisms, with the first application round opening in spring 2026.
The roadmap aligns with the UK’s broader AI governance strategy, first articulated in the September 2021 "National AI Strategy," which identified effective AI governance as one of three core pillars. This was followed by the December 2021 "Roadmap to an Effective AI Assurance Ecosystem," which outlined the vision for this sector. The November 2024 research report, "Assuring a Responsible Future for AI," further detailed the UK’s ambitions and actionable plans for the AI assurance market. Together, these efforts demonstrate a progressive shift from vision to concrete implementation, positioning the UK to cultivate AI assurance as a dynamic new industry and ecosystem capable of setting global standards.