Crosswalk
ISO/IEC 42001 ↔ SOC 2
SOC 2 is a US assurance report (Type I or Type II) against the AICPA Trust Services Criteria — Security, Availability, Processing Integrity, Confidentiality, Privacy. ISO/IEC 42001 is a certifiable global AI management-system standard. Buyers usually ask AI companies for a SOC 2 report first, and use 42001 as differentiation once mature.
| ISO/IEC 42001 | SOC 2 | Notes |
|---|---|---|
Clause 5 Leadership Leadership commitment | CC1 Control Environment | Tone at the top. |
Clause 6 Planning Risk assessment | CC3 Risk Assessment | Both use inherent + residual risk model. |
Clause 7.5 Documented information Documentation | CC2.1 Communication and Information | Policy library. |
Clause 8 Operation Operation | CC7, CC8 System Operations, Change Management | AI system lifecycle vs system operations. |
Clause 9 Performance evaluation Performance evaluation | CC4 Monitoring Activities | Internal audit and monitoring. |
A.6.2.4 AI system testing | CC7.1 System monitoring for anomalies | Testing under SOC 2 is control-focused; 42001 is AI-system focused. |
A.6.2.8 Incident reporting | CC7.3, CC7.4 Security incident response and recovery | Direct analogue. |
A.10 Third-party relationships | CC9.2 Vendor management | Both require ongoing vendor oversight. |
What to watch
Key differences
- · SOC 2 is a report (not a certificate); ISO/IEC 42001 is a certification with a valid certificate.
- · SOC 2 is US-centric; 42001 is global ISO.
- · SOC 2 covers infosec broadly; 42001 covers AI systems specifically.
- · SOC 2 has no AI-specific criteria; 42001 has 38 AI-specific Annex A controls.
Primary sources
Where every mapping was verified
Next steps
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