Award image of how Version1 created an award winning AI governance initiative for NatWest

We’re proud to share that our partnership with NatWest has been recognised at the DataIQ Awards 2025, taking home the award for Best Data Governance with AI Initiative.

This achievement reflects the work we’ve done together to tackle one of the biggest challenges facing organisations today: how to scale AI safely, ethically, and effectively.

“NatWest’s AI governance programme stands out as a comprehensive, enterprise-wide transformation with clear structure, measurable impact, and lasting cultural change.”

Judges’ comments

Goals: leading the way in responsible AI governance for banking

AI is transforming banking. Smarter services, faster outcomes, better fraud prevention — the potential is huge. But with opportunity comes responsibility: ensuring fairness, transparency, and compliance. For a global bank, where every decision could impact millions of customers, exemplary AI governance is not just a necessity, it’s a testament to our customer’s unwavering commitment to customer protection and innovation. By prioritising robust governance, they demonstrated true leadership in safeguarding customer interests while embracing cutting-edge technology.

We helped our customer build an organisation-wide AI governance framework that does more than tick compliance boxes. It empowers innovation while protecting customers and preparing for future regulation.

We helped our customer build an organisation-wide AI governance framework that does more than tick compliance boxes. It empowers innovation while protecting customers and preparing for future regulation.  

Our customer’s priorities included: 

  • Scale AI safely – building on proven benefits without exposing the organisation or its customers to unnecessary risk.  
  • Stay ahead of regulation – anticipating frameworks like the EU AI Act and embedding controls early, rather than retrofitting them later. By taking a proactive stance, they aimed to demonstrate leadership in responsible AI and avoid the complexity of retroactive compliance 
  • Lead on ethics and responsibility – doing the right thing by customers, even in the absence of formal AI laws. Cognisant of risks such as bias, fairness, and transparency, our customer sought to create a governance model that would prevent harm and uphold trust 

Urgency was also key, with hundreds of AI-driven initiatives already in play, spanning everything from chatbots to generative models. A centralised, pragmatic solution was needed fast. 

Approach: celebrating excellence in data governance and ethical AI 

The DataIQ Awards recognise teams that demonstrate excellence in managing data quality, security, compliance, and ethical AI usage. Winning this category means we’ve shown clear evidence of how governance can accelerate AI, not slow it down.  

Our collaborative programme with the bank delivered exactly that: a robust, organisation-wide AI governance framework designed to scale AI safely, ethically, and effectively. 

Working in close collaboration our customer we implemented a pragmatic, two-stage approach: 

  • Initial risk assessment – each AI use case underwent a first-stage review using a structured template to capture key details such as purpose, data sources, and potential risks. This ensured early visibility and consistency across projects 
  • Expert review and secondary assessment – a cross-functional working group of specialists in privacy, risk, security, and legal evaluated proposals weekly, providing feedback and guidance. Approved projects progressed to a more detailed second-stage assessment before moving into production, ensuring robust governance without slowing innovation. 

Your strategic partner in responsible AI adoption – Version 1 

Results: driving responsible AI adoption through robust governance 

The initiative assessed hundreds of AI-powered use cases, moving from fragmented experimentation to coordinated, risk-aware adoption. By embedding governance into every stage of AI development, the framework ensures transparency, mitigates bias, and prepares for future regulation, while enabling innovation rather than restricting it. 

  • 80+ AI use cases assessed

    enabling safe and consistent scaling of AI across the organisation

  • Enhanced governance frameworks

    through insights shared with business-as-usual risk owners

  • Creation of customer’s first ethical AI risk assessment framework

    setting a new standard for responsible AI

  • Triggered a group-wide simplification process

    by identifying duplication and inefficiencies in change management

  • Established a repeatable, reliable model for AI governance

    now embedded into the bank’s processes

  • Governance as an enabler, not a barrier

    transforming from a temporary initiative into a permanent foundation for innovation

The impact is significant: our customer now has a repeatable, reliable model for AI governance that supports smarter services, faster outcomes, and proactive risk management. Delivering measurable benefits through AI-driven efficiencies and improvements — proving that responsible AI can enable meaningful transformation. 

Winning this award reinforces our commitment to helping organisations harness AI responsibly and confidently. Governance isn’t a brake on progress — it’s the foundation for innovation done right. 

Learn more about our approach to AI governance.