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AI Governance Glossary
Governance Practice

What Is Business Continuity?

Business Continuity is the planning and capabilities that let an organisation maintain or quickly restore critical functions after a disruption, including one caused by AI system failure or unavailability.

Definition

Business Continuitythe planning and capabilities that let an organisation maintain or quickly restore critical functions after a disruption, including one caused by AI system failure or unavailability.

Business continuity is the practical complement to operational resilience: documented plans, fallbacks, and recovery procedures for when something breaks. For AI, that means having a way to keep operating if a model degrades, a provider goes down, or an output cannot be trusted — for example a manual process or a simpler backup model. ISO 22301 is the recognised standard for business continuity management.

Source: ISO 22301; business continuity management practice

Plain-language explanation

Business continuity is the practical complement to operational resilience: documented plans, fallbacks, and recovery procedures for when something breaks. For AI, that means having a way to keep operating if a model degrades, a provider goes down, or an output cannot be trusted — for example a manual process or a simpler backup model. ISO 22301 is the recognised standard for business continuity management.

Primary source: ISO 22301; business continuity management practice

Related terms

Operational Resilience Concentration Risk Systemic Risk (GPAI) Three Lines of Defence

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