Govarna
What is an AI security questionnaire?
An AI security questionnaire is the section of a vendor security review that asks specifically about artificial intelligence: which models you use, what customer data reaches them, whether outputs receive human oversight, which sub-processors host inference, and how you have classified each system under regulations such as the EU AI Act. It may arrive as a standalone document or, more often, as a block of ten to sixty questions appended to a standard assessment like SIG, SIG Lite, or CAIQ.
It differs from a traditional security questionnaire in what it is trying to establish. A traditional questionnaire asks whether your infrastructure is secure — encryption, access control, incident response, business continuity. An AI questionnaire asks whether your use of AI is governed: whether you know which systems exist, who owns them, what they are permitted to do, and what happens when they are wrong. A SOC 2 report answers the first set. It does not answer the second, which is why teams with mature SOC 2 programs are still getting stuck on these questions.
Three properties make them hard to answer well. First, the answers live in different places than security answers do — in engineering documentation, model cards, and vendor contracts rather than in a security policy binder. Second, they require a regulatory position, not just a factual one: stating that a system is “limited risk” is a classification with obligations attached, and a reviewer may ask how you reached it. Third, they change quickly. A questionnaire written in 2024 rarely mentions the EU AI Act; one written today usually does.
The practical consequence is that AI questions cannot be answered from an existing security answer library, because the source material was never collected. Most teams answer the first one by hand over several days, and the work is not reusable unless it is captured with its sources attached.
Verifiable Evidence
Don't take our word for anything. Inspect the artifacts.
Every claim on this page is verifiable before you create an account.
A full sample audit package
A sample of the PDF format an enterprise security team receives: AI inventory, classifications, policies, and control mappings. Judge the output, not the marketing.
Test our answer library free
Paste your ten hardest questionnaire questions. The free tool matches them against the same curated response library the paid product draws on — honestly labelled by confidence. No signup, no email gate.
Our own security posture
We sell audit-readiness, so we publish our own: data handling, tenant isolation, our AI usage disclosure, and a full subprocessor table.
GV-00 · Workflow
How does Govarna answer an AI security questionnaire?
From “we should look into this” to an exported evidence pack in four steps. The first questionnaire takes an afternoon. The third takes half an hour, because Govarna remembers every approved answer.
Import policies and previous answers
Upload existing policies, past questionnaires, and evidence — DOCX, XLSX, CSV, PDF. Govarna indexes them as the source of truth for every answer it drafts.
Upload the buyer's questionnaire
Drop in the buyer's file in its original format — SIG, CAIQ, or a custom spreadsheet. Govarna extracts every question into a reviewable list.
Review cited drafts and evidence gaps
Every draft cites the policy or evidence it came from. Where nothing in your workspace supports an answer, Govarna flags the gap instead of inventing one.
Export in the original format with approvals preserved
Return the completed file in the buyer's own XLSX or DOCX. Approvals stay in the audit log, and every approved answer is banked for next time.
Product walkthrough · Sample data
Click a step, or press play. Sample data moves from the buyer's file to drafts your team reviews, approves, and exports.
New questionnaire
Upload a supported file or paste the buyer's questions.
Drop your questionnaire here
XLSX, DOCX, PDF, or pasted text
Acme-Corp-Vendor-AI-Assessment.xlsx
Sample file for this product walkthrough
The downloadable PDF is sample output for evaluating the package structure.
Product Capabilities
What Govarna does in an AI security review
Everything the AI review demands. Nothing enterprise GRC drags in.
GV-01 · Questionnaires
How do you answer a 143-question AI security review?
Answer a 143-question review in an afternoon.
Upload the buyer's file in its original format. Govarna drafts every answer from your indexed policies and inventory — with the source cited on each one, so your review is a check, not a rewrite.
- Round-trips SIG, CAIQ, and custom assessments in the buyer's own XLSX or DOCX
- Every draft cites the policy or evidence it came from
- Approved answers join your library and auto-fill the next review
- Full audit log of who approved what, and when
GV-02 · EU AI Act
How does Govarna classify a system under the EU AI Act?
Know your obligations before your buyer asks.
A deterministic classification wizard — not a chatbot guessing. Each system is assessed against Article 6 and Annex III with the reasoning recorded, so the same inputs always produce the same result — traceable to the criteria applied.
- Provider vs deployer role determined per system
- Obligation checklist generated from the classification
- Dated, versioned classification report — exportable for counsel
- Mapped to NIST AI RMF and ISO/IEC 42001 controls
Read the detail on Article 50 transparency obligations and the Annex III high-risk categories, or check your own position with the free provider-or-deployer assessment.
GV-03 · Evidence pack
One export a buyer's security team can verify line by line
Inventory, classifications, policies, and control mappings compiled into a single dated PDF. Attach it to the questionnaire, hand it to procurement, or send it before they ask — the review that ends the back-and-forth.
- Generated from live data — never a stale document
- Controls mapped to NIST AI RMF and ISO/IEC 42001
- Versioned exports — show exactly what a buyer saw, and when
Controls are mapped to ISO/IEC 42001 and the NIST AI Risk Management Framework.
GV-04 · Policies
AI policies ready for your lawyer's review
Start from templates written for how mid-market SaaS companies actually use AI — acceptable use, vendor AI assessment, model documentation — then adapt them to your stack. Versioned, owned, and cited automatically in your questionnaire answers.
- Templates for acceptable use, vendor AI risk, and model documentation
- Version history and named owners on every policy
- Every policy becomes citable evidence in your answers
Where Govarna fits
Do I need Govarna if I already have SOC 2 automation?
Usually you need both, for different jobs. Govarna is built for the gap between a spreadsheet and a six-figure SOW.
vs. Enterprise GRC Platforms
Built for mid-market speed, not six-figure SOWs
Legacy platforms require dedicated governance teams, six-figure budgets, and months of deployment. Govarna delivers the exact compliance artifacts buyers require — system inventory, EU AI Act classification, evidence packs — at self-serve pricing in days.
vs. Trust & SOC 2 Automation
Keep your SOC 2 stack. Add the AI layer.
Your traditional trust platform proves SOC 2 and ISO 27001 security controls. Govarna extends your compliance posture to cover what AI security reviews now demand: deterministic EU AI Act classification, AI-specific policy mappings, and specialized evidence packs.
vs. Generic Chatbots & Spreadsheets
Plausible answers aren't auditable
Generic chatbots hallucinate answers from unverified sources and forget audit trails. Govarna grounds every answer directly in your company's indexed policies, cites the exact source document, maintains an audit log, and banks approved responses for instant reuse.
AI governance software compared: what each category actually covers
| Requirement | Enterprise GRC platforms | SOC 2 automation | Generic AI chatbots | Govarna |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AI-specific system inventory | Usually an add-on module | Limited | No | Yes, the core object |
| Deterministic EU AI Act classification | Typically consulting-led | Framework-catalog coverage | Guessed, not repeatable | Yes, per system |
| Answers cite the source document | Varies | Varies | No | Yes, on every draft |
| Audit log of approvals | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Published pricing | No | Partial | n/a | Yes, from $499/mo |
| Buy without a sales call | No | Rarely | n/a | Yes, 14-day self-serve trial |
Category descriptions, not vendor-by-vendor claims — capabilities differ by product and plan, so verify against each vendor's current documentation. Last verified 27 July 2026.
Transparent Pricing
How much does AI governance software cost?
Govarna is $499, $1,499, $3,999per month, or roughly 20% less billed annually. Public pricing, self-serve trials, no “book a demo” wall — every plan starts with a 14-day free trial of the full product.
Starter
For teams up to ~250 employees facing their first AI reviews
$499 /month
$399/mo billed annually
- Up to 50 AI systems tracked
- Unlimited questionnaires & exports
- EU AI Act classification records
- Policy templates & audit package export
- Email support
No card required
Growth
For 250–1,000 employees with recurring enterprise reviews
$1,499 /month
$1,199/mo billed annually
- Everything in Starter
- Unlimited AI systems
- NIST AI RMF & ISO/IEC 42001 mapping
- NYC Local Law 144 & Slack integration
- Priority email support
No card required
Assured
For 1,000–2,000 employees with a dedicated compliance function
$3,999 /month
$3,199/mo billed annually
- Everything in Growth
- Public Trust Center publishing
- Okta integration
- Dedicated Slack support channel
- Custom terms & security review of us
Questions? sales@govarna.com
See the full plan comparison and pricing FAQ →
Prefer async? Everything — pricing, sample outputs, security docs — is public. Email sales@govarna.com and a human replies. No calls required, ever.
Reference Material
EU AI Act and AI governance compliance guides
EU AI Act Article 50: Transparency Requirements Explained
A practical guide to chatbot disclosures, machine-readable marking, biometric notices, and deepfake labelling—with adaptable wording and a 10-step checklist.
EU AI Act Annex III: Every High-Risk Category Explained (With Real SaaS Examples)
Complete breakdown of all 8 Annex III high-risk AI categories, the Article 6(3) derogation, and the revised schedule under the May 2026 political agreement.
ISO 42001 Explained: The AI Management System Standard (and How It Maps to the EU AI Act)
A practical guide to ISO/IEC 42001:2023, certification, EU AI Act mapping, implementation effort, and its relationship to ISO 27001.
Asked before buying
Frequently asked questions
How is this different from generic AI chatbots?
A general chatbot writes plausible answers from unverified training data. Govarna grounds every draft in your actual policies, inventory and evidence, cites the source document on each answer, remembers approved answers for reuse, keeps an audit log, and exports in the buyer's original XLSX or DOCX format. On questionnaire one the difference is quality; by questionnaire three it's a full working week.
We already use SOC 2 automation software. Do we need Govarna?
Keep your existing security trust platform — it proves your SOC 2 and ISO 27001 infrastructure controls. Govarna covers what AI security reviews demand that general trust platforms do not go deep on: an AI-specific system inventory, deterministic EU AI Act classification per system, AI-specific questionnaire answers, and an evidence pack mapped to NIST AI RMF and ISO/IEC 42001. Govarna sits alongside your compliance stack, not in place of it.
Is this legal advice?
No. Govarna organises your facts, classifications and evidence so your counsel or compliance advisor can review faster. Classifications are deterministic and traceable to the criteria applied, but Govarna is a compliance workflow tool, not a substitute for professional legal advice.
What actually happens on 2 August 2026?
Article 50 transparency obligations apply from 2 August 2026 — AI systems interacting with people or generating synthetic content must disclose it. AI literacy and prohibited-practice rules have applied since 2 February 2025, and general-purpose AI model obligations since 2 August 2025. Under the May 2026 political agreement, Annex III high-risk rules are scheduled for 2 December 2027 and product-integrated high-risk rules for 2 August 2028, subject to legal adoption. If you sell software with AI features to enterprise or EU customers, buyers are already asking about this in security reviews.
Am I a provider or a deployer?
Broadly: build an AI system or place it on the EU market under your name, and you're likely a provider with heavier obligations. Use AI systems built by others, and you're likely a deployer with lighter but real obligations. Many SaaS companies are both, for different systems — which is exactly why Govarna classifies per system and records the reasoning.
Do I have to book a demo or talk to sales?
No. Never. The full product tour is on this page, pricing is public, the sample audit package is downloadable, the free tool matches your questions against our curated response library instantly, and every plan starts with a 14-day self-serve trial. If you want a human, email sales@govarna.com — but you never need a call to evaluate or buy Govarna.
How is our data handled?
Your policies, evidence, and questionnaire content are used only to draft your own answers and build your own evidence packs — never shared across customer accounts. Govarna does not train models on customer content. AI-assisted drafting calls our configured AI provider’s API server-side (see our AI Safety & Transparency Statement for the current provider path); provider-side handling is governed by our configured account terms, and current contractual details are available from security@govarna.com. Our full subprocessor table is published on our security page, so you can review us before uploading anything.
Your next enterprise deal has an AI questionnaire attached.
Get through it in days — with answers grounded in your real policies and an evidence pack your buyer's security team can file, not fight.
Article 50 transparency obligations apply from Aug 2, 2026 — 5 days away.