EC-Council launches ADG AI Framework and free self-assessment tool designed to help organizations secure and govern AI deployment at scale

EC-Council announced the Adopt. Defend. Govern. (ADG) Framework, developed with input from practitioners at Citi, JPMorgan Chase, Microsoft, KPMG, Deloitte, NTT Data, GE Healthcare, GlobalLogic, Prudential, and Salesforce. The framework provides enterprises with a unified operating model comprising three pillars, 12 minimum controls, and nine governance surfaces, and is designed to align with the EU AI Act, ISO/IEC 42001, and the NIST AI RMF.

The ADG Framework is a practitioner-led execution framework that establishes enforceable minimum controls, operational validation standards, governance surfaces, implementation overlays, and accountability mechanisms. It is engineered for real-world deployment across AI systems, agentic AI environments (AI systems that operate autonomously), multi-model architectures, and large language model ecosystems.

The framework addresses a critical governance gap: while global AI spending is projected to reach $2.5 trillion in 2026, only 1% of leaders believe their AI governance capabilities have reached maturity, and 78% of executives say they would not feel confident in passing an AI governance audit within the next 90 days.