requirement
What It Means
A requirement is a specific condition, capability, or constraint that a system, process, or solution must satisfy to be considered successful or complete. It defines what must be true or what must happen for something to work properly or meet its intended purpose.
Why Chief AI Officers Care
Requirements form the foundation for all AI system development, deployment, and governance decisions - without clear requirements, AI projects fail to deliver business value or create compliance risks. Poor requirements lead to scope creep, budget overruns, and AI systems that don't solve the actual business problems they were meant to address.
Real-World Example
A retail company's AI chatbot has requirements like 'must respond to customer queries within 3 seconds,' 'must escalate complex issues to human agents,' and 'must comply with data privacy regulations when handling customer information.' These requirements guide how the system is built, tested, and measured for success.
Common Confusion
People often confuse requirements with features or nice-to-have capabilities, when requirements are actually non-negotiable conditions that determine whether a solution succeeds or fails. Requirements are also frequently confused with technical specifications, though requirements define what needs to be achieved while specifications describe how to achieve it.
Industry-Specific Applications
See how this term applies to healthcare, finance, manufacturing, government, tech, and insurance.
Healthcare: In healthcare, requirements define the specific clinical, technical, regulatory, and operational conditions that healthc...
Finance: In finance, requirements define mandatory conditions that financial systems, processes, or institutions must meet to ens...
Premium content locked
Includes:
- 6 industry-specific applications
- Relevant regulations by sector
- Real compliance scenarios
- Implementation guidance
Technical Definitions
NISTNational Institute of Standards and Technology
"something essential to the existence or occurrence of something else : CONDITION"Source: Merriam-Webster_requirement
Discuss This Term with Your AI Assistant
Ask how "requirement" applies to your specific use case and regulatory context.
Start Free Trial