user
This glossary entry explains user for AI governance and model risk programs. The sections below summarize what the term means in plain language, why chief AI officers and cross-functional committees track it, where teams often get confused, and—when you are signed in—how it shows up across major industries and in expectations tied to the EU AI Act and NIST AI RMF. Use related links at the end of the page to explore neighboring concepts without losing context.
What It Means
A user is anyone who interacts with your AI systems, applications, or digital services - whether they're employees, customers, partners, or external stakeholders. This includes both direct users who actively engage with the system and indirect beneficiaries who receive value from the system's outputs.
Why Chief AI Officers Care
Users are the ultimate measure of AI system success and the primary source of both value creation and risk exposure. Understanding your user base is critical for designing appropriate AI governance, ensuring responsible deployment, and measuring real business impact versus technical performance metrics.
Real-World Example
In a retail AI recommendation system, users include customers browsing products online, marketing managers analyzing campaign performance, inventory planners using demand forecasts, and customer service representatives accessing AI-generated customer insights - each with different needs and risk profiles.
Common Confusion
Organizations often think 'users' only means end customers, missing internal employees, third-party integrators, and indirect beneficiaries who may have different access rights, training needs, and risk considerations.
Industry-Specific Applications
See how this term applies to healthcare, finance, manufacturing, government, tech, and insurance.
Healthcare: In healthcare, users encompass patients accessing digital health tools, clinicians using AI-powered diagnostic systems, ...
Finance: In finance, users encompass internal stakeholders (traders, analysts, risk managers) accessing AI-driven trading platfor...
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Includes:
- 6 industry-specific applications
- Relevant regulations by sector
- Real compliance scenarios
- Implementation guidance
Technical Definitions
NISTNational Institute of Standards and Technology
"individual or group that interacts with a system or benefits from a system during its utilization"Source: IEEE_Soft_Vocab
"A person, organization, or other entity which requests access to and uses the resources of a computer system or network."Source: CSRC
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