A transparent, evidence-driven methodology: a five-step governance maturity scale, four standing evidence panels, a six-stage rating process, and a continuous lifecycle that keeps every opinion current.
Maturity Scale
Every pillar, and the overall rating, is expressed on a five-step scale from Ad Hoc to Institutional. The scale is anchored to observable behaviors, not aspirations.
AGR 1
No board-level mandate. AI activity is decentralized, undocumented, and outside enterprise risk.
AGR 2
Initial policies and a named owner exist. Inventories are partial; controls are inconsistent across business units.
AGR 3
Board-approved AI strategy, model inventory, and risk framework. Controls operate but evidence is not continuously refreshed.
AGR 4
AI risk is embedded in ERM and audit cycles. Disclosures meet regulator expectations. Agent operations are inventoried and tested.
AGR 5
Independent oversight, executive accountability, continuous evidence pipelines, and credible engagement with standards and regulators.
Evidence Panels
Alpha's analysts construct every rating from four standing panels. Each data point is dated, sourced, and re-testable - the basis for institutional comparability.
PANEL A
Annual reports, proxies, regulator filings, public commitments, and standards participation collected and dated.
PANEL B
Board and committee minutes, model and agent registries, change-control logs, third-party AI registers, incident records.
PANEL C
Structured interviews with named owners across strategy, risk, controls, audit, and oversight.
PANEL D
Regulator actions, enforcement, litigation, public incidents, and peer benchmarking inputs verified against primary sources.
Rating Process
Six stages from scope to publication. Analyst work is separated from the rating decision; the issuer's right of reply is procedural, not editorial.
Step 01
Universe and entity scope confirmed. Rated entities receive a notification pack outlining timeline, evidence panels, and engagement protocol.
Step 02
Analysts assemble Panels A-D. Every data point is dated, sourced, and linked. Gaps are recorded explicitly.
Step 03
Each of the seven AGR pillars is scored against the maturity scale by the lead analyst using a published rubric.
Step 04
An independent Rating Committee reviews the file, challenges the analyst, and votes the rating. Dissents are recorded.
Step 05
Rated entities receive the draft rationale and may correct factual errors before publication. Opinions are not negotiated.
Step 06
The rating, rationale, and outlook are published. The file enters continuous surveillance against trigger events.
Lifecycle
Ratings are not annual snapshots. Alpha runs a continuous loop - Observe, Assess, Engage, Publish - so opinions move with the evidence.
Phase 01
Continuous ingestion of disclosures, filings, incidents, and standards activity across the rated universe.
Phase 02
Trigger events and scheduled refreshes prompt re-scoring of affected pillars, not full re-rating, to keep signal current.
Phase 03
Issuer dialogue on material changes - new agents, restructured oversight, incidents - with documented Q&A on the record.
Phase 04
Outlook changes, watch placements, and rating actions are published with a dated rationale and a clear evidence trail.
Principles
What this methodology guarantees
What ratings are not