COMPEL Glossary / incident-response
Incident Response
AI incident response encompasses the defined procedures for investigating and remediating AI-related events such as model failures, bias discoveries, data breaches, safety incidents, or unexpected behavioral changes.
What this means in practice
AI incidents differ from traditional IT incidents because they may involve gradual degradation rather than sudden failure, may require model-specific expertise to diagnose, and may have ethical or regulatory implications beyond operational disruption. Effective incident response includes an incident classification taxonomy (defining severity levels for different AI failure types), escalation procedures (who is notified at each severity level), communication protocols (internal and external stakeholder notification), remediation playbooks (step-by-step response procedures for common incident types), and post-incident review (analyzing root causes and updating preventive controls). In COMPEL, incident response readiness is one of ten dimensions in the Operational Readiness assessment.
Why it matters
AI incidents differ from traditional IT incidents because they may involve gradual degradation rather than sudden failure, require model-specific expertise to diagnose, and carry ethical or regulatory implications beyond operational disruption. Organizations without AI-specific incident response procedures face delayed detection, misdiagnosis, and inappropriate remediation when AI systems fail, potentially compounding harm before the situation is brought under control.
How COMPEL uses it
Incident response readiness is one of ten dimensions in the COMPEL Operational Readiness assessment during Calibrate. During Model, incident response procedures are designed including classification taxonomy, escalation procedures, communication protocols, and remediation playbooks. The Produce stage implements response infrastructure, and the Evaluate stage tests response effectiveness through tabletop exercises and reviews actual incident response performance.
Related Terms
Other glossary terms mentioned in this entry's definition and context.