AI Ethics
An advisory practice designed to support the ethical design and implementation of AI-enabled capabilities in learning
Ensuring trustworthy AI-Powered learning systems
Artificial intelligence is rapidly transforming learning, training, education, and workforce development. Adaptive instructional systems, intelligent tutoring systems, learning copilots, recommendation engines, and predictive analytics are becoming integral components of the learning experience.
Yet many organizations face a common challenge. Because while the technology is advancing quickly, all of the governance, ethical oversight, and stakeholder trust needed to scale and succeed is struggling to keep pace. That is why we’ve made the following service offerings available to clients across industry, government, and education.
Based on five-years of research and standards development
Meet Jeanine DeFalco and Shelly Blake-Plock, past chair and vice-chair of IEEE 2247.4-2025.
We led the development of the IEEE’s standard for the Ethically Aligned Design of Artificial Intelligence in Adaptive Instructional Systems. Our goal now is to help organizations assess, improve, and communicate the ethical readiness of AI-enabled learning systems.
Click here to contact us.
I. Ethics Readiness Assessment
Investment: Starts at $14,750
A structured review of an organization's adaptive learning or AI-enabled instructional system against leading practices reflected in IEEE 2247.4-2025.
This engagement provides leadership teams with an independent evaluation of current strengths, risks, and opportunities for improvement.
Deliverables may include:
Executive briefing and findings presentation
AI ethics readiness scorecard
Organizational maturity assessment
Risk and gap analysis
Prioritized recommendations roadmap
Procurement and stakeholder communication summary
Written assessment report
Typical Questions Addressed
Are we collecting and using learner data appropriately?
Where are our greatest ethical and governance risks?
How prepared are we for customer, regulatory, or institutional scrutiny?
What should we improve first?
Who it’s for…
Leadership, compliance, and technical stakeholders with a responsibility to provide safe and purpose-driven AI-enabled learning environments.
Identify strengths while mitigating risks.
II. Ethically Aligned Design Sprint
Investment: Starts at $25k
A facilitated workshop and design engagement for organizations building new AI-enabled learning products or introducing significant new capabilities.
The Design Sprint helps product teams identify ethical considerations early in the development process, reducing downstream risk while improving product quality and stakeholder trust.
Deliverables may include:
Facilitated stakeholder workshops
AI decision and learner impact mapping
Ethical design requirements documentation
Risk identification and mitigation planning
Governance checkpoints for development teams
Product backlog recommendations
Design and implementation guidance report
Typical Questions Addressed
How can we incorporate ethical considerations before launch?
What learner impacts should we anticipate?
What controls and transparency mechanisms should be designed into the product?
How can ethics become part of our development lifecycle?
Who it’s for…
Design, product, and program teams responsible for developing and implementing AI-enabled learning into their environment. Providing guidance and impactful recommendations.
III. AI Ethics Governance Program
Investment: Starts at $60k
A comprehensive organizational engagement designed to establish sustainable governance structures for AI-enabled learning systems.
This program is intended for institutions and organizations seeking to move beyond individual projects and establish repeatable governance processes.
Deliverables may include:
Governance framework and operating model
Roles and responsibilities documentation
AI review and oversight procedures
Policy and standards documentation
Vendor evaluation framework
Procurement guidance
Staff and leadership workshops
Governance implementation roadmap
Typical Questions Addressed
How should AI oversight be organized?
What policies and procedures should be established?
How do we evaluate third-party AI solutions?
How can governance scale as AI adoption grows?
Who it’s for…
Leaders tasked with enterprise-level governance and strategic models for the safe and effective development and deployment of AI-enabled technologies in learning environments.
This investment will impact the whole organization.
IV. Vendor Trust Package
Investment: Starts at $20k
Designed for technology vendors serving educational institutions, workforce organizations, government agencies, and enterprise learning customers.
This engagement helps organizations communicate ethical readiness and responsible practices in ways that resonate with buyers, procurement teams, and institutional decision-makers.
Deliverables may include:
Trust and transparency review
Standards alignment summary
Procurement response materials
AI ethics and governance FAQ
Marketing and claims review
Customer-facing trust documentation
RFP and proposal support language
Typical Questions Addressed
How do we communicate our approach to responsible AI?
What evidence do buyers expect to see?
How can we differentiate ourselves in procurement evaluations?
How do we ensure integrity with partners?
Who it’s for…
Leaders and product teams developing new AI-enabled learning software.
The goal is to increase transparency while improving the value commitment to customers and consumers.
V. Ongoing Advisory Retainer
Investment: Starts at $5k per month
For organizations seeking continuing access to expertise, strategic guidance, and independent review. Retainer engagements provide an ongoing relationship that evolves alongside changing technologies, organizational priorities, and regulatory expectations.
Deliverables may include:
Monthly advisory sessions
On-demand ethics and governance consultation
Review of new AI initiatives and features
Procurement and vendor evaluation support
Policy and documentation updates
Executive and board briefings
Emerging trends and standards monitoring
Retainer Justification
Organizations can leverage our retainer support as a virtual ethics advisory function, allowing leadership teams to access specialized expertise without maintaining a dedicated internal capability.
Who it’s for…
Leaders and teams who value the advice of a trusted partner over the long term.
This is the perfect way to acquire specialized experience in the field of AI ethics without the overhead of adding full-time resources.
Who We Serve
Our work is informed by years of practical experience in the deployment of learning science, instructional technology, data governance, standards development, and ethical AI implementation.
Our clients include:
Higher education institutions
Community colleges and university systems
Corporate learning and development organizations
Workforce development programs
Educational technology companies
Government and defense training organizations
Nonprofit and mission-driven learning organizations
The publication of IEEE Std 2247.4-2025 represents an important milestone for the field. Providing a framework that can be implemented across organizations, the standard offers guidance and an effective way to communicate values both internal and external to the org.
Our mission is to help organizations translate that standards guidance into practical action, enabling innovation while strengthening trust, accountability, and learner-centered outcomes.
Meet Jeanine…
Jeanine A. DeFalco, PhD is a cognitive psychologist and innovation leader with more than a decade of experience in adaptive training, mission-level modeling and simulation, and human-machine teaming. She is CEO of Mixta Inc and former Director of Innovation and Experimentation at the Defense Acquisition University, following roles as a Research Psychologist with the U.S. Army's Combat Capabilities Development Command and at Army Futures Command at the United States Military Academy at West Point. She held leadership positions at TransfrVR and Dassault Systèmes' Life Science Academy. She holds a PhD in Psychology from Columbia University, is a National Science Foundation SBIR Phase I principal investigator, chaired IEEE Std 2247.4-2025, and currently serves as vice-chair of IEEE AI Standards. Her work has earned the NTSA Best Tutorial Award (2020) and an NTSA Outstanding Achievement in Modeling & Simulation Team Award (2019) for the Generalized Intelligent Framework for Tutoring (GIFT). She co-edited The Frontlines of Artificial Intelligence Ethics: Human-Centric Perspectives on Technology's Advance (Routledge).
Meet Shelly…
Shelly Blake-Plock has been working at the intersection of learning and technology for nearly 25 years. He is CEO of Yet Analytics and President of the Institute for Infrastructure and Interoperable Data in Learning (I2IDL). He holds a MSEd from the Johns Hopkins University, where he was a recipient of the Distinguished Alumnus award and currently serves on the National Advisory Council of the School of Education. He has served as an officer of the IEEE Learning Technology Standards Committee since 2018, currently holding the roll of vice-chair for IEEE relations. He was the charter chair of the IEEE IC Industry Consortium on Learning Engineering. He currently chairs the Technical Advisory Group on xAPI and is chair and editor-in-chief of the TLA Study Group. He served as vice-chair on IEEE Std 2247.4-2025 and currently serves as vice-chair on the IEEE P2997 working group for Enterprise Learner Records. He was principal investigator on the DATASIM project, sponsored by Advanced Distributed Learning. And he has led multiple SBIR II projects sponsored by the Air Force Research Laboratory. Shelly began his career as a high school teacher in one of the first 1:1 computing programs in the USA.
Book now
we are currently scheduling new clients
Winner of the Nielsen Data Visionary Award at TechCrunch Disrupt