Download Publication
Who it's for:
- Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs)
- AI governance and compliance leaders
- Risk management and audit professionals
- Data protection officers
- AI product managers and solution architects
Capabilities-Based Risk Assessment (CBRA) for AI Systems
Release Date: 11/12/2025
This publication introduces the Capabilities-Based Risk Assessment (CBRA), a structured, scalable approach to evaluating AI risk in enterprise environments. CSA’s AI Safety Initiative developed this framework to help assess risk based on what a given AI system can do.
CBRA evaluates AI through four core dimensions: System Criticality, Autonomy, Access Permissions, and Impact Radius. It uses these dimensions to calculate a composite risk profile. This enables organizations to align security controls with the true capabilities and potential consequences of each AI deployment.
Mapped directly to the AI Controls Matrix (AICM), CBRA helps enterprises apply proportional safeguards. Low-risk AI gets lightweight controls, medium-risk gets enhanced monitoring, and high-risk gets full-scale governance. The result is a consistent framework for risk-tiered oversight across industries.
As AI becomes more integrated into decision-making, CBRA equips organizations to manage risk at the speed of innovation. Use CBRA to ensure responsible use, regulatory alignment, and public trust.
Key Takeaways:
- A capability-driven model for AI risk assessment
- How the risk tiers align with the AICM
- How to implement scalable, risk-informed AI governance
- Applications for generative and agentic AI systems across sectors
Download this Resource
Share
Related resources
.jpeg)
.jpeg)
.jpeg)
.jpeg)
Interested in helping develop research with CSA?
Related Certificates & Training
.png){kind=logo}
Learn the core concepts, best practices and recommendation for securing an organization on the cloud regardless of the provider or platform. Covering all 14 domains from the CSA Security Guidance v4, recommendations from ENISA, and the Cloud Controls Matrix, you will come away understanding how to leverage information from CSA's vendor-neutral research to keep data secure on the cloud.
Learn more
Learn more
