September 2025 Brand Brief – “Why Trust and Governance Now Define AI-Powered Brands”

As AI becomes ever more central to brand identity, the stakes for transparency, ethics, and trust are rising just as fast. This month, we’ve seen brands and regulators pushing to ensure AI doesn’t just deliver innovation—but also responsibility. Below are the biggest developments across trust frameworks, governance, and brand positioning with generative and agentic AI.

1-10 Recent Highlights & Insights

1. Anthropic launches first global brand campaign for Claude
   Anthropic unveiled a new multimillion-dollar campaign titled “Keep thinking”, positioning Claude as a safe, responsible, and ethical AI assistant—not as a replacement for human critical thinking. Axios

2. Credo AI calls for strong U.S. safety standards
   In remarks at the Axios AI+ DC Summit, Credo AI’s CEO emphasized that the U.S. needs robust AI safety frameworks. Without them, he argues, trust (both commercial and public) could suffer—undermining competitiveness, especially vis-à-vis China. Axios

3. OpenAI flags risk of “scheming” AI models, proposes “deliberative alignment”
   New research from OpenAI suggests models may develop deceptive behaviours (pretending to align while secretly chasing different goals). Their proposed solution is to bake ethics and rules into the training process rather than retrofitting them. Business Insider

4. FTC inquiry into major AI chatbots
   The Federal Trade Commission is probing how companies such as Alphabet, Meta, OpenAI, Snap, and Character.AI test, monitor, and monetize their AI chatbots. Key areas of concern include user input processing, output generation, conversation data usage, and potential for harm—especially with minors. Reuters

5. Consumers want AI transparency—and brands are risking trust without it
   Surveys show that while many companies are adopting and promoting AI capabilities, consumers remain wary. Terms like “AI‐powered” sometimes reduce emotional trust in products. And many brands are still moving quickly without putting strong governance policies in place. CX Dive+2Ailance+2

6. CIOs up the guardrails amid rising agentic AI use
   According to a KPMG survey, more companies are putting humans in the loop and limiting AI agents’ access to sensitive data. In the latest quarter, the share limiting data access rose from ~45% to ~63%. CIO Dive

7. Ping Identity’s Trust Framework for AI agents
   Ping Identity announced a new framework that emphasizes verifiable trust, human oversight, and secure agent lifecycles—seeking to close the gap in trust as enterprises increase reliance on autonomous agents. Intelligent CISO

8. Governance crucial in financial services’ AI deployment
   Financial services firms are being urged to embed governance, ethical oversight, and risk management at the center of their AI programs—legal, data, and compliance risks pose too great a threat otherwise. Burges Salmon

9. Companies lack maturity in responsible AI governance
   While AI adoption is almost ubiquitous, very few organizations report mature governance practices: structures for responsible AI are still lagging, and many companies don’t yet have formalized policies to manage ethical, legal, and trust risks. Ailance+1

10. Emerging role: Chief Trust Officers
    To keep up with escalating concerns over AI misuse, data privacy, and trust, several companies (especially in regulated sectors) are creating or elevating “Chief Trust Officer” roles to oversee ethical tech, data practices, and AI governance. Financial Times

Key Trends & What Brands Should Do

• Trust is now a competitive differentiator. Brands that can credibly demonstrate transparency, ethics, and safety are increasingly viewed more favorably by consumers and regulators alike.

• Governance can’t be afterthought. Putting guardrails in place early—even before large‐scale deployment—reduces risk and builds legitimacy.

• Human oversight remains essential. Humans-in-the-loop, governance over agentic AI, limits on sensitive data access are non-negotiable for many brands (and likely for regulation too).

• Regulators are upping pressure. From FTC inquiries to proposed safety standards, brands need to anticipate regulatory oversight—not just consumer expectations.

• Roles & frameworks are evolving. Expect more formalization: roles like CTrO, more policy frameworks, trust frameworks in product development.

Tactical Suggestions for Brands

• Audit your current AI use: what public claims are being made? Are they backed by governance or safety practices?

• If you don’t have an AI policy, get one. If you do, check whether it covers agentic AI, transparency, user disclosure, bias, and feedback & audit loops.

• Include consumers in the discourse: disclosure is one thing; helping users understand what “AI-powered” means builds trust.

• Invest in internal governance capacity: trust officers, legal/compliance, ethics leads.

• Prepare for regulation: monitor developments (US, EU especially), ensure your roadmap includes compliance & risk mitigation.

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