Building on the momentum generated through the revision of An Anti-Corruption, Ethics and Compliance Programme for Business: A Practical Guide, the UN Global Compact and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) are launching the Think Lab on AI for Business Integrity as the next step in advancing private sector leadership on anti-corruption and ethical corporate governance.

Corruption remains one of the most damaging obstacles to sustainable development. It distorts markets, weakens the rule of law, undermines trust in institutions and imposes significant legal, financial and reputational costs on companies. At the same time, the environment in which companies manage integrity risks is changing rapidly. Artificial intelligence, machine learning, data analytics and other emerging technologies are creating new opportunities to detect red flags, strengthen internal controls, improve due diligence and move from reactive compliance to more proactive and strategic risk management. Yet these technologies also introduce new ethical, governance and corruption-related risks, including bias, opacity, misuse, inadequate oversight and new forms of abuse.

The responsible use of AI to strengthen integrity has therefore emerged as a defining priority in the global anti-corruption agenda. It has been reflected in the Call-to-Action from Business to Governments on the 20th Anniversary of UNCAC, in the 2024 United Nations Summit of the Future’s Pact for the Future, in the 2025 B20 Policy Paper on Integrity and Compliance and in discussions at both the tenth and eleventh sessions of the Conference of the States Parties to the United Nations Convention against Corruption (COSP10 and COSP11). At COSP11 in Doha in December 2025, this momentum was brought into sharper focus through the Private Sector Forum, held under the theme Future-Proofing Business Integrity: AI, Innovation and Global Collaboration, which explored how emerging technologies can transform anti-corruption efforts and help shape tomorrow’s integrity agenda.

At the same session, two landmark outcomes further strengthened the foundation for action. The first was the launch of the COSP Private Sector Platform, co-led by UNODC and the UN Global Compact, as a permanent mechanism for public-private dialogue on integrity challenges. The second was the launch of the updated Anti-Corruption, Ethics and Compliance Programme for Business: A Practical Guide, formally released in March 2026 as the new UN standard for corporate compliance programmes. Developed through the Think Lab on Business Integrity with 26 leading companies, the revised Guide incorporated a Transformational Governance approach, positioning anti-corruption, ethics and compliance not as a box-ticking exercise, but as a forward-looking pillar of strong corporate governance linked to sustainability, accountability and long-term value creation.

While the updated Guide sets out the global standard for what robust compliance programmes should look like today, a critical implementation opportunity remains. Companies still lack practical guidance on how to use AI to strengthen each element of an ethics and compliance programme in ways that are effective, responsible  and aligned with broader governance objectives. The Think Lab on AI for Business Integrity is being established to fill this gap.

The Think Lab will convene a select group of champion companies at the forefront of AI innovation and compliance excellence, alongside representatives from Government, international organizations, academia and civil society. Through collective action, knowledge-sharing and multistakeholder collaboration, it will examine how AI is already being used in compliance programmes, identify promising practices and emerging risks and help define the ethical guardrails needed to ensure these tools are deployed responsibly. In doing so, the Think Lab will build directly on the updated Guide and help translate its principles into practical, technology-enabled action.

The core objective of the Think Lab is to develop a practical AI supplement to the updated Anti-Corruption, Ethics and Compliance Programme for Business: A Practical Guide. This supplement will provide concrete, actionable guidance on how companies can leverage AI to strengthen core elements of an effective compliance programme. Through Collective Action, knowledge-sharing and multi-stakeholder collaboration, the project will help companies develop AI solutions that embody transformational governance principles and contribute to global standards for ethical and responsible business conduct. In parallel, the Think Lab will develop a high-level brief on the ethical use of AI.

The Think Lab will engage participants through consultations, one-to-one company interviews and surveys, and a two-day multi-stakeholder workshop to review findings and validate outputs. It will also connect to the COSP Private Sector Platform, ensuring that companies' insights and experience inform ongoing public-private dialogue within the UNCAC process.