AI governance: Samsung's $4B Vietnam project

Key Takeaways

• Small teams need lightweight, actionable governance — not enterprise-grade bureaucracy
• A one-page policy baseline is enough to start; iterate from there
• Assign one policy owner and hold a weekly 15-minute review
• Data handling and prompt content are the top risk areas
• Human-in-the-loop is required for high-stakes decisions

Summary

This playbook section helps small teams implement AI governance with a clear policy baseline, practical risk controls, and an execution-friendly checklist. It's designed for teams that need to move fast while still meeting basic compliance and risk expectations.

If you only do three things this week: publish an "allowed vs not allowed" policy, name an owner, and set a short review cadence to keep usage visible and intentional.

Governance Goals

For a lean team, governance goals should translate directly into day-to-day behaviors: what people can do, what they must not do, and what they need approval for.

• Reduce avoidable risk while preserving team velocity
• Make "approved vs not approved" usage explicit
• Provide lightweight review ownership and cadence
• Keep a paper trail (decisions, incidents, exceptions) without slowing delivery

Risks to Watch

Most small teams underestimate "silent" risks: sensitive data in prompts, untracked tools, and decisions made from model output that never get reviewed.

• Data leakage via prompts or outputs
• Over-trusting model output in production decisions
• Untracked shadow AI usage
• Vendor/tooling sprawl without a risk owner or inventory

Controls (What to Actually Do)

Start with controls that are cheap to run and easy to explain. Each control should have a clear owner and a lightweight cadence.

• Create an AI usage policy with allowed use-cases (and a short "not allowed" list)

• Define what data is allowed in prompts (and what requires redaction or approval)

• Run a weekly risk review for high-impact prompts and workflows

• Require human sign-off for any customer-facing or high-stakes outputs

• Define escalation + incident response steps (who to notify, what to log, how to pause use)

Checklist (Copy/Paste)

• Identify high-risk AI use-cases
• Define what data is allowed in prompts
• Require human-in-the-loop for critical decisions
• Assign one policy owner
• Review results and update controls
• Keep a simple inventory of AI tools/vendors and owners
• Add a "safe prompt" template and a redaction workflow
• Log incidents and near-misses (even if informal) and review monthly

Implementation Steps

1. Draft the policy baseline (1–2 pages)
2. Map incidents and near-misses to checklist updates
3. Publish the updated policy internally
4. Create a lightweight review cadence (weekly 15 minutes; quarterly deeper review)
5. Add a short approval path for exceptions (who can approve, how it's documented)

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What is AI governance? A: It is a framework for managing AI use, risk, and compliance within a small team context.

Q: Why does AI governance matter for small teams? A: Small teams face the same AI risks as enterprises but with fewer resources, making lightweight governance frameworks critical.

Q: How do I get started with AI governance? A: Start with a one-page policy baseline, identify your highest-risk AI use-cases, and assign a policy owner.

Q: What are the biggest risks in AI governance? A: Data leakage via prompts, over-reliance on model output, and untracked shadow AI usage.

Q: How often should AI governance controls be reviewed? A: A weekly lightweight review is recommended for high-impact use-cases, with a full policy review quarterly.

References

• Samsung's $4B Semiconductor Packaging Project in Vietnam
• NIST Artificial Intelligence
• OECD AI Principles
• EU Artificial Intelligence Act
• ISO/IEC 42001: Artificial Intelligence Management System## Practical Examples (Small Team)

Small teams governing AI hardware supply chains can draw directly from real-world moves like Samsung's expansion into Vietnam for semiconductor packaging. As reported by TechRepublic, "Samsung is building a new semiconductor packaging plant in Vietnam," signaling a push for supply chain resilience amid AI hardware risks.¹ This exemplifies "Semiconductor Diversification" as a strategy to mitigate geopolitical risk mitigation, reducing over-reliance on single regions like Taiwan or China.

Consider a 10-person AI startup procuring GPUs and custom ASICs. Their initial setup funnels 80% of chips through one Taiwanese supplier, exposing them to tariffs, export controls, and natural disasters. Here's how they operationalize diversification:

1. Vendor Audit Checklist (Owner: Procurement Lead, quarterly review):

   • Map current suppliers: List top 5 by spend, noting country of origin, capacity (e.g., Vietnam chip manufacturing readiness).
   • Risk score: Geopolitical (e.g., US-China tensions: high), capacity (e.g., monthly wafer output), lead time (target <90 days).
   • Diversification target: No single country >50% of volume within 12 months.

2. Pilot Diversification Playbook:

   • Step 1: Identify alternatives. Scout Vietnam via platforms like VietnamWorks or SEMI.org for packaging firms. Samsung's APAC focus validates Vietnam's ecosystem—low labor costs ($300/month vs. $1,500 in Taiwan), tax incentives (15% corporate rate).
   • Step 2: Test small. Allocate 10% of next order to a Vietnamese packager like Viettel or FPT Semiconductor. Script for supplier outreach: "We're exploring Semiconductor Diversification to build supply chain resilience. Can you quote 5,000-unit packaging run with 60-day lead time? Provide compliance certs (ISO 9001, REACH)."
   • Step 3: Validate quality. Run side-by-side tests: Benchmark yield rates (target >98%), thermals, and cost (aim 15-20% savings).

In practice, this team shifted 25% of packaging to Vietnam in six months, cutting lead times by 40% during a Taiwan quake scare. For AI hardware risks like TSMC bottlenecks, they mirrored this by dual-sourcing HBM memory: 60% Korea, 40% emerging Vietnam pilots.

Another example: A 15-engineer firm building edge AI devices. Facing US export curbs on Nvidia chips, they diversified:

• Hardware Bill of Materials (BOM) Review Template:

  Component	Current Supplier	Risk Level	Diversification Option	Timeline
  GPU	Taiwan (90%)	High	Vietnam packaging + India assembly	Q3 2024
  Memory	China (70%)	Medium	Samsung Vietnam (30% pilot)	Q2 2024
  PCB	Single US	Low	Multi-site (Vietnam/Thailand)	Q4 2024

This operational shift yielded 30% cost reduction and passed an investor audit on supply chain governance.

Roles and Responsibilities

For small teams (under 20 people), clear roles prevent silos in supply chain governance. Assign these without adding headcount—leverage existing staff with 2-4 hours/week commitments. Focus on AI hardware risks like single-point failures in semiconductor supply.

• Supply Chain Owner (e.g., Ops Manager, 40% time):

  • Owns diversification strategies: Quarterly vendor scorecard updates.
  • Checklist: Review BOM for >50% concentration risks; initiate RFQs to 3 new suppliers (e.g., Vietnam chip manufacturing firms).
  • Deliverable: Monthly risk dashboard (Google Sheets: columns for supplier, risk score, mitigation status).
  • Escalation: Flag if any supplier >60% spend.

• Risk Champion (e.g., CTO or Engineer, 20% time):

  • Monitors geopolitical risk mitigation: Track news via Google Alerts ("semiconductor supply chain Taiwan China").
  • Operational task: Bi-monthly simulation—"What if Taiwan output drops 50%? Reroute to Vietnam packaging?"
  • Template script for team huddle: "Current exposure: 70% Taiwan. Vietnam pilot status: Yield 97%, cost -18%. Approve scale-up?"

• Procurement Delegate (e.g., Finance/Admin, 10% time):

  • Executes contracts: Negotiate MOQs (min order qty) under $50K for pilots.
  • Checklist for Vietnam onboarding:
    1. Verify export compliance (ITAR/EAR for AI chips).
    2. Audit factory (virtual tour + certs).
    3. Lock in SLAs: 95% on-time delivery, defect rate <1%.
  • Track savings: Baseline vs. diversified cost per unit.

• Exec Sponsor (CEO/Founder, review-only):

  • Approves budgets >$100K; signs off quarterly reviews.
  • KPI tie-in: Ensure supply chain resilience score >80/100.

Example rotation: In a 12-person team, Ops Manager handles daily, rotates Risk Champion quarterly among engineers for fresh eyes. This matrix kept a drone AI firm's hardware flowing during 2023 chip shortages, diversifying 35% to Vietnam/India without delays.

Document in a shared Notion page: "Role | Duties | Cadence | Tools". Review assignments bi-annually.

Tooling and Templates

Small teams need lightweight, free/cheap tools for supply chain governance—no enterprise bloat. Prioritize spreadsheets, open-source, and AI-assisted trackers for AI hardware risks and Semiconductor Diversification tracking.

1. Core Tool Stack:

   • Google Sheets/Airtable (Free tier): Central risk register.
     • Template columns: Supplier, Country, Volume %, Risk Score (formula: =IF(Volume>50,"High","Low")), Mitigation (dropdown: "Vietnam Pilot", "Contract Clause").
     • Auto-alerts: Conditional formatting—red if geopolitical news flags (integrate Zapier with RSS).
   • Procurements.io or Coupa Lite (Free trials): RFQ automation. Script: "Auto-send to 5 Vietnam packagers: Specs + NDA."
   • Resilinc or SupplyChainBrain (Free reports): Geopolitical dashboards. Weekly scan for "Vietnam chip manufacturing" expansions.

2. Ready-to-Use Templates (Copy-paste into Sheets):

   Diversification Roadmap Template:

   Quarter	Action	Owner	Target (e.g., Vietnam %)	Status	Notes
   Q3 2024	RFQ to 3 packagers	Procurement	20% shift	In Progress	Samsung model: Focus APAC
   Q4 2024	Pilot production	Supply Chain	40% total	Planned	Test 10K units
   Q1 2025	Full scale	Risk Champ	50% cap per country	TBD	Monitor yields

   Vendor Risk Assessment Scorecard (Score 1-10 per category, average):

   Category	Criteria	Score	Weight
   Geopolitical	Distance from hotspots (e.g., Vietnam low)	9	30%
   Capacity	Scaling for AI demand	8	25%
   Cost/Quality	Packaging yield >98%	7	20%
   Compliance	US export ready	10	25%
   Total	=SUMPRODUCT(scores,weights)	8.3	100%

3. AI-Augmented Workflows:

   • Use ChatGPT/Claude for scenario planning: Prompt: "Given Samsung's Vietnam semiconductor packaging, simulate supply chain resilience for 20% Taiwan disruption. Suggest 3 diversification strategies."
   • Output: Actionable list, e.g., "1. Contract Vietnam for 30% overflow. Owner: Procurement. Cost: +5% short-term."

4. Implementation Checklist (Week 1 rollout):

   • Day 1: Import BOM to Sheets.
   • Day 3: Populate 10 vendors, score risks.
   • Week 2: Send 3 RFQs (Vietnam focus).
   • Monthly: Review with team (15-min standup).

This stack powered a small AI robotics team to achieve 90% uptime during 2024 shortages, saving $150K via diversified packaging. Integrate with GitHub for versioned templates—fork and adapt.

Practical Examples (Small Team)

For small teams governing AI hardware supply chains, semiconductor diversification offers actionable lessons from Samsung's expansion into Vietnam chip manufacturing. In 2023, Samsung announced plans for advanced semiconductor packaging facilities in Vietnam, aiming to bolster supply chain resilience amid geopolitical tensions (TechRepublic). Small teams can mirror this by piloting similar diversification strategies without massive capital.

Example 1: Supplier Audit and Onboarding Checklist

Start with a quarterly audit of your top three AI GPU or chip suppliers. Use this checklist owned by your supply chain lead:

• Verify secondary manufacturing sites (e.g., does the supplier have Vietnam or India facilities for packaging?).
• Assess geopolitical exposure: Score suppliers on a 1-5 scale for reliance on single-country production (target <3).
• Test failover: Simulate a 30% capacity drop from primary site; confirm diversification covers it.
• Contract clause: Require 20% production shift to alternate sites within 90 days of disruption.

A fintech startup with 10 engineers applied this, diversifying Nvidia GPU sourcing via Vietnamese assembly partners, reducing Taiwan dependency by 25%.

Example 2: Risk Simulation Workshop (1-Hour Script)

Host monthly 1-hour workshops for your team. Script:

1. Intro (5 min): "Review latest news on AI hardware risks, like US-China chip wars."
2. Scenario (20 min): "Assume 50% Taiwan fab outage. Brainstorm: Switch to Vietnam packaging? Cost? Timeline?"
3. Assign Actions (20 min): "Procurement: Quote three diversified vendors. Engineering: Test Vietnam-sourced chips for latency."
4. Close (15 min): Log in shared doc; set 2-week follow-up.

This kept a SaaS team's AI inference costs stable during 2024 fab shortages.

Example 3: Vendor Scorecard Template

Create a Google Sheet with columns: Supplier, Primary Site, Diversified Capacity (%), Geopolitical Risk Score, Test Pass/Fail. Update post every procurement cycle. One AI consultancy used it to shift 40% of HBM memory to Vietnam partners, enhancing supply chain governance.

These examples emphasize low-cost, high-impact steps, directly inspired by semiconductor diversification trends.

Roles and Responsibilities

Clear roles prevent AI hardware risks from falling through cracks in small teams. Assign owners tied to diversification strategies for accountability.

Supply Chain Owner (Procurement Lead, 20% time):

• Monitors Vietnam chip manufacturing news weekly.
• Runs supplier audits; negotiates diversification clauses (e.g., "20% APAC non-Taiwan capacity").
• Reports quarterly to CTO on resilience metrics.

Engineering Owner (AI Infra Engineer):

• Validates alternate hardware (e.g., benchmark Vietnam-packaged GPUs for model accuracy).
• Leads risk simulations; documents compatibility issues.
• Integrates alerts for supply disruptions into CI/CD pipelines.

Risk/Compliance Owner (Founder or Ops Lead):

• Oversees geopolitical risk mitigation; scans for export controls.
• Reviews contracts for semiconductor packaging diversification.
• Escalates if single-supplier risk >30%.

Cross-Team Cadence:

• Weekly 15-min standup: "Any hardware delays? Diversification status?"
• Monthly review: All owners present updates.

A 15-person AI startup defined these roles post-Taiwan quake scare, avoiding $50K in expedited shipping by preemptively diversifying.

Use a RACI matrix in Notion:

This operationalizes supply chain governance for lean teams.

Metrics and Review Cadence

Track progress with simple, automated metrics to ensure semiconductor diversification delivers on AI hardware risks mitigation.

Core Metrics (Dashboard in Google Sheets or Airtable):

• Diversification Ratio: % of AI hardware from non-primary country (target: >30% via Vietnam/India). Formula: (Diversified Volume / Total Volume) * 100.
• Lead Time Variability: Std dev of delivery times (target: <10 days). Flags if Taiwan reliance spikes.
• Disruption Recovery Time: Days to resume full capacity post-event (target: <14 days).
• Cost Premium for Resilience: % increase for diversified suppliers (target: <15%).
• Geopolitical Exposure Score: Weighted avg of supplier risk (1-5 scale, target: <2.5).

Review Cadence:

• Weekly (10 min): Supply chain owner checks alerts (e.g., via Google Alerts for "Vietnam chip manufacturing").
• Monthly (30 min): Full team reviews dashboard. Action if metrics slip: e.g., "Diversification <25%? RFQ new vendors."
• Quarterly Deep Dive (1 hour): Simulate scenario; audit contracts. Invite external expert if score >3.
• Annual Audit: Third-party review of supply chain resilience.

Script for monthly review:

1. Dashboard walk-through (10 min).
2. Red/Yellow/Green status per metric.
3. Actions: Owner, Due Date, Metric Impact.
4. Next steps log.

One small AI lab hit 35% diversification in six months, cutting outage risks by 40% per simulations. Automate with Zapier: News on "semiconductor packaging" disruptions → Slack alert → Metric update.

These ensure ongoing governance without overwhelming small teams.

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Related reading

As nations diversify semiconductor manufacturing to Vietnam, effective AI governance becomes crucial for mitigating supply chain vulnerabilities in AI hardware. Recent DeepSeek outages underscore the need for robust AI governance strategies that extend to hardware dependencies. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy's shareholder letter highlights tensions with Nvidia and Intel, echoing lessons from semiconductor shifts that demand proactive AI governance. The EU AI Act's delays on high-risk systems further emphasize integrating supply chain risks into global AI governance frameworks.