The name is the standard: zero black boxes.
An AI system your firm cannot explain is an AI system your firm cannot defend. Blackbox Zero exists to take the unexplained out of your AI program: every use case inventoried, every decision owned, every control evidenced.
WHO YOU WORK WITH
Chris Cook, Founder & Managing Partner
Over 21 years at IBM I served as Worldwide Deputy Chief Auditor, directing 151 process and cybersecurity audits annually with findings delivered to the CFO, CEO, and Audit Committee. I ran the $5B UK & Ireland business as CFO, executed the Kyndryl divestiture into a new public entity, and as Controller of IBM Japan led Sarbanes-Oxley compliance for the $8B business.
As Deputy Chief Auditor I created IBM’s first AI audit program. For two years I also served as a voting member of IBM’s AI Ethics Board, deciding which client AI use cases shipped, and which were rejected. That same work, deciding, auditing, and documenting, is what this practice does.
CREDENTIALS
Each one is common; the combination is not.
SEC
Qualifies as Audit Committee Financial Expert under SEC requirements
CFA
CFA Charterholder, CFA Institute
YALE
MBA, Finance, Yale School of Management
BOSTON UNIVERSITY
MA and BA, Computer Science (BA cum laude)
Operating Partner at Altos Equity Partners and Advisory Board Member at Wayside. Published in Corporate Board Member (“When the Audit Trail Is Only an Algorithm”) and AI Journal (“Shifting From Compliance to Competitive Advantage through AI Governance”). Featured speaker at Opal Group governance and compliance conferences, Yale School of Management, and private executive forums.
HOW I WORK
Three commitments, in writing.
You get me. No junior staff, no leverage model, no handoff after the sale. I take on few engagements at once to ensure that stays true. When scope requires more hands, I bring vetted specialists in under my direction, never juniors learning on your invoice.
Fixed fees, agreed before work begins. Scope and price are confirmed in writing. No meter running, no change-order culture.
Independence stated before you ask. If I build your program, your independent attestation should come from someone else, and I will put that in the deliverable.
Chris also serves as an expert witness and litigation consultant, and is available for board and audit committee service, in his individual capacity:chriscook.com.
Company Address
Headquartered in the Hartford-NYC regulatory corridor, Blackbox Zero is positioned at the intersection of insurance innovation and financial oversight.
Blackbox Zero, LLC
2389 Main St., STE 100
Glastonbury, CT 06033, USA
The first conversation shows you how I work.
Thirty minutes on your AI exposure. You will leave with the two or three governance questions your examiner or auditor is most likely to raise first, whether or not we ever speak again.