Techné AI
Independent advisory on AI governance, regulatory compliance, and D&O liability.
Techné AI is an independent advisory practice anchored in Illinois, working with organizations whose operations span California, New York, Colorado, and the European Union. The work is conducted with the legal, compliance, privacy, and risk functions that own AI deployment within their institutions. Every engagement produces a documented compliance posture: a coherent record across the statutes that apply, the controls that satisfy them, and the disclosures and reporting that follow.
Founder
Khullani M. Abdullahi, JD
Founder & Principal Advisor
I founded Techné AI as an independent practice at the intersection of AI governance, regulatory compliance, and D&O liability. I authored the AI Governance & D&O Liability briefing now in active circulation among directors, officers, broker partners, and the underwriters who serve them; after my testimony to the Illinois Senate Executive Subcommittee on AI and Social Media, one of the recommendations from that testimony became an AI-risk impact study bill. I host the AI in Chicago podcast, where I interview the researchers, entrepreneurs, and policymakers shaping the field.
The regulatory map
The regulatory map.
Five vectors are now operative for Illinois-headquartered organizations of meaningful size.
Illinois HB 3773 took effect on January 1, 2026. The employment AI provisions are strict-liability — intent is not a defense — and the prohibition on the use of zip codes as proxies for protected classes closes a common workaround. The Illinois Department of Human Rights is finalizing implementing rules in parallel.
The WOPR Act (HB 1806, Public Act 104-0054) has been in effect since August 1, 2025. It restricts the use of AI in therapeutic and behavioral health workflows, requires licensed-professional oversight of AI-assisted clinical decisions, and prohibits the advertising of AI products as therapy in the absence of a licensed professional in the loop. Penalties reach $10,000 per violation.
California's ADMT regulations under CCPA/CPRA, SB 53, SB 942, and AB 2013 reach every company with California operations or California consumers. NYC Local Law 144 has been enforced since 2023. Colorado's AI Act took effect in February 2026.
The EU AI Act's high-risk system obligations apply on August 2, 2026, with a potential deferral to December 2, 2027 under the Digital Omnibus. The substantive obligations under Articles 9 through 17 — risk management, data governance, technical documentation, human oversight, accuracy and robustness, quality management — are unchanged by the deferral.
A unified compliance posture across these vectors is materially more defensible than a set of parallel programs run against each statute. It produces a single control catalog that satisfies overlapping obligations and a documentation set that reads coherently for the functions that consume it — legal, compliance, privacy, and risk — and for the external counterparties they answer to.
Engagements
Engagements.
Productized · two weeks · fixed fee
AI Compliance Diagnostic
A two-week assessment of AI risk exposure, the statutes and frameworks that apply to a specific organization, and a three-action sequence the legal or compliance function can implement within the quarter. The most common entry point into the practice.
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Illinois · 3–4 weeks
HB 3773 Employment AI Review
A documented record of employment AI use against the amended Illinois Human Rights Act — vendor inventory, strict-liability risk assessment, notice templates aligned to IDHR rulemaking, and a compliance posture memo suitable for the legal file and for any internal committee that owns AI oversight.
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Illinois behavioral health · 4–6 weeks
WOPR Act Review
Permitted-use mapping for AI in clinical and clinical-adjacent workflow, the licensed-professional oversight architecture the statute requires, and a review of advertising, intake, and consent materials against the Act's restrictions on AI products held out as therapy.
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8–12 weeks
Multi-Jurisdictional Review (US + EU)
A single control catalog across Illinois, California, New York, Colorado, and the EU AI Act, with the EU AI Act classification analysis, the conformity-assessment pathway, the unified vendor due diligence framework, and a separate executive summary written for the D&O underwriting conversation.
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Half or full day
Board & Committee Briefings
A working session for boards, audit committees, and risk committees on the AI regulatory landscape, the Caremark framework as applied to AI oversight, and the documentation that supports the director's duty of care under current Delaware case law.
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Retainer · six-month minimum
Standing AI Compliance Advisor
A named advisor available across the practice's regulatory and operational cadence: monthly regulatory horizon briefings, quarterly compliance reviews, incident response support, and counsel through the D&O renewal conversation.
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The published record
The published record.
Formal testimony, published briefings, and tools that practitioners across Illinois consult.
Illinois AI Legislative Ecosystem
A live tracker of every AI-related bill, enacted statute, and regulatory development shaping Illinois AI policy. Maintained by Techné AI and consulted by general counsel, compliance officers, and policy researchers.
Open the tracker
AI Governance & D&O Liability
A briefing for directors, officers, and the advisors who serve them on the intersection of AI deployment, fiduciary duty, and director and officer liability. In active circulation among practitioners and underwriters.
Request the briefing
Senate testimony
Written testimony to the Illinois Senate Executive Subcommittee on AI and Social Media on the consolidation of frontier-AI safety legislation. One recommendation from that testimony became an AI-risk impact study bill.
Read the testimony
Writing and press
Regular analysis on AI governance, regulation, and the litigation landscape, published to the Techné AI Substack. Featured on Disruption Interruption and AI in Chicago; contributor to Risk Management magazine.
Subscribe / press
The practice
The practice.
Techné AI is an independent advisory practice. The firm does not sell software, integrate AI systems, place insurance, or accept commissions. The firm is structurally separate from technology vendors, audit firms, and law firms — an independence that allows the firm's review work to be relied upon by internal counsel, compliance and risk functions, and the external counterparties they answer to.
Every engagement is grounded in published methodology: the NIST AI Risk Management Framework, ISO/IEC 42001, the SaferAI Frontier AI Risk Management Framework, and the proportionality and tiered-assurance literature now emerging in the field. The deliverable in each engagement is a documented compliance posture, a workpaper file, and a written report that attributes its methodology and its sources.
Where a client requires formal third-party attestation, Techné AI coordinates referrals to licensed CPA firms and accredited certification bodies. The firm is implementing an ISO/IEC 42001 AI Management System with target firm certification in 2026–2027.
The practice is anchored in Illinois, where the firm's underlying authority has been built — the legislative ecosystem tracker, the Senate testimony, the AI Governance & D&O Liability briefing in active circulation. The work follows clients into the jurisdictions their operations require: California, New York, Colorado, and the European Union.
Where to start
Where to start.
Most engagements begin with the Diagnostic — two weeks, fixed fee, a Risk Profile and a three-action sequence the legal or compliance function can implement within the quarter. A direct scoping conversation is the right first step when the engagement is likely to be larger or the timeline is constrained.