Risk matrix

A grid that turns a likelihood rating and a severity rating, each on defined scales, into a band that triggers a treatment, a gate and a review cadence. Useful for consistency, not precision 1; keep the numbers behind each cell.

Developed in
ch. 13, Assessing risk: the likelihood-by-severity matrix
Chapters
ch. 13, Risk Management
Source
1 numbered reference, listed below

Where it is used

One chapter of the Body of Knowledge uses the term. Each link opens the first section that does.

Risk matrix: mentions per chapter1 mention of the term across 1 of the 23 chapters of the Body of Knowledge; the chapters the glossary cross-references are drawn solid.Cross-referenced chapter13 Risk Management: 1 mention13 Risk Management1No mentions in the other 22 chaptersSource: the Body of Knowledgev0.5.0
Risk matrix: mentions per chapter1 mention of the term across 1 of the 23 chapters of the Body of Knowledge; the chapters the glossary cross-references are drawn solid.Cross-referenced chapter00010203040506070810111213 Risk Management: 1 mention11314151617181920212223Source: the Body of Knowledge v0.5.0
Mentions per chapter How often each chapter names the term, with the chapters the glossary cross-references drawn solid. The longest bar is where to read the term in use; bars spread across many chapters mark a term that runs through the discipline.
Mentions as a table
Mentions of Risk matrix per chapter
ChapterMentionsCross-referenced
00 Preface0No
01 Definition0No
02 Why Now0No
03 Values & Principles0No
04 The Stack0No
05 Patterns0No
06 The Role0No
07 Maturity Model0No
08 Regulatory Map0No
10 Reading List0No
11 AI Defined0No
12 Governance Program0No
13 Risk Management1Yes
14 Development0No
15 Deployment0No
16 Fairness & XAI0No
17 Incidents0No
18 EU AI Act0No
19 Privacy & AI0No
20 Existing Law0No
21 AI Laws Worldwide0No
22 Principles & Standards0No
23 AI Agents0No

Sources

  1. [1] What's Wrong with Risk Matrices? (L. A. Cox Jr.; Risk Analysis 28(2) 497-512). Wiley. 2008-04. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1539-6924.2008.01030.x (verified: primary)

Definitions of legal terms paraphrase the cited text, which governs. Dated statements are as of .

Cite this term

García Aibar, J. (2026). Risk matrix. In AI Governance Engineering: The Thesis & Body of Knowledge (v0.5.0), Glossary. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22956197. https://aigovernanceengineer.com/glossary/risk-matrix. CC BY 4.0

BibTeX

@misc{aige2026riskmatrix,
  author  = {Jorge García Aibar},
  title   = {{Risk matrix}},
  note    = {Glossary, AI Governance Engineering: The Thesis \& Body of Knowledge, version 0.5.0},
  year    = {2026},
  doi     = {10.5281/zenodo.22956197},
  url     = {https://aigovernanceengineer.com/glossary/risk-matrix}
}