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Boundaries Of Tolerance
A Foundational Model for Ethical AI Strategy and Governance
By Jeffrey Saviano
Wiley, 2026
The Central Question
What happens when corporate boards and C-suite leaders are asked to integrate one of the most transformative technologies in history, artificial intelligence, into their core strategies without the frameworks or regulatory clarity needed to lead responsibly?
The Core Thesis
AI is advancing faster than regulation, and today’s leaders bear the responsibility for ensuring its safe and trustworthy use. Ethical AI governance is a defining test of leadership and organizational purpose.
The book introduces the Boundaries of Tolerance Model, a practical governance framework developed at Harvard University’s Edmond & Lily Safra Center for Ethics, and advanced in my teaching at MIT. The framework helps organizations and individuals:
• Define acceptable risk thresholds for AI systems
• Translate abstract ethical principles into concrete oversight practices
• Clarify the ethical boundaries of what organizations, and the humans involved, will and will not tolerate in their AI systems
Why It Matters
The risks of AI are already visible: biased algorithms, reputational damage, shareholder litigation, and loss of public trust. Fiduciary standards from landmark Delaware cases (Caremark, Boeing, McDonald’s, and others) demonstrate that corporate boards and business executives are legally accountable for mission-critical risks, including those grounded in AI.
Most current books on AI focus on technology-enabled strategy, governance, risks, or ethics in isolation. Boundaries of Tolerance integrates these perspectives into a unified governance model grounded in fiduciary duty, applied ethics, leadership, and organizational design.
What Makes the Book Compelling
Boundaries of Tolerance reframes AI governance as a new frontier of corporate leadership. Through case studies and original research, it offers leaders the tools to embed ethics into strategy and align innovation with societal values.
The book presents a structured, actionable roadmap to navigate competing tensions:
• Innovation and oversight
• Speed and accountability
• Transparency and privacy
• Enterprise strategy and ethical integrity
The Model in Action
At the heart of the book is the Boundaries of Tolerance Model, a practical framework for ethical AI governance. It equips boards and senior executives with structured tools to define their ethical boundaries and integrate them into enterprise oversight. The Model is built on three pillars:
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Ethical Maturity Stack: Charts an organization’s evolution from non-compliance at the base to ethical vanguard at the summit.
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Performance Measures (Enterprise and Systems): Internal assessment tools that help boards and executive teams determine how ethical principles are operationalized across the business and its AI systems, and determine where the company sits on the Ethical Maturity Stack.
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Leading and Emerging Practices: Offers best practices and next generation tools business leaders can adopt today, such as establishing a board-level technology or AI committee, defining “guard bands” of safety, or adopting principles of ‘Prudent Vigilance’ as a balanced innovation / risk approach, calling for business enterprises to continuously monitor and adapt their AI systems in response to evolving risks and uncertainties.
Together, these pillars move organizations toward measurable progress in ethical AI maturity.
Research Team
Under Construction
Boundaries of Tolerance will be published by Wiley in September, 2026
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