Governing Open Source and AI in Mitigating Modern Risks in Software Development
3 minute read time
The explosion in generative AI has dominated conversations from the server room to the boardroom. As organizations race to build the next wave of intelligent applications, technology leaders are increasingly turning to AI models to gain an edge.
These models provide greater transparency, deeper customizability, and a welcome escape from vendor lock-in.
This AI-fueled boom is not happening in a vacuum. It's supercharging the adoption of open source software (OSS) across the entire enterprise, impacting everything from infrastructure and DevOps to data analytics.
But while the value of this trend is immense, it brings with it significant, often hidden, risks. Without a robust governance plan, the very tools you use to innovate can become your greatest liability.
The Promise and Peril of Open Source AI
The appeal of using open source for AI development is undeniable.
It empowers organizations to:
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Tap into a global pool of innovation, leveraging the collective intelligence of thousands of developers worldwide.
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Accelerate the development of custom AI applications, building on foundational models to create unique business solutions.
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Attract and retain top-tier tech talent, who are eager to work on cutting-edge projects and build their skills with industry-leading tools.
However, this power comes with new layers of complexity. Modern AI models are not monolithic applications. They are intricate webs of components and dependencies. This creates an opaque and constantly expanding attack surface. The speed and scale of AI development have not only brought the usual risks of open source into play but have significantly heightened them.
Revisiting Core Risks in the Age of AI
While the technology is new, the underlying risks of ungoverned software remain. A critical insight from Gartner posits that the low acquisition cost of OSS often leads to a dangerous "set it and forget it" mentality. This inadequate management is the real vulnerability, turning a powerful asset into a potential threat.
Let's look at how those core risks manifest in the age of AI.
Technical Risks
An abandoned open source data-shaping library that your flagship AI model relies on could contain unpatched vulnerabilities. Worse, its poor or nonexistent documentation could make it impossible to fine-tune or debug, grinding your AI roadmap to a halt and creating significant technical debt.
Legal Risks
A single foundational model can pull in hundreds of transitive dependencies, each with its own license. The legal implications are staggering. If even one of those dependencies has a restrictive or incompatible license that goes unnoticed, your organization could face serious intellectual property infringement and costly litigation down the line.
Security Risks
Unmanaged AI components are prime targets for sophisticated attacks. A threat actor could compromise a dependency to launch a data poisoning attack, subtly corrupting your model's output. They could also exploit a vulnerability to steal the sensitive corporate or customer data being processed by the model, or use it as a backdoor into your network.
Navigating the Frontier with a Map, Not a Blindfold
Open source AI is a strategic imperative, not a passing trend. But adopting it without a plan is like navigating a new frontier blindfolded. "Free to use" does not mean free of responsibility. To innovate safely and effectively, you must approach open source with a formal governance structure.
To harness the power of open source AI and other innovations safely, you need a centralized command center. In Part 2 of this series, we will detail how to build this function: the Open Source Program Office (OSPO).
The risks in your software supply chain are real, whether they come from AI models or traditional libraries. Get the analyst insights for managing them in the Gartner report, "A CTO's Guide to Open-Source Software."
Access the full report now and elevate your OSS strategy today.
Gartner, A CTO's Guide to Open-Source Software: Answering the Top 10 FAQs, Mark Driver, Nitish Tyagi, 28 April 2025
GARTNER is a registered trademark and service mark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally and is used herein with permission. All rights reserved.
Aaron is a technical writer on Sonatype's Marketing team. He works at a crossroads of technical writing, developer advocacy, software development, and open source. He aims to get developers and non-technical collaborators to work well together via experimentation, feedback, and iteration so they ...
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