Prominent former MdTF biometrics researcher launches AI test and audit company

Evaluating the performance of AI is clearly an area with major growth potential. A new entrant to the area, Sensus AI, has been launched by former Maryland Test Facility Chief Data Scientist and prominent biometrics researcher John Howard.

The company will offer independent testing, evaluation and audit services to private sector providers of biometrics and other AI applications. Howard serves as its CEO.

“The goal of Sensus AI is to be the trust layer for the AI economy — providing objective expertise and rigorous testing so organizations can deploy AI systems with confidence in real-world production environments,” Howard told Biometric Update in an email.

Sensus AI boasts a team of “PhD-level, internationally recognized scientists,” according to its website. They will provide services to ensure that biometrics and AI systems perform accurately and without bias. The company’s portfolio also includes compliance and reporting assessments, data governance and advisory services.

The website also states that Sensus comes from the Latin for “understanding, intelligence, judgement, reason.”

Howard departed the MdTF, where he was senior principal scientist with SAIC, in January. While at MdTF, Howard notably worked with DHS’ Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) on the Remote Identity Validation Technology Demonstration (RIVTD) and the Remote Identity Validation Rally (RIVR) that replaced it.

He is co-editor of the ISO/IEC 19795-10:2024 standard for measuring biometric bias, along with his former MdTF colleague Yevgeniy Sirotin. His work on bias also includes co-authorship of a study released last year on the differentials related to open-source face detectors and another on a colorimetric skin tone scale in 2024.

He posits in a LinkedIn announcement that “Can you prove your AI systems are safe, accurate, and fair?” will be a crucial question coming not just from regulators, but also corporate boards and shareholders, customers and the public.

“Yet there is a growing gap in the marketplace: too few qualified, independent experts who can rigorously test AI systems and translate results into credible, boardroom-ready evidence,” Howard writes.

Article Topics

biometric bias  |  biometric testing  |  biometrics  |  demographic fairness  |  Sensus AI