Leela Putten, Senior Solutions Consultant, Inspired Assurance.
Inspired has appointed Leela Putten as Expert in AI Solutions with the responsibility for spearheading the development of its new AI assurance competency – Inspired Assurance.
The appointment expands Inspired’s ability to help organisations manage AI beyond the testing of individual applications. Putten is maturing an end-to-end assurance approach spanning governance, risk, architecture, operational delivery, education and procurement. For clients, this will provide a single point of entry to assess how AI is introduced, controlled and applied across the IT value stream.
Jacques Fouché, Chief Executive Officer of Inspired, says Putten’s appointment adds an important new dimension to the company’s capabilities.
“We are delighted to welcome Leela to Inspired. Her rare combination of experience in quality engineering, security, performance, innovation and education will strengthen our position at a critical point in the market’s evolution. It also enables us to expand our service portfolio beyond testing into end-to-end AI assurance, helping clients adopt AI with greater confidence, control and clarity.”
“AI is already part of the tools and platforms organisations use every day, so the question is no longer whether to adopt it,” says Putten. “The priority now is to understand the boundaries, put appropriate controls in place and make sure AI is implemented and used responsibly.”
Originally from Mauritius, Putten began her career as a developer and sold her first software product before earning a scholarship to study forensics in Scotland. She moved to South Africa in 2009 and built her career in quality assurance, with a particular focus on security and performance.
Her varied background is central to the new role. Rather than viewing AI assurance as a narrow testing discipline, Putten connects decisions and risks across the technology landscape. The competency is being developed around a framework of nine pillars, designed to help Inspired eventually deliver targeted services across three broad layers: foundational assurance, delivery assurance and enablement assurance.
The foundational layer will consider areas such as governance, architecture, risk and oversight. Delivery assurance will address the practical application of AI in functions including quality engineering, testing, service operations and DevSecOps. Enablement assurance will focus on the knowledge, training and procurement practices organisations need to adopt AI with confidence.
Inspired Assurance’s approach will be grounded in recognised international standards, regulations and defined controls. These will inform the assessments, processes, support models and services created for clients, helping them identify risks involving security, privacy, ethics and human oversight before those risks become embedded in operations.
“The only way to assure something is to compare it against clear controls,” Putten explains. “We are building on established standards and regulatory frameworks, then translating them into practical processes that help clients reduce risk and strengthen trust.”
She believes the timing is significant. As early experimentation gives way to production use, many organisations are discovering that AI’s potential comes with difficult questions about accountability, decision-making and over-dependence. Inspired aims to bring structure to that uncertainty through a full life cycle view, supported where appropriate by specialist partners.
“Many providers specialise in one part of the AI landscape,” says Putten. “Our ambition is to give clients a more complete assurance layer across the life cycle, so they can access the right expertise through one trusted partner.”
Her immediate priorities include expanding the AI assurance readiness checklist and maturity assessment, alongside an internal training plan covering both AI-assisted testing and the testing of AI systems. The work reflects Inspired’s future-focused culture of always asking ‘what’s next?’ while keeping human judgment at the centre of technology decisions.
Putten sees AI as an assistant that can accelerate good work, not a substitute for the experience required to evaluate it.
“Complex thinking, analysis, vetting and authorisation cannot simply be left to AI,” she says. “Human oversight remains essential. We should use AI to challenge and strengthen our thinking, not allow it to replace that thinking.”
