Here’s what House of the Dragon can teach you about AI strategy

It’s a tale as old as time.

You tune into the big budget show about dragons and tyrants and your job in tech suddenly makes a lot more sense.

If you’ve been watching the new season of House of the Dragon, you’ll know the term ‘protector of the realm’.

They’re kings, queens, or trusted governors: the ones responsible for the realm’s safety, ensuring laws are followed, and the medieval machinery of state ticks over.

Back in Game of Thrones, ‘protector of the realm’ Ned Stark had his head chopped off and everything famously took a nosedive from there.

I’d argue this is a lesson in AI strategy.

At my company, Aiimi, we use this very same term - ‘protectors of the realm’ - to talk about the role of IT, Legal, and Compliance in operationalizing AI projects .

But too often, businesses treat these governance functions as friction.

Whilst there aren’t any dragons for them to slay, these departments are there to protect your information and your systems - and above all, keep your company out of harm’s way.

Guardians or gatekeepers? Despite the work these departments do protecting companies from hefty fines and data breaches, I see an awful lot of corporate windbagging about how these departments bottleneck projects behind lengthy consultations, caveats, and due diligence.

The criticism is that they slow projects down.

The reality is that they’re the difference between a fantasy strategy and a functioning one.

Ignore their counsel, and the whole structure gets weaker.

Legal ensures AI tools follow information laws like GDPR and the new Data (Use and Access) Act 2025, so these systems only touch the data they’re meant to.