TISAX audit 2026/27: ISA2027, effort, AI leverage

TL;DR. The new assessment catalogue ISA2027 was published on July 1, 2026. It applies to every TISAX assessment ordered from January 1, 2027. If you order in 2026, you are assessed against ISA 6. The real change is the rhythm: the catalogue now comes out every year, and the gap analysis between two versions becomes a recurring task. The effort of audit preparation sits less in the audit itself than in collecting the evidence. That is exactly where AI helps, as a suggestion system that cites its sources. The judgement on maturity and residual risk stays with the information security officer.

What TISAX really requires in 2026/27

TISAX is neither a law nor a control framework of its own. It is an assessment and exchange mechanism of the automotive industry, run by the ENX Association. Its basis is the VDA ISA catalogue (Information Security Assessment), a maturity test on a set of controls closely aligned with ISO 27001. If you process information with protection needs on behalf of carmakers or suppliers, your contracts will ask for it. Without a valid label in the ENX portal, many orders simply do not happen.

The catalogue has three modules. In the current ISA2027 workbook (version 2027.1) we counted 46 controls on information security, 20 on prototype protection and 12 on data protection, 78 in total. Each control is assessed for a maturity level, not just for whether a document exists.

Since ISA 6, the confidentiality labels are called “Confidential” and “Strictly Confidential”, the availability labels “High Availability” and “Very High Availability”. ENX converted the old labels “Info High” and “Info Very High” automatically. They remain valid until they expire. A label is valid for up to three years. Assessments come in three assessment levels:

AL 3 is the hard case. If you handle prototypes, pre-series parts or test vehicles, or process strictly confidential data, you cannot avoid it. Only accredited audit providers may assess, for example TÜV NORD, DEKRA or DQS.

ISA2027 is out: what changes

On July 1, 2026, ten years after the first TISAX participants, ENX published the successor to ISA 6. The version logic changes with it. Instead of running numbers such as 5.1 or 6.0, the catalogue now carries the year from which it applies. There will be no “ISA 7”. New editions usually come out in summer and become mandatory on January 1 of the following year. ISA2028 is announced for summer 2027.

What that means in practice:

• The order date decides. Assessments ordered by the end of 2026 run against ISA 6. If you order from January 1, 2027, you are assessed against ISA2027.
• No panic about existing labels. They keep their full validity of up to three years. The new annual rhythm does not force an early re-assessment.
• Prototype protection reorganised. Five control groups become two: organisational requirements and physical security. According to the change history, six controls are new, among them traceability of protected vehicles and components across their life cycle and disposal, recycling or return as the customer requires. For AL 3 candidates this is the biggest piece of work.
• References updated. The mappings to the NIST Cybersecurity Framework 2.0 and to ISO/IEC 27001:2022 have been revised. All references to the old ISO 27001:2013 are gone.
• Stricter on suppliers. With high protection needs, companies must document, review and monitor their suppliers’ security. With very high protection needs, suppliers must prove it through a TISAX label, an equivalent third-party assessment or a supplier audit.
• Clearer terms. “Project” is defined more broadly, events and incidents are separated more cleanly. Security training now explicitly targets senior management as well (control 2.1.3).
• Some duties tightened. In control 1.1.1 a “should” becomes a “must”: policies have to be available to staff in a suitable form, for example on the intranet.

Consulting blogs quote differing numbers on how many controls have changed. The only reliable source is the official workbook with its change history. If you update your mappings, work against that file, not against summaries.

For audit preparation, the annual rhythm is the real news. The gap analysis between two catalogue versions used to come up every few years. Now it comes every summer. That is structured legwork, and exactly the kind an AI assistant can prepare before a person makes the call.

Where the effort sits: four bottlenecks

• Evidence mapping between VDA ISA and your ISMS. The controls do not line up one to one with Annex A of ISO 27001. Control 1.2.1, for instance, asks how information security is managed within the organisation. The workbook points to clauses 4 and 9.3 of ISO 27001:2022 and to nine subcategories of NIST CSF 2.0. Finding the right documents and sections for every control costs experienced people many hours before the first assessment day begins.
• Gap analysis between ISA versions. The step to ISA 6 brought a rewritten data protection part, 4 controls became 12. It also put more weight on availability and added references to ISO 27001:2022. ISA2027 follows with reorganised prototype protection. From now on this exercise repeats every year.
• Consolidating three years of evidence. Auditors want to see that measures work over time: logs, reviews, test reports, penetration tests, training records. In practice these artefacts are scattered across SharePoint, Confluence, Jira and mailboxes. Pulling them together is the most thankless job.
• Prototype protection (AL 3 only). The 20 controls in chapter 8 cover security concepts, access to security areas, screening from view, visitor rules, the handling of cameras and image material and, new, traceability. Much of this is lived practice that first has to be made documentable.

How the assistant works

An AI assistant for TISAX preparation is not an autopilot. It is a three-stage pipeline in which every statement carries a source reference and a confidence score, and a person confirms.

1. Corpus ingestion. All sources are indexed continuously: SharePoint, Confluence, file shares, IT service management tickets, penetration test reports. The pipeline recognises versions and reviews.
2. Semantic control mapping. For each control, the assistant proposes the five best-matching pieces of evidence, each with a confidence score. The information security officer accepts, corrects or adds. Confirmed items go into the evidence matrix.
3. Gap analysis and auditor pack. Where no sufficient evidence is found, the assistant describes the gap and suggests measures. The result is a package for the audit provider, sorted by the structure of the catalogue.

The model calculation: measure first, then believe

Many vendors quote percentages for the time AI saves. We have not found independent confirmation of any of them. A sound calculation can therefore only be built from your own numbers. The method is simple:

1. Count the scope. A site with a “Strictly Confidential” label is assessed against the 46 information security controls. Add prototypes and it is 66. With “Special Data” it is all 78.
2. Record today’s effort per control. How many hours did mapping, finding evidence and closing gaps take in your last assessment? A rough estimate per chapter is enough.
3. Prepare a slice with the assistant. Five to ten controls; measure the time and the share of suggestions the information security officer accepts unchanged.
4. Extrapolate and cross-check. Only then is a statement about weeks and hours worth making.

The most important number is not the time saved. It is the number of controls with a complete chain of evidence. That decides whether an AL 3 assessment passes without major findings. The recurring pattern in AL 3 preparations: the re-certification would be possible without AI, but not within a quarter, not without outside help, and with more open items in the tracker.

ISO 27001:2022 as the foundation, and the expired 2013 bridge

A certified ISMS under ISO/IEC 27001 is the best groundwork for the TISAX information security module. The workbook shows this clearly. Every control has a column “Reference to other standards”, and 44 of the 46 information security controls point to ISO 27001:2022 there. The controls on prototype protection and data protection carry no such reference.

So three things lie outside the ISO world and must be built separately: prototype protection, the data protection module and the TISAX maturity model. It wants to see not only that a measure exists, but that it is practised and effective.

Since October 31, 2025 there has been a hard edge. On that day the three-year transition period of the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) ended. Certificates under the old ISO 27001:2013 have been invalid since then, regardless of the expiry date printed on them. A transition audit is no longer possible. If you missed the switch, you go through an initial certification against the 2022 edition. For TISAX this means a 2013 certificate no longer counts as evidence. ISA2027 draws the consequence and has removed every reference to it.

NIS2 on top: build once, use twice

Germany’s NIS2 implementation act has been in force since December 6, 2025. The obligations now sit in the new BSI Act (BSIG). They do not only concern operators of critical infrastructure. In the covered sectors, an entity counts as “important” if it has at least 50 employees, or more than €10 million in annual turnover and more than €10 million in annual balance sheet total (section 28 BSIG). Manufacturing of motor vehicles and vehicle parts is one of these sectors. That brings in many companies in the supply chain that need a TISAX label anyway.

The good news: the requirements overlap heavily. If you run an ISMS fit for TISAX, you have already addressed a large part of the technical and organisational NIS2 duties. Risk management, technical and organisational measures, continuity and incident processes can be backed by the same evidence. Built properly once, used twice.

What TISAX does not cover has to be organised on top:

• Registration with the BSI. It is due within three months, through the BSI portal and a company account with an ELSTER certificate. By September 30, 2026, according to the BSI, 20,141 entities had registered in the portal.
• Reporting duties. A significant security incident needs an early report within 24 hours, a follow-up within 72 hours and a final report one month later at the latest.
• Duties of management. Management must implement and oversee the measures, take part in training regularly, and is liable for breaches of duty (section 38 BSIG).

The tool landscape and an honest view of AI

There are plenty of GRC platforms with a TISAX module and AI promises. Many advertise automatic evidence mapping and full catalogue coverage. The honest view: so far these are vendor claims. To this day we have not found an independent study on how well AI works in TISAX preparation. Anyone who says otherwise is selling.

AI can be justified on solid grounds for three tasks:

• Finding evidence across scattered sources: SharePoint, Confluence, ticket systems, mailboxes.
• Naming gaps between what a control requires and the evidence you have.
• Checking the package for completeness and contradictions before it goes to the audit provider.

The maturity judgement and the conversation with the auditor stay out of reach for AI. And because wrongly mapped evidence costs more in an audit than missing evidence, every machine mapping needs a source reference, a confidence score and confirmation by a person. That is exactly why the assistant described above is built as a suggestion system.

FAQ: the most common questions about the TISAX audit

Who needs TISAX at all?

Every company that processes information with protection needs on behalf of carmakers or suppliers, from CAD data to project documents to prototypes. TISAX is not a law, it is required by contract.

How long is a TISAX label valid?

Up to three years. The new annual rhythm of the catalogues does not change that. You are assessed against the version that was mandatory when the assessment was ordered.

When does ISA2027 apply?

To all assessments ordered from January 1, 2027. Orders placed by the end of 2026 run against ISA 6. Existing labels keep their remaining validity.

Does an ISO 27001 certificate replace the TISAX assessment?

No. It is the best groundwork, as 44 of the 46 information security controls reference ISO 27001:2022. But maturity, prototype protection and data protection are only assessed by TISAX. And since October 31, 2025 only a certificate under the 2022 edition counts.

How long does a TISAX audit take?

ENX publishes no official figure. The duration depends on the assessment level, the number of sites and the labels. Plan the preparation in months, not weeks, and ask your audit provider early about available slots.

What does NIS2 have to do with TISAX?

Both require similar technical and organisational measures, and the same ISMS evidence serves both. NIS2’s own duties remain registration with the BSI, the reporting deadlines and the duties of management.

What stays human

• Risk assessment and acceptance. Whether a residual risk is acceptable is decided by the information security officer. The AI provides options, not a verdict.
• Talking to the auditor. Explaining why a requirement is implemented differently in your company than the catalogue describes takes experience and industry knowledge.
• Staff awareness. These controls are met by lived practice, not by a document. The assistant only helps with the evidence.
• Physical security (AL 3). Prototype protection and access concepts are assessed on site. The assistant organises the evidence but does not replace a walk-through.

The view from the management table

TISAX re-certification is not a strategy project. It is the licence to work in the automotive industry. If you delay it or fail the AL 3 assessment, you lose orders. With the annual ISA rhythm and the NIS2 duties, it also becomes a permanent task. An assistant that finds evidence and prepares the gaps moves the work to where it belongs: to human judgement.

What you should do now:

1. Fix the order date. Before or after January 1, 2027 decides whether you are assessed against ISA 6 or ISA2027.
2. Download the ISA2027 workbook and hold its change history against your previous self-assessment. Start with prototype protection.
3. Check your ISO certificate. Only one under ISO 27001:2022 still counts as evidence.
4. Think NIS2 alongside. Sort out registration, reporting channels and management training, using the same evidence as for TISAX.
5. Measure a slice. Prepare five to ten controls with AI support and record time and hit rate before you extrapolate.

TISAX, ENX and VDA ISA are trademarks of the ENX Association and the VDA respectively. If you would like to go through where an assistant helps in your preparation and where it does not, we are happy to talk.