AI inventory
AI register · AI system inventory · Agent registry
An AI inventory is the maintained list of the AI systems and agents an organization uses, stating for each one its purpose, its supplier, the data it touches, its users, its owner and its level of risk. Nothing can be proven or governed before this list exists.
What to record
A system or agent discovered in the organization enters the inventory with at least these 5 items, then follows the common regime of rating, autonomy level and named owner:
- The purpose it serves.
- The supplier or team that set it up.
- The data it touches.
- The people who use it.
- The contract that covers it, or the absence of one.
An inventory of systems and an inventory of decisions
Listing systems tells you what is installed. It does not tell you what is being decided. An agent may appear once in the register and take a dozen types of decision, each with its own stakes, so ACF complements the list of systems with a map of decisions, showing who executes, under which rule, who answers and in which state each area stands: governed, still to frame, non-delegable or held by a person. The state that should stand out is "still to frame".
Finding what is missing
Asking departments what they use is not enough, because many tools were never presented as AI. Start from the mapped decisions and ask who took each one this week and by what means. Three signals then point to where to look: a processing time that collapses with no explanation, sudden regularity in work that used to vary with the person, and a modest recurring expense outside any identified project budget. See shadow AI.
Keeping it alive
An inventory is out of date from the moment it is finished unless something feeds it. Tie it to purchasing, to new-contract review and to the activation of new features in existing tools. The OECD reports that organizations are responding to unapproved agents through registers of approved agents.
Frequently asked questions
Does the AI Act require an AI inventory?
It does not impose one under that name on all companies, although several of its duties assume you know your systems: identifying high-risk uses, ensuring oversight, keeping logs. An inventory is the practical starting point.
Should AI features inside existing software be listed?
Yes. A feature activated in a tool you already own is one of the four routes by which AI enters unnoticed, and it may use your data differently from the rest of the software.
Where does your organization stand?
ACF Score measures your agentic governance in about 10 minutes, the AI Act checker tells you which obligations apply, and ACF Control applies your rules before an agent acts.
Related terms
Primary sources
Written by Vincent Dorange, creator of the Agentic Commerce Framework®. Last updated .