AI system inventory
An AI system inventory (or AI registry) is a maintained record of every AI system an organization builds, buys, or uses — the foundational artifact that makes AI governance, risk assessment, and compliance possible.
You cannot govern what you cannot see. An AI inventory captures, for each system: its purpose, owner, data sources, vendor, risk classification, and lifecycle status. It is the first step in nearly every framework — ISO/IEC 42001, the NIST AI RMF, and EU AI Act readiness all assume you know what AI you run.
A good inventory also surfaces [shadow AI](/glossary/shadow-ai) — tools adopted by teams without central approval — and links each system to its assessments, controls, and evidence.
Kept in a spreadsheet, an inventory goes stale the day it is created. Valdra (valdra.ai) maintains a living AI inventory and registry, tying each system to its risk assessment, controls, and audit trail so governance stays current.
