# AI inventory · Glossary
A maintained register of the AI systems, models and AI-enabled services an organisation builds, buys or uses, with each entry recording purpose, owner, data used, risk level and status.
[Glossary](/glossary) · AI governance and risk

# AI inventory

     A maintained register of the AI systems, models and AI-enabled services an organisation builds, buys or uses, with each entry recording purpose, owner, data used, risk level and status. It is the foundation for any AI governance programme.

## Why it matters

     Organisations cannot govern AI they do not know about. AI now arrives through embedded vendor features, staff-adopted tools and internal builds, and each route can introduce data, contractual and regulatory risk.

     An inventory lets leaders answer basic but important questions: where AI influences decisions about people, which suppliers process company data through AI, and which systems would be affected by a new regulation or a model provider’s change of terms.

## In practice

     For example, a UK membership organisation might discover through a short survey and a review of software subscriptions that AI is used in its CRM, its recruitment platform, a marketing tool and several staff-adopted assistants, and record each with an owner and risk tier.

## Where Rodan fits

     Rodan helps organisations establish an inventory and proportionate controls as a first step in [AI and Decision Systems](https://rodan.io/what-we-build/ai-decision-systems) work. See also [what is an AI audit and does your business need one](https://rodan.io/insights/what-is-an-ai-audit-and-does-your-business-need-one).

## Related terms

- [AI governance](/glossary#ai-governance)

- [Shadow AI](/glossary/shadow-ai)

- [Model risk management](/glossary/model-risk-management)

- [EU AI Act](/glossary/eu-ai-act)

- [Model card](/glossary/model-card)

- [ISO/IEC 42001](/glossary/iso-iec-42001)

- [Model registry](/glossary/model-registry)
HTML: https://rodan.io/glossary/ai-inventory