AI inventory template. The 12 fields every record needs
An AI inventory is the bedrock of every other compliance action. Get the 12 fields right and you can answer any auditor question in one minute.
Why every business needs one
Article 26 of the EU AI Act puts the deployer (the business using an AI system) in charge of keeping the system under control. You cannot control what you cannot see. The AI inventory is the visibility layer. It also feeds your transparency page, your dossier, and your risk classification.
The 12 fields
- Name. A short label your team will recognise. "Website chatbot", "Blog drafting workflow", "Customer support summariser".
- Vendor and model. Who built the underlying AI system, and which model. "OpenAI, gpt-4o", "Anthropic, Claude Sonnet 4.6", "Internal custom model on Hugging Face".
- Category. Chatbot, writing, image generation, voice generation, video generation, design, recommendation, productivity, search, internal automation.
- Purpose. One sentence on what the system does for your business.
- Role. Are you the provider (you built and ship the AI), the deployer (you use someone else's), the distributor, the importer, or the end user?
- Triggers. Tick the boxes: interacts with humans, generates content, deepfake, emotion or biometric. Each tick is an Article 50 obligation.
- Risk tier. Prohibited, high, limited, minimal, or unknown. Output of the Risk Wizard.
- Data types touched. Plain list of what the system sees. "Customer questions and IP address", "Product images", "Internal documents".
- Owner. The internal person responsible. A name and an email.
- User count. How many people use it or are exposed to its output per month. Rough number is fine.
- Status. Active, planned, paused, or sunset.
- Evidence. A link to a screenshot, a contract, or a vendor questionnaire that backs up the entry.
Worked examples
Example A. A website chatbot
| Name | Website chatbot |
| Vendor and model | Intercom Fin (custom Anthropic Claude) |
| Category | Chatbot |
| Purpose | Answers customer questions about menu, hours, allergens |
| Role | Deployer |
| Triggers | Interacts with humans |
| Risk tier | Limited |
| Data types | Customer questions, IP, name if shared |
| Owner | Maria (marketing@acme.bakery) |
| User count | 1,200 / month |
| Status | Active |
| Evidence | screenshots/chatbot-disclosure.png |
Example B. A blog drafting workflow
| Name | Blog drafting workflow |
| Vendor and model | OpenAI ChatGPT (gpt-4o) |
| Category | Writing |
| Purpose | First draft of weekly blog posts, reviewed by marketing |
| Role | Deployer |
| Triggers | Generates content |
| Risk tier | Limited |
| Data types | Public marketing topics, no PII |
| Owner | Maria |
| User count | 4 posts / month, ~3,000 readers |
| Status | Active |
| Evidence | contracts/openai-dpa.pdf |
Example C. An email spam filter
| Name | Inbox spam filter |
| Vendor and model | Google Workspace built-in |
| Category | Productivity |
| Purpose | Filters spam from sales inbox |
| Role | End user only |
| Triggers | None for users |
| Risk tier | Minimal |
| Data types | Inbound email content |
| Owner | Sergiu (ops) |
| User count | 3 inbox users |
| Status | Active |
| Evidence | workspace admin console screenshot |
Where shadow AI hides
Most companies underestimate their AI footprint. Common hidden entries:
- The "rephrase" button inside Grammarly
- Notion AI summarising your meeting notes
- Canva Magic Studio cleaning your social images
- Mailchimp AI subject line scoring
- Calendar app smart scheduling that uses ML
- Loom AI summary of recorded videos
- HubSpot AI lead scoring or content remixer
- Zoom AI Companion notes
- Slack AI summary of unread threads
- Linear or Asana AI status updates
Every one of these is a vendor-provided AI system you deploy. Each one should be one row in your inventory.
How often to refresh
Once a quarter is the practical minimum. Faster if you add a new tool. ActHub keeps a "last updated" timestamp on every row and surfaces it on the dashboard so you can spot stale entries.
Build it now
The fastest way to get an inventory live is to create a free ActHub account, click any of the 35 pre-loaded vendors in the inventory page, fill the gaps, and you are done in about 15 minutes. Or use this article as a free spreadsheet template if you prefer to roll your own.