AI model inventory
An AI model inventory tracks all artificial intelligence models within an organization to ensure governance, compliance, and transparency.
What is an AI model inventory?
An AI model inventory is a structured catalog that documents key details about each artificial intelligence system, including its purpose, data sources, risk level, and ownership. It helps organizations maintain visibility across the AI lifecycle, supporting accountability and compliance with emerging regulations. Maintaining an AI model inventory is a core component of effective AI Governance and Model Risk Management, enabling organizations to map risks, ensure traceability, and manage regulatory obligations efficiently.
Why an AI model inventory matters
For enterprises using multiple AI systems, maintaining a clear inventory ensures consistency, reduces duplication, and helps teams identify potential risks early. It also supports ethical AI development by making model ownership and performance data transparent.
Under frameworks such as the EU AI Act and GDPR, organizations are expected to maintain documentation of AI systems, including classification, intended use, and compliance status. A robust inventory provides this documentation in one accessible place, helping demonstrate accountability to regulators, customers, and internal stakeholders.
Without an inventory, organizations risk losing oversight of their AI assets, creating compliance gaps and increasing the potential for model drift or misuse.
How an AI model inventory is used in practice
- Cataloging all AI models across departments to improve visibility and compliance tracking.
- Documenting model metadata such as training data, risk tier, and version history.
- Integrating inventory management with governance tools for lifecycle monitoring.
- Aligning inventories with EU AI Act risk classifications and transparency requirements.
- Enabling cross-functional collaboration between data, privacy, and legal teams to manage AI assets.
Related laws & standards
How OneTrust helps with an AI model inventory
OneTrust helps organizations build and maintain AI model inventories by providing:
- Configurable templates to catalog model metadata and risk tiers
- Centralized dashboards to track ownership, performance, and lifecycle status
- Integratin with AI governance workflows for compliance alignment
- Collaboration tools for privacy, legal, and engineering teams
- Evidence management to support audit readiness and transparency reporting
With OneTrust, organizations can achieve full visibility across their AI ecosystem, streamline regulatory compliance, and strengthen trust in responsible AI development.
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FAQs about an AI model inventory
An AI model inventory focuses on internal documentation and lifecycle management, while an AI Registry is typically a public or regulatory-facing disclosure of high-risk AI systems.
Responsibility is shared across data science, privacy, compliance, and risk teams, often led by an AI governance or model risk management function.
The inventory helps organizations classify models by risk level, document intended use, and maintain traceability—key obligations under the EU AI Act’s governance requirements.
