AI Inventory

An enterprise needs a shared population of the AI it recognizes before it can reliably assign accountability or coordinate governance. The inventory answers what each AI Object is, its purpose, where it is used and its organizational context. Where relevant, it can also connect the object to an Owner and a lifecycle or governance state without prescribing one mandatory schema for every organization.

AI Discovery identifies potential or previously unknown AI usage and objects. AI Visibility provides organizational understanding of what AI exists and where governance attention is required, including Shadow AI. AI Inventory maintains the structured view of AI Objects known to the organization.

The functional relationship is Observation → AI Item → AI Object → Owner → Review / Decision → Actions → Governance Record. Observations and AI Items are inputs to qualification, not governed AI Objects or Governance Records. Several observations may concern the same AI Object. Inventory maintains that object’s existing identity; it does not create a second identity or parallel registry.

AI Ownership connects each governed AI Object to an AI Owner: the person accountable for the governance of that AI Object. Reviews can lead to Decisions and Actions, with relevant activity preserved in a Governance Record.

AI Registry is an overlapping market term, not a separate Alterlayer governance inventory. A model registry tracks technical model artifacts and versions; it does not by itself establish organizational ownership, reviews and governance decisions. The AI Asset Registry resource addresses the narrower asset-record intent. Neither technical registration nor an asset catalogue substitutes for the maintained governance context of AI Objects.

An AI agent may be governed as an AI Object in the same AI Inventory. AI Agent Governance applies enterprise AI governance to agents, including accountability, lifecycle, activity and appropriate oversight. An Enterprise Agent Record is an extension of AI Object[type=AGENT]: agent-specific governance context belongs to the same governed object and identity, rather than a separate registry data model.

An Enterprise AI Agent Registry is the enterprise-governed population or view of agents within its AI Inventory. It answers which agents the organization recognizes, where they are used and what their current ownership, purpose and governance context are. AI Inventory is broader, maintaining other types of AI Objects alongside agents. An Agent Identity Registry is identity and trust infrastructure for resolving identifiers, credentials or trust metadata across agents. AI Agent Lookup is a public metadata tool; supported public metadata does not establish enterprise approval, ownership or delegated authority. AI Agent Identity distinguishes one persistent agent. These meanings do not require a parallel enterprise inventory, and Alterlayer does not operate a universal authoritative public agent registry.

An AI Inventory is not merely a discovery scan, a list of Observations, a static spreadsheet, a software catalogue, a model registry, an agent registry or a compliance checklist. Technical inventories and authorized source records can supply useful context; qualification and maintained governance context make identified AI Objects usable for ownership and review.

An AI Inventory is maintained rather than created once. AI Objects may progress through identification, qualification, ownership, review, governance decisions, changes, exceptions and retirement. AI Governance Operations maintains this work as context changes. Relevant governance activity contributes to the object’s Governance Record, which preserves history while Inventory maintains current context.

AI Inventory is part of the AI Governance foundation, not a new standalone product. The AI Visibility Assessment provides a bounded diagnostic and data baseline. Managed AI Governance supports ongoing governance operations. The AI Inventory Platform page explains the existing operational capability.