An AI register is useful only if it helps people make decisions. A list of tools and owners may be a starting point, but management usually needs more context than that.
1. What is the organisation actually using AI for?
The important unit is not just the product. It is the organisational use: what the AI is doing, why the organisation is using it, who is affected and how the output is used.
2. Who is accountable?
Every material use should have a clear business owner. Technical, privacy, security, legal or people specialists may also be involved, but accountability should not disappear into a committee.
3. What data, people and decisions are involved?
A useful register makes it possible to understand whether the use involves personal or sensitive information, vulnerable people, important decisions, external suppliers or autonomous actions.
4. What has been reviewed and approved?
The register should connect to assessments, controls, evidence, approval decisions and conditions. Otherwise it shows inventory without assurance.
5. What has changed?
AI governance becomes stale quickly if the organisation cannot see material changes to purpose, data, supplier, model, autonomy or deployment.
6. What should management see?
The register should support a clear view of exceptions: missing owners, overdue reviews, unresolved controls, incidents, material changes and use cases requiring attention.