How to keep a simple register of the AI tools your company uses

TL;DR — Use a shared spreadsheet as your AI tools register, with one row per tool and fixed columns for owner, purpose, data used, vendor, approval status, and review date. The single biggest reason these registers fail is that nobody owns them, so assign one person to maintain it and add a monthly review date for every row. Reading time: ~5 min

Goal

When you finish, your company will have a shared AI tools register that anyone authorized can open, with a complete list of AI tools in use or under trial, who owns each one, what data goes into it, whether it is approved, and when it must be reviewed next.

Prerequisites

• A shared spreadsheet tool your team already uses, such as Google Sheets, Microsoft Excel Online, or another office suite with shared editing
• Edit access to that shared spreadsheet location
• A person who will own the register, such as an operations lead, security lead, or team manager
• A list of the AI tools you already know about, including browser-based tools, plugins, copilots, chatbots, transcription tools, image generators, and API-based services (API = a way software talks to another service)
• About 30 minutes to create the first version
• Optional: access to your company password manager, procurement records, or expense system to help find tools already in use

Steps

Step 1: Create the shared register file

In your shared document tool, create a new spreadsheet named exactly:

AI Tools Register

If your tool supports folders, place it in your shared operations, security, or compliance folder. If you need a menu path, use your provider's dashboard, for example:

Shared Drive or Team Files → New → Spreadsheet

What you should see when this succeeds: a blank spreadsheet named AI Tools Register that your chosen owner can edit.

Step 2: Add the exact column headers

In row 1, paste these headers from cell A1 onward:

Tool name,Vendor,URL,Team owner,Named business owner,Purpose,How people access it,Data entered,Personal data?,Confidential company data?,Customer data?,Approval status,Approved by,Date approved,Contract in place?,Free or paid,Number of users,SSO enabled?,MFA enabled?,API used?,Browser extension/app/plugin?,Risk notes,Review date,Last updated

Then freeze the top row using your spreadsheet menu. In most tools this is:

View → Freeze → 1 row

What you should see when this succeeds: row 1 stays visible while you scroll, and each column has a clear label.

Step 3: Turn the sheet into a usable register

Set the following fixed values using dropdown lists (dropdown = a cell with pre-set choices). Create them in the whole column, not one cell at a time.

Use these exact values:

Approval status: Approved, Trial, Blocked, Retired
Personal data?: Yes, No, Unknown
Confidential company data?: Yes, No, Unknown
Customer data?: Yes, No, Unknown
Contract in place?: Yes, No, Unknown
Free or paid: Free, Paid, Unknown
SSO enabled?: Yes, No, Unknown, Not available
MFA enabled?: Yes, No, Unknown, Not available
API used?: Yes, No, Unknown
Browser extension/app/plugin?: Yes, No

If your spreadsheet supports filters, turn them on for row 1. In most tools this is:

Data → Create a filter

What you should see when this succeeds: small filter arrows appear in the header row, and the status and yes/no columns offer dropdown choices.

Step 4: Add the first rows using the exact format below

Add one row per AI tool. Copy this example table into the sheet starting on row 2, then replace the sample values with your real tools.

Use dates in this exact format:

YYYY-MM-DD

What you should see when this succeeds: each AI tool has its own row, and you can sort or filter by status, owner, or review date.

Step 5: Add a simple ownership rule at the top of the sheet

In cell A30 or in a second tab named Instructions, paste this exact text:

Owner of this register: [Full name]
Update rule: add a row before any new AI tool trial starts.
Review rule: every row must have a Review date.
Approval rule: tools using customer data, personal data, or confidential company data cannot be marked Approved until reviewed by the named approver.
Retirement rule: when a tool is no longer used, set Approval status to Retired and keep the row.

Replace [Full name] with the real owner.

What you should see when this succeeds: anyone opening the file can tell who maintains it and how to use it.

Step 6: Capture the tools you already have

Use the sources you already have access to and add every AI tool you find as a row. Start with these places:

1. Browser bookmarks or shared links
2. Finance or expense records for AI subscriptions
3. IT or admin list of approved apps
4. Team leads' current tool lists
5. Password manager entries for AI vendors
6. API keys list in your cloud or developer portal

For each tool you find, enter literal values in the register. If you do not know an answer, enter:

Unknown

Do not leave cells blank except Approved by and Date approved for tools that are still in Trial or Blocked.

What you should see when this succeeds: the sheet contains your current AI tools, not just the ones people remember first.

Step 7: Add a monthly review routine

Create a recurring calendar event with this exact title:

Review AI Tools Register

Set it to recur monthly and invite:

Register owner, security or compliance contact, IT/admin contact, and team managers who own tools

In the calendar description, paste:

Review rows with Review date due this month.
Update Last updated for every changed row.
Set unused tools to Retired.
Add any new AI trials started since last review.

What you should see when this succeeds: a monthly meeting or reminder exists, and the register has a clear maintenance cycle.

Verify it works

Check these four things end to end:

1. Open the spreadsheet and confirm it is shared with the people who need to maintain it.
2. Filter the Approval status column and confirm you can see tools grouped as Approved, Trial, Blocked, and Retired.
3. Filter the Review date column and confirm every active row has a date in YYYY-MM-DD format.
4. Pick one known AI tool your company uses and confirm there is exactly one row for it with a named owner and a Last updated date.

A working result looks like this:

- Shared file exists: Yes
- One row per AI tool: Yes
- Every active tool has an owner: Yes
- Every active tool has a review date: Yes
- Status values are consistent: Yes

Common pitfalls

People track only approved tools

Mistake: the register includes only tools that already passed review.

Symptom: shadow AI use (unofficial use of AI tools) stays invisible, and you discover tools only after an incident or invoice appears.

Fix: add Trial and Blocked rows too; enter every tool in use or under evaluation, not just approved ones.

Blank cells hide risk

Mistake: people leave unknown answers empty.

Symptom: filters and reports miss important gaps, and nobody can tell whether data use was checked.

Fix: enter Unknown as the literal value anywhere the answer is not yet confirmed.

One tool appears multiple times

Mistake: different teams add separate rows for the same vendor tool without agreeing on one owner.

Symptom: conflicting statuses, duplicate reviews, and confusion about who approves changes.

Fix: keep one row per tool instance used by the company; if one tool has different uses, describe them in Purpose and Risk notes or add a second row only when the data exposure is genuinely different.

The register has no owner

Mistake: the file is shared widely, but nobody is responsible for updates.

Symptom: review dates pass, rows become stale, and the register stops being trusted.

Fix: put one named owner in the instructions section and add the monthly recurring review event.

Retired tools get deleted

Mistake: old rows are removed when a tool is no longer used.

Symptom: you lose audit history and cannot answer when the tool was used or by whom.

Fix: keep the row and set Approval status to Retired with an updated Last updated date.

This article was written by an AI system and published pending human review. Verify anything you intend to act on.