An AI register is an authoritative inventory of AI use cases, models, and services inside an organization. It records key details such as business purpose, owner, data sources, deployment status, risk tier, and review cadence. Unlike a simple project list, it is meant to support operational oversight and accountability throughout the AI lifecycle.
In cyber security, an AI register matters because unmanaged AI can become shadow AI: systems that process sensitive data, make decisions, or call external services without proper approval or monitoring. A complete register helps security teams apply access control, logging, vendor review, and incident response to the right systems. It also makes it easier to spot risky use cases before they reach production, such as tools with broad data access or limited human review. In defense programs, the register is the control point that ties governance policy to real technical assets.