Source: https://www.thetechstack.com/guides/inventory-your-ai-stack Author: Kyle Brierley Author profile: https://www.thetechstack.com/authors/kyle-brierley Editor: Not specified Editor profile: Not specified Publisher: TheTechStack (https://www.thetechstack.com) Published: Not specified Updated: Not specified Suggested citation: [Kyle Brierley](https://www.thetechstack.com/authors/kyle-brierley). [Take stock of your AI tools](https://www.thetechstack.com/guides/inventory-your-ai-stack). TheTechStack. Retain the source qualifications. Cite the original article and link the credited author profile where available. An editor is not necessarily the author. [Decision guides](https://www.thetechstack.com/guides) / take stock # Before adding another AI tool, take stock of what you have. By [Kyle Brierley](https://www.thetechstack.com/authors/kyle-brierley) Start with one team. List the AI tools people use, what work they use them for, and who can answer for how each one is configured. Include AI features inside products you already pay for. ## Bring the inventory to your next team review The blank worksheet has a short overview and a repeatable record for each tool and workflow. Download it, keep it in your own workspace, and fill in what you can verify. [Download the AI stack inventory (.md) →](https://www.thetechstack.com/resources/ai-stack-inventory.md) No signup or upload. Keep credentials and sensitive company details out of anything you share publicly. [See a completed inventory for a fictional four-tool team →](https://www.thetechstack.com/guides/ai-stack-inventory-example) Follow the evidence gaps, owners, and keep, investigate, compare, or retire decisions. ## List the workflow as well as the product One product can serve several teams with different permissions and review steps. Give each distinct setup its own record. “Support response drafting” tells the next reviewer more than a vendor name alone. Ask the people doing the work, then compare their answers with the tool owner and available admin or purchasing records. Mark gaps as unknown and assign someone to check them. A missing answer is still useful when it has an owner. ## Follow the access and the actions Record what information the tool can read and what it can change or send. Note whether it uses an individual’s permissions or a shared service account, where approval happens, and who can disconnect it. Add the evidence and date checked so a future reviewer knows what the record is based on. ### Illustration: two tools that both draft answers A general assistant and a helpdesk assistant may appear to overlap. But one may require staff to paste context manually, while the other reads approved help articles and prepares a draft inside a ticket. Before consolidating them, compare access, reviewer effort, and the workflow that would have to change. This is a fictional comparison, not a claim about a particular product. ## Put cost beside the work it supports Separate license charges, usage charges, setup effort, and ongoing review. Record the period and currency. If a capability comes with an existing subscription, note that rather than assigning it a made-up standalone price. Keep measured spending separate from estimates. Flag possible overlap for investigation. Similar features alone don’t establish that a tool is redundant. Before removing one, name the workflows and integrations that depend on it and check what data or configuration needs to be retained. ## Leave with a next action For each record, choose the next step: keep and review, investigate a gap, compare alternatives, or plan retirement. Name the owner and next review date. The inventory records what you know; it doesn’t certify that a tool is safe or approved. [Compare implementation paths](https://www.thetechstack.com/guides/build-buy-or-extend) when a gap needs a new capability. Use the [Workbench](https://www.thetechstack.com/workbench) to plan a bounded pilot, then [record the evaluation evidence](https://www.thetechstack.com/guides/evaluate-an-ai-pilot) before expanding it. [Kyle Brierley](https://www.thetechstack.com/authors/kyle-brierley) · Founder, TheTechStack Research and drafting use AI assistance. Kyle is responsible for editorial direction and corrections. Source-backed observations, recommendations, and proposed tests are identified separately. [About Kyle and more of his research →](https://www.thetechstack.com/authors/kyle-brierley)