AI tool approval form

AI tool approval form

A guide to collecting owner, use-case, data, vendor, and review information before approving a new AI tool at work.

Buyer

IT, security, operations, AI committees, and department heads

Problem

AI tools are approved through informal conversations without a durable record of use case, data exposure, owner, restrictions, or review date.

What to look for

• Fields for owner, department, use case, users, data category, vendor evidence, decision, and review date.
• Approval states such as approved, approved with restrictions, pilot only, pending evidence, blocked, and retired.
• Escalation rules for customer data, employee data, regulated data, source code, or automated decisions.

Red flags

• The form asks for the tool name but not data categories.
• Nobody owns the tool after approval.
• There is no review date or retirement status for tools that stop being used.

Implementation steps

1. Start with a short form that asks for owner, use case, user group, data category, output use, and launch date.
2. Add an AI tools register with statuses such as approved, restricted, pilot only, pending evidence, blocked, and retired.
3. Require deeper review when tools touch customer data, employee data, regulated data, source code, credentials, or automated decisions.
4. Attach vendor evidence links to each approved or restricted tool.
5. Review active AI tools at least quarterly and retire tools that no longer have an owner.

Template preview

Use note

Approval forms do not replace security, privacy, legal, or procurement review for sensitive use cases. They create a structured intake record so the right reviewers can act.

FAQ