AI model catalog and inventory: what IAM teams need to govern

TL;DR: AI model catalogs help teams find and reuse AI assets, while inventories create accountability for what runs, who owns it, and how risky it is, according to Collibra. Agents belong in both views, but unifying discovery and governance records is what keeps audits, oversight, and reuse from drifting apart.

NHIMG editorial — based on content published by Collibra: AI model catalog vs. AI model inventory: What's the difference (and where agents fit)

Questions worth separating out

Q: How should organisations structure AI model catalogs and inventories?

A: Organisations should use the catalog as a discovery layer and the inventory as the authoritative accountability layer.

Q: Why do AI agents need to appear in both the catalog and the inventory?

A: Agents need both views because they are reusable assets and governed actors at the same time.

Q: When does a catalog become a governance risk?

A: A catalog becomes a governance risk when teams treat findability as proof of approval.

Practitioner guidance

• Define separate catalog and inventory use cases Use the catalog for discovery, reuse, and builder efficiency.
• Require a shared record model Build both views from one underlying registry so metadata entered once can support both reuse and oversight.
• Track agents as governed actors List each agent in the inventory with ownership, data access, tool permissions, and review status.

What's in the full article

Collibra's full blog post covers the operational detail this post intentionally leaves for the source:

• The article's side-by-side field comparison for catalog and inventory records, useful when mapping AI asset metadata to governance workflows.
• The practical examples of where agents belong in both views, which helps teams decide how to structure AI governance records.
• The explanation of why a unified registry can support both discovery and oversight without duplicating records.
• The FAQ detail on whether a registry, catalog, and inventory are the same thing in practice.

👉 Read Collibra's analysis of AI model catalogs, inventories, and agents →

AI model catalog and inventory: what IAM teams need to govern?

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