AI Agent Registry
An AI agent registry is a shared, up-to-date record of every AI agent operating in an organization, including who owns it, what it does, what it can access, and how much risk it carries.
As teams build agents on their own, basic questions get hard to answer: how many agents exist, what data they touch, and who is responsible when one fails. Duplicate agents appear, and undocumented dependencies cause failures no one can explain. A registry gives the organization one place to see what exists. It can start as a simple shared spreadsheet.
A registry is often the first practical step in governing agents, because later decisions depend on it. When a new agent is proposed, the registry shows whether something similar already exists. When something breaks, it shows what was connected. It works best when each owner keeps their entries current and reviews happen on a schedule. Many registries also sort agents into risk tiers, such as assistive, workflow, and autonomous, so oversight matches the risk.
Key parts
Name and owner. Who built the agent and who is accountable for it today.
Purpose. What the agent is designed to do, in plain language.
Access and permissions. What it connects to, what it may do, and what is off-limits.
Risk tier. How much oversight it needs, based on what it can affect.
Dependencies. Other agents, processes, or systems that rely on it.
Review date. When it was last checked and when the next review is due.
