AI Risk Register for SMB Operations
Create a practical risk register that links each AI risk to owner, impact, likelihood, controls, fallback, and review cadence.
Fill this onlineTemplate preview
The exact sections inside the download.
Frame the operating decision
Could sensitive, stale, or unauthorized data enter or leave the workflow? Could the AI influence a high-impact decision without enough review? Use the combined view to name the business outcome, source of truth, and owner who will decide whether to proceed.
Set the control boundary
Could the AI send, draft, or shape customer-facing content incorrectly? Could operations fail if the model, tool, or integration is unavailable? State the risk to avoid, review or escalation route, and record needed to keep the workflow controlled.
Commit to the first move
Could exceptions fall between teams or remain unreviewed? Which risk deserves immediate mitigation? Record the smallest safe scope, baseline, owner, evidence, decision date, and next action.
Decision summary
Which risk deserves immediate mitigation? What policy, permission, review, tool, or fallback reduces the risk? Summarize the proposed move, operating benefit, and the evidence that supports it.
Evidence and control
What risk remains after the control is in place? State the source, review boundary, accountable owner, and condition that would require revision or pause. Keep the decision receipt with the workflow record.
Next review
Record the decision owner, evidence source, review date, and the explicit condition to scale, revise, defer, or stop. Confirm how the resulting decision will be communicated, implemented, and retained in the operating record.
01 / 03
Frame the decision
Name the real operating need before designing a solution.
Name the workflow, tool, agent, assistant, or automation being tracked.
Customer work, finance, HR, operations, sales, reporting, or document workflow.
Name who is accountable for monitoring and mitigation.
How to use it
Start with one real decision.
Complete the canvas with the workflow owner, then use the blank areas to expose missing context and controls.