---
title: "Before you build, check what you already pay for: AI inventory"
slug: inventario-ia-que-ya-pagas
lang: en
situation: comprar
format: plantilla
minutes: 15
video: 3
updated: 2026-10-19
---

# Before you build, check what you already pay for: AI inventory

> For IT, operations or finance managers with scattered licences who want to know what AI they already have before approving that someone builds another one.

## When to use it

- Your team wants to build a chatbot, an assistant or an automation with AI.
- Every area pays for its own tool and nobody has the complete list.
- A renewal is due and you suspect another licence already does the same thing.

## The sheet

One row per tool the company pays for today. Many sales and customer-service systems already ship with AI, and nobody switched it on.

| Tool | Who pays | AI features already included | Switched on? | Duplicates | Decision |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| [name] | [area or cost centre] | [summaries, drafting, classification, chat, search] | Yes / No / Not sure | [another tool on this list] | Keep / Consolidate / Cancel |
| | | | | | |
| | | | | | |
| | | | | | |
| | | | | | |

Illustrative example: "Sales CRM · Sales · call summaries and email drafts · No · duplicates the assistant Marketing pays for · Consolidate".

Before approving a build, three questions in this order:

1. Can something we already pay for do it? Check the "AI features already included" column.
2. If not, is there a product that already solves it? If the problem is common, buying is faster than building.
3. Does this process make us different from competitors? Only then is building worth it.

There is a fourth option: wait. If you do not have the data yet, waiting is also a decision.

## How to fill it in 15 minutes

1. Ask finance for the list of software subscriptions from the last quarter. It is more complete than any manager's memory.
2. For each tool, open its release notes or ask the vendor which AI features your plan includes. Write them down even if nobody uses them.
3. Mark "Switched on?" honestly. "Not sure" is a valid answer and the most common one.
4. Fill "Duplicates" by reading the features column top to bottom. Two tools that summarise meetings are a duplicate.
5. Decide per row: keep, consolidate or cancel. If you cannot decide, write who can and by when.
6. The most common mistake: listing only the "AI tools". The AI you already pay for usually sits inside the sales, support or payroll system, not in a separate tool.

## The line that is almost always missing

The "AI features already included" column. Software inventories list names and prices, and nobody checks what each licence ships with. Building costs more than paying for the development: afterwards it has to be maintained, fixed and you depend on whoever built it. Before taking on that cost, it is worth knowing whether the feature already sits in something the company has been paying for for years.

## If this becomes a big decision

If the build, buy or wait decision is hard to reverse and carries your name, the free tools at vicsol.org/decision-clarity/ help you structure it. They do not replace a formal review.

---

Vic Sol · Decision Desk · vicsol.org/resources/ · Free to use with attribution.
This sheet structures a conversation; it is not legal, financial or audit advice.