AI Governance Institute
All governance templates →What does audit-ready AI documentation look like in practice?

Implementation Kit

AI Audit Documentation Checklist and Gap Analysis Template

What you would hand a regulator or plaintiff's attorney tomorrow, and how to find the gaps first. A gap analysis grid, a documentation package checklist by risk tier, a post-incident report template, and a tabletop scenario for a regulatory inquiry.

Who this is for: The compliance or legal owner responsible for producing an AI governance documentation package on demand.

Download the kit (Markdown) ↓4 artifacts. Every table also copies as CSV.

1. Documentation gap analysis

Spreadsheet

Required documents down one axis, systems across the other, status in each cell.

Template

DocumentSystem ASystem BSystem C
Model card (current)Present / Stale / Missing
Risk assessment (pre-deployment)
Data governance record
Bias / fairness evaluation
Human oversight arrangement
Change log / version history
Post-incident reports (if any)
Conformity assessment / FRIA (if triggered)

Worked example

DocumentResume ScreenerFraud ScoringSupport Copilot
Model card (current)Stale (pre-v2.4)PresentMissing
Risk assessmentPresentPresentPresent
Data governance recordPresentPresentPresent
Bias evaluationPresent (2026-08)PresentN/A (no personal decisions)
Human oversight arrangementGap: no low-score reviewPresentPresent
Change logPresentPresentPartial
Post-incident reportsNoneNone1 (Sev-2, 2026-09)
Conformity / FRIAGap: not startedN/AN/A

Acceptance criteria

  • Every high-risk system has a column, and every required document type has a row.
  • Cells use a consistent status vocabulary (present, stale, missing, not applicable).
  • Each gap has an owner and a target date in a tracking note.

2. Documentation package checklist by risk tier

Spreadsheet

What a complete package contains at each tier, so you can assemble one fast.

Template

ItemHighModerateLow
System description and intended useYesYesYes
Risk assessment with rationaleYesYesOptional
Model cardYesYesOptional
Data governance record (source, basis, minimization)YesYesOptional
Evaluation results (performance, and bias where relevant)YesYesNo
Human oversight arrangementYesIf decisions affect peopleNo
Change and version historyYesYesBasic
Monitoring plan and recent resultsYesYesNo
Incident history and post-incident reportsYesYesYes
Regulatory assessments (FRIA, DPIA) if triggeredYesIf triggeredIf triggered

Worked example

Package assembled for the Resume Screener (High) for a mock regulator request.

ItemStatusNote
System description and intended useIncluded
Risk assessment with rationaleIncluded2026-09
Model cardIncludedrefreshed to v2.4
Data governance recordIncluded
Evaluation results (perf + bias)Includedadverse-impact 2026-08
Human oversight arrangementGapdrafted during the exercise
Change and version historyIncluded
Monitoring plan and recent resultsIncluded
Incident historyIncludedzero incidents
Regulatory assessments (FRIA)Gapscheduled 2026-10-31

Time to assemble: 2 days. Target is same-day; both gaps logged with owners.

Acceptance criteria

  • The checklist maps each item to where that document actually lives.
  • A package for at least one high-risk system has been assembled end to end as a test.
  • Assembly time is measured against a target (hours, not days).

3. Post-incident report template

Document

The report that becomes part of a system's permanent file after any AI incident.

Template

Completed within the window set by the incident process. Filed with the system's documentation.

  • Incident ID and date:
  • System and version:
  • Severity and classification:
  • Timeline: detection, containment, resolution, with timestamps
  • What happened: plain description of the failure and its effect
  • Who was affected: count and nature of impact
  • Root cause: technical and process
  • Immediate remediation: what was done to stop the harm
  • Preventive actions: changes to the model, controls, or process, with owners and dates
  • Regulatory or contractual notifications made:
  • Reviewer and sign-off:

Worked example

  • Incident ID: INC-2026-041, 2026-09-04
  • System: Support Copilot v1.6
  • Severity: Sev-2 (data exposure, caught pre-send)
  • Timeline: detected 14:10 by the pre-send review step; feature disabled 14:35; fix deployed 2026-09-06 09:00
  • What happened: the draft-reply feature pulled another customer's order ID into a suggested response from a mis-scoped retrieval query
  • Who was affected: zero customers (no message sent); one order ID exposed internally to one agent
  • Root cause: retrieval filter did not constrain by the current ticket's customer ID
  • Immediate remediation: disabled the draft feature for all workspaces
  • Preventive actions: add customer-ID scoping to retrieval (MLOps, done 2026-09-06); add a retrieval-boundary test to CI (MLOps, 2026-09-20)
  • Notifications: none required; no personal data left the company
  • Reviewer: R. Nkemelu, 2026-09-08

Acceptance criteria

  • The report is filed with the affected system's documentation, not only in a ticket.
  • Preventive actions have owners and dates and are tracked to closure.
  • The report records whether any notification obligation was triggered and what was done.

4. Regulatory inquiry tabletop scenario

Document

A dry run of a regulator asking for your AI documentation, to expose gaps before it is real.

Template

90 minutes. Governance lead facilitates. Legal, a system owner, MLOps, and comms attend.

Scenario: A regulator sends a formal request for the governance documentation on one named high-risk system, due in 10 business days. It asks for: intended use, risk assessment, training data governance, evaluation results including bias testing, human oversight arrangements, and any incidents.

Run the exercise:

  1. Assign someone to actually retrieve each requested document now, on the clock.
  2. Note what is missing, stale, or scattered.
  3. Draft the cover response Legal would send.
  4. Identify who signs, and whether they have what they need.

Capture: gaps found, time taken, owners and dates to close each gap, date of the next exercise.

Worked example

Exercise, 2026-09-10, target system: Fraud Scoring.

  • Retrieved in the room: system description, risk assessment, model card, evaluation, monitoring results, change log.
  • Missing or slow: bias testing summary was in a data-science notebook, not the file (30 min to locate and export). No consolidated human-oversight write-up; assembled from two docs.
  • Cover response drafted by Legal in 40 min.
  • Gaps: publish a standing bias-testing summary per release (owner: DS lead, 2026-09-30); write the human-oversight arrangement doc (owner: Risk Ops, 2026-09-24).
  • Time to a complete package: ~3 hours. Next exercise: 2027-03.

Acceptance criteria

  • The exercise produces a real documentation package under time pressure, not a discussion.
  • Every gap found has an owner and a close date.
  • The next exercise is scheduled before this one ends.

Governance controls this kit produces evidence for

Completing the artifacts above gives you a head start on the evidence requirements for these controls.

ALC-005
ALC-005

The gap analysis, package checklist, and tabletop are the regulatory audit-readiness process and its evidence.

ALC-002
ALC-002

The package checklist defines the high-risk audit trail contents; the assembled package is proof it exists.

CMP-007
CMP-007

The gap analysis flags where a conformity assessment or FRIA is required and tracks completion.

ALC-004
ALC-004

The model card and human-oversight items are the explainability documentation.

IRC-004
IRC-004

The post-incident report template is the post-incident review record, filed to the system.

This kit backs one playbook. Read the full guidance for the reasoning behind each artifact.

Decide what to implement next

Assess your governance gaps, then create an action plan with owners and target dates. Build and export without an account; sign in when you want to save your plan.

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