FREE AI VENDOR ASSESSMENT FOR EXCEL
Ask for evidence before the AI vendor becomes infrastructure.
Download a practical XLSX with 50 questions across eight domains, adjustable priority weights, weighted scoring, critical-gap detection, evidence links, reviewer notes, owners, target dates, and a formula-driven dashboard. No signup and no upload.
- Editable XLSX
- 50 questions
- Eight domains
- No signup
- No upload
- Qualified review required
THE PRACTICAL ANSWER
Evaluate the exact service, not the vendor's reputation.
The same provider can present very different risk across products, plans, models, regions, data, integrations, permissions, and use cases. The NIST AI RMF Playbook recommends documenting, testing, monitoring, and applying risk controls to third-party AI systems. The Cloud Security Alliance AI-CAIQ also shows current demand for structured AI governance, security, privacy, resilience, and evidence questions.
WHAT THE TEMPLATE REVIEWS
Eight domains that expose the purchase behind the demo.
Governance and accountability
Identify accountable owners, policies, responsibilities, requirements, evidence, and role-based training across the vendor and customer relationship.
System transparency and use
Scope the product, model chain, hosting, purpose, data flows, outputs, integrations, automated actions, provenance, and material changes.
Data, privacy, and IP
Review training use, ownership, confidentiality, sensitive data, provenance, retention, deletion, regions, transfers, and infringement claims.
Security and resilience
Examine access, encryption, AI attack paths, tenant isolation, development controls, vulnerabilities, continuity, recovery, logs, and alerts.
Testing and human control
Require use-specific acceptance criteria, representative testing, disclosed limitations, change regression, qualified review, override, stop controls, and contest routes.
Operations, contracts, and exit
Verify monitoring, incidents, customer notice, evidence preservation, subprocessors, audit support, remedies, data return, deletion, transition, and decommissioning.
A WORKABLE PROCESS
Use the workbook in four passes.
- 1
Scope one exact purchase
Name the product, plan, models, regions, features, integrations, users, data, workflow, outputs, decisions, actions, and contract stage.
- 2
Collect current evidence
Ask the vendor to answer applicable questions, identify unknowns, attach dated evidence, name the evidence owner, and explain exceptions.
- 3
Review gaps without averaging them away
Have qualified reviewers verify claims, tailor weights, investigate critical gaps, record evidence, assign owners, and set target dates.
- 4
Record the separate decision
Document the permitted scope, restrictions, contract conditions, monitoring, incident duties, expiry, reassessment triggers, exit path, and authorized decision.
COMMON FAILURE MODES
A complete questionnaire can still support a bad decision.
- Assessing the vendor brand in general instead of the exact product, model chain, configuration, region, data, integrations, permissions, actions, and use case.
- Accepting yes or no without the current document, test, configuration, log, contract term, owner, date, scope, and exception that support it.
- Averaging a critical security, data, human-control, incident, or exit gap into an acceptable-looking overall score.
- Treating certifications, model cards, self-attestations, or benchmark claims as substitutes for testing the proposed workflow and operating conditions.
- Approving onboarding without change notice, monitoring, incident duties, audit support, data return, verified deletion, fallback, and reassessment triggers.
THE COMPLETE OPERATING SET
Connect vendor review to inventory, risk, approvals, incidents, and policy.
The $19 BrandQuill AI Policy Operations Kit adds a coordinated Excel governance workbook with inventory, 30 starter risks, approvals, incidents, a dashboard, and a scoring guide. It also includes five editable Word files, a PDF implementation guide, and lifetime BrandQuill Solo access.
$19 once
No subscription. Seven-day fit guarantee.See the complete kit →Generate the free Word questionnaire →COMMON QUESTIONS
Use the score to find questions, not certainty.
What is included in the free AI vendor assessment template?
The XLSX includes 50 original questions across eight domains, adjustable priority weights, response scoring, critical-gap detection, evidence links, reviewer notes, gap owners, target dates, a formula-driven dashboard, instructions, and source links.
How is this different from the free Word questionnaire generator?
The Excel template scores and tracks one review across evidence, gaps, owners, and dates. The Word generator creates a 40-question evidence request that can be sent to a vendor. Use either one or use the Word request first and record verified conclusions in Excel.
Does BrandQuill upload the assessment or require an account?
No. The workbook is a direct download. You can edit it locally in Excel or another compatible spreadsheet application without creating an account or uploading vendor information to BrandQuill.
Does a high score mean the vendor is approved or compliant?
No. A score supports review but cannot prove legality, safety, security, privacy, fairness, accessibility, compliance, or fitness. Critical gaps should not be averaged away, and qualified reviewers must make a separate authorized decision.
Can I change the questions and priority weights?
Yes. The workbook is editable. Tailor the questions, weights, evidence expectations, review roles, and decision route to the exact product, model chain, configuration, data, people, integrations, actions, contract, and use case.
What does the paid kit add?
The $19 AI Policy Operations Kit connects vendor review to a larger system inventory, risk register, approval log, incident log, dashboard, scoring guide, five editable Word files, a PDF implementation guide, and lifetime BrandQuill publishing.