AI settings

AI Settings

The AI Settings screen is where you switch on DPMS's AI-assisted features for your entire organisation and connect the platform to an external AI provider. Until both halves of this screen are correctly configured, the AI helper button that appears on processing activity records, asset forms, vendor assessments, risk management screens, and dozens of other places throughout DPMS will remain greyed out — for every user in your organisation. This makes AI Settings one of the most impactful configuration screens in the system. It is used primarily by IT administrators and system administrators, though Data Protection Officers and compliance officers often visit it in read-only mode to verify the configuration before audits.

How to open it

Navigate to IT Settings in the main sidebar, then click AI in the menu that appears. Two sub-items will expand beneath it: AI (the on/off toggle and industry context) and AI Credentials (the provider, API key, and model). Click either sub-item to open that section.

Access to this screen requires a specific permission level. If you can see the AI menu item but the Edit button is greyed out, you have read-only access — enough to review the configuration but not to change it. If the AI menu item does not appear at all, contact your system administrator to have the necessary access granted.

What you see

The screen shares the standard IT Settings layout: a persistent sidebar on the left lists all IT Settings sections, with AI highlighted and its two sub-items visible. The main content area on the right shows whichever sub-page you have selected.

The AI sub-page shows a single card with the title "AI" and an Edit button in the top-right corner. The card displays two rows: one labelled AI showing either "Active" or "Inactive", and one labelled Industry showing the selected sector name. The Industry row is only shown when AI is active — if the toggle is off, that row is blank.

The AI Credentials sub-page has the same card layout. When no credential has been saved yet, the card simply reads "No active provider configured." Once a credential has been saved, the card lists the provider name, the configured fields (such as the API key in a partially masked form), the context window size, the maximum output in tokens, and a status of "Active" or "Inactive."

Working with this screen

Setting up AI for the first time

The most common task is enabling AI from scratch. There are two steps you must complete in sequence: first, turn on the AI toggle and pick an industry; second, add your provider credentials.

Step 1 — Enable the toggle and choose your industry

Open the AI sub-page and click Edit. The edit form loads with the AI toggle in the off (grey) position. Click the toggle to turn it on — it turns blue and a dropdown labelled Industry appears immediately below it. Open the Industry dropdown and select the sector that best describes your organisation (for example, "Financial Services" or "Healthcare"). This choice is important: it tells the AI model which professional context to use when generating suggestions across the entire platform, so the recommendations it makes will be more relevant to your field.

Once you have selected an industry, click Save. DPMS sends the update to the server, and you are returned to the read-only overview, which now shows AI — Active and your chosen industry. From this point, every user in your organisation will be one step closer to having the AI helper available — but the helper buttons will still be greyed out until you complete Step 2.

Step 2 — Configure your AI provider credentials

Click AI Credentials in the sidebar. The overview card shows "No active provider configured." Click Edit.

On the credentials edit form, open the AI Provider dropdown and select your provider (for example, Anthropic, OpenAI, or Google). The form below the dropdown will adjust to show the fields relevant to that provider.

Click into the API Key field and type or paste your provider's secret key. If you have used this screen before, you may see a partially masked value (the first few characters followed by asterisks) — clicking the field will clear it, so only do this if you intend to enter a new key.

Next, open the Default Model dropdown and choose the specific model your organisation wants to use. As soon as you select a model, a small information panel appears showing that model's Context Window (how much text it can read in one go) and Max Output (how long its responses can be). These figures help you choose the model that best fits your needs.

Finally, click the Activated toggle to turn it on (it turns blue). This tells DPMS to use this credential for all AI requests. If you leave the toggle off, the credential is saved but remains dormant.

Click Save. DPMS stores the credential and immediately updates the platform state. You will be returned to the credentials overview, which now shows your provider name, model, and a Status of "Active." At this point, the AI helper buttons throughout DPMS become functional for all users.

Switching to a different AI provider or model

If your organisation decides to move from one AI provider to another — for example, from Anthropic to OpenAI — go to IT Settings → AI → AI Credentials and click Edit.

Heads up: Changing the provider in the AI Provider dropdown resets the entire form immediately. All previously entered values (API key, model, any other fields) are cleared without a confirmation prompt. If you only want to update the model or another field, be careful not to accidentally touch the provider dropdown first.

Select the new provider from the dropdown. The form will show the fields that provider requires. Enter the API key for the new provider, select the default model, confirm that Activated is turned on, and click Save. The old credential is replaced and the platform will immediately start using the new provider.

If you are staying with the same provider but want to change to a different model, simply open the credentials edit form, go directly to the Default Model dropdown, and choose the new model. The context window and max output information will update to reflect your new choice. Save when ready.

Disabling AI temporarily

If you need to turn off AI across the entire platform — for instance, during an audit period or while reviewing your provider contract — open the AI sub-page and click Edit. Click the AI toggle to turn it off (it returns to grey). The Industry dropdown disappears. Click Save.

From this moment, the AI toggle shows as "Inactive" and all AI helper buttons across DPMS are disabled for every user. Your AI Credentials are not deleted — they remain stored and ready — so re-enabling AI is as simple as returning to this form, turning the toggle back on, re-selecting an industry, and saving.

Reviewing the configuration before an audit

If you are a DPO or compliance officer preparing for an audit, you can verify the AI configuration without needing to edit anything.

Open IT Settings → AI. Confirm that the overview card shows AI — Active and that an industry is listed. Then click AI Credentials in the sidebar. Check that the Provider row shows a named provider (not "No active provider configured"), that a Default Model is shown, that a Context Window figure appears (confirming a model was properly selected and saved), and that the Status row reads "Active."

If any of these items are missing or show unexpected values, contact your IT administrator before the audit begins. You do not need edit access to perform this review.

Field reference

AI toggle — Enables or disables AI autocomplete for the entire organisation. When off, no AI helper buttons appear anywhere in DPMS. Required to be on before AI features function.

Industry — The economic sector that best describes your organisation. Only visible when the AI toggle is on. The AI model uses this as its professional context when generating suggestions — choosing the wrong industry may result in less relevant recommendations. This field is required when AI is enabled; saving without selecting an industry will show a validation error.

AI Provider — The external company whose API provides the AI capabilities. Supported providers include Anthropic, OpenAI, and Google. Changing this field resets all other credential fields immediately.

API Key / credential field — The secret token issued by your AI provider. When editing an existing credential, you will see a masked preview (first few characters followed by asterisks). Clicking the field clears it so you can enter a new key. There is no way to view or recover the existing key once you click in — only enter a new value if you intend to replace the existing one.

Default Model — The specific AI model to use for all requests. Selecting a model reveals the model's Context Window and Max Output figures for your reference. These figures are saved alongside the credential when you click Save.

Activated toggle — Determines whether this credential is the one DPMS actively uses. You can store a credential in an inactive state (for testing or future use) without affecting the live environment.

How this connects to the rest of DPMS

The AI Settings screen is the single gatekeeper for all AI functionality across the platform. Every screen in DPMS that offers AI assistance — including processing activity (ROPA) forms, asset records, vendor assessments, DPIA screens, risk management forms, and task creation — reads the configuration set here.

Specifically:

• If the AI toggle is off, AI helper buttons are disabled on every form, for every user.
• If the AI toggle is on but no active credential is configured, the buttons are still disabled — both settings must be in place simultaneously.
• If a credential is saved with the Activated toggle off, it does not count as an active credential.

After completing the setup here, no further AI-specific configuration is needed elsewhere. Changes take effect immediately across the platform — there is no need to ask users to log out and log back in.

Tips & common pitfalls

Heads up: Turning on the AI toggle and saving is not enough on its own. The AI helper buttons will remain greyed out until you have also saved an active credential in the AI Credentials sub-section. Both pieces must be in place at the same time.

Tip: After saving credentials, a quick way to confirm everything is working is to open any processing activity record and check whether the AI helper button is now active. If it is still greyed out, return to the AI Credentials overview and confirm the Status row shows "Active."

• Accidentally clicking the API key field clears the masked value and switches the field to a password input. If this happens by mistake, click Cancel (or use the back arrow) to exit without saving. Reopen the form and you will see the masked preview restored.
• Changing the provider dropdown without intending to wipes all credential fields. If you did this accidentally, click the back arrow or Cancel immediately — do not click Save. Reopen the form and your previously saved values will be shown again in their masked form.
• Reasoning Effort (OpenAI only) is an extra field that appears automatically when you select certain OpenAI models. If your chosen model supports it, you will see a Reasoning Effort dropdown with options such as "high", "medium", or "low". If you change to a model that does not support this feature, the field disappears automatically.
• The Edit button is always visible, even if you do not have edit access. If your Edit button is greyed out, hover over it to see a tooltip confirming you lack the necessary permission. Contact your system administrator to request access if you need to make changes.
• Token limit figures are for reference only during editing. The Context Window and Max Output values shown under the Default Model dropdown are informational. They are only stored to the credential record when you click Save — if you close the form without saving, those figures are not recorded.