diff --git a/apps/nxtgauge-ai-assistant/base/kustomization.yaml b/apps/nxtgauge-ai-assistant/base/kustomization.yaml
index a33121c..3b605de 100644
--- a/apps/nxtgauge-ai-assistant/base/kustomization.yaml
+++ b/apps/nxtgauge-ai-assistant/base/kustomization.yaml
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 apiVersion: kustomize.config.k8s.io/v1beta1
 kind: Kustomization
 resources:
+  - secret.yaml
   - deployment.yaml
   - service.yaml
diff --git a/apps/nxtgauge-ai-assistant/base/secret.yaml b/apps/nxtgauge-ai-assistant/base/secret.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..62db0db
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/nxtgauge-ai-assistant/base/secret.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+apiVersion: v1
+kind: Secret
+metadata:
+  name: nxtgauge-ai-assistant-secrets
+  namespace: nxtgauge
+type: Opaque
+stringData:
+  # TODO: set to the shared key expected by callers of the AI assistant.
+  ai-service-key: ""
+