PUT IT IN WRITING

Simple AI Policy

One page your team can actually read and remember

[Your Business Name]

Small Business AI Toolkit | Internal Use

The big idea

This policy gives your team one safe way to use AI at work: use it for drafts and ideas, but keep private business and customer information out of public tools.

Start by sharing the rule below with everyone, then point people to [Owner/Manager Name] before they try a new AI tool for company work.

IN PLAIN ENGLISH : The one thing to remember: if you would not post it publicly or email it to a stranger, do not paste it into a public AI tool.

This is the whole policy. It fits on one page on purpose: a policy nobody reads doesn't protect anybody. Share this with every employee who uses a computer, tablet, or phone for work.

The One Rule

THE RULE : Never type or paste customer information, financial details, health information, passwords, or anything covered by a contract/NDA into a free or public AI tool.

If you're not sure whether something counts as “sensitive,” ask before you paste it in. When in doubt, leave it out.

What You CAN Do

• Use AI tools to draft or brainstorm (emails, social posts, job descriptions, meeting summaries), as long as no sensitive information (see above) is part of what you type in.
• Use AI tools on your own general knowledge questions, writing help, or research that doesn't involve company or customer specifics.
• Use AI features already built into tools [Your Business Name] has approved (your accounting software, CRM, or scheduling tool's built-in AI features are already covered by that vendor's business agreement).
• Always read and fact-check anything an AI tool produces before it goes to a customer, a vendor, or into a decision. AI gets things wrong: confidently.

What You CANNOT Do

• Paste customer names, contact details, account numbers, payment information, or health information into a free AI chatbot.
• Paste anything covered by a signed NDA, contract, or confidentiality agreement into any AI tool without checking with [Owner/Manager Name] first.
• Sign up for a new paid AI tool with company information or a company card without checking with [Owner/Manager Name] first: see the AI Tool Evaluation Checklist in this folder.
• Send anything AI-generated straight to a customer, in a legal/financial document, or in a hiring decision without a human reading it first.
• Use AI tools to make final hiring, firing, credit, or pricing decisions about a specific person without human review: AI can help you draft or organize, but a person decides.

Before You Try a New AI Tool

Excited about a new AI tool? Great. That's how good ideas get found. Before you put any company or customer data into it:

1. Ask yourself: does it pass the AI Tool Evaluation Checklist in this folder? (10 quick questions, 10 minutes.)
2. Walk through the Should-We-Use-This-AI-Tool decision tree if you're unsure.
3. Tell [Owner/Manager Name] what you're trying and why, not to ask permission for every little thing, but so someone knows what's being used across the business.

If Something Goes Wrong

Mistakes happen: an AI tool gives bad info, or something sensitive gets typed in by accident. That's not a reason to hide it.

• Tell [Owner/Manager Name] as soon as you notice it, even if you're not sure it's a big deal.
• Log it in the AI Issue Log in this folder: patterns over time matter more than any single mistake.
• If sensitive data was shared with a tool, check that tool's settings for a way to request deletion, and change any related passwords as a precaution.

A NOTE ON SCOPE : This policy is general guidance, not legal advice. If you operate in a regulated industry (healthcare, finance, legal), your specific obligations may go beyond this one page: confirm with a qualified professional and add any required specifics as an appendix to this policy.

Policy owner: [Owner/Manager Name] | Last reviewed: [Date] | Review again: [Date + 12 months]

For example

FOR EXAMPLE : Good use: draft the wording. Risky use: paste the private details.

Words explained