An AI Usage Policy Starter
A practical, plain-language policy you can adapt for your team in under an hour—no legal department required.
If people on your team are using AI—and they are, whether or not it's official—you need a simple policy. Not a 30-page legal document nobody reads. A one-page set of clear ground rules that keeps everyone safe and confident. Here's a starter you can adapt today.
Why even small teams need one
Without guidance, people either avoid AI entirely (and miss the benefit) or use it freely with sensitive data (and create risk). A short policy removes the guesswork. It tells people what's encouraged, what needs care, and what's off-limits—so they use AI well instead of nervously.
The five things to cover
- What's encouraged. Name the everyday uses you're happy with—drafting, summarizing, brainstorming, learning. Permission matters.
- What needs care. The sensitive-data cases: client information, personal details, anything confidential. Point to a simple check.
- What's off-limits. Any hard lines—specific data that must never go in, or decisions AI shouldn't make alone.
- Which tools are approved. List the sanctioned tool(s), ideally a private or enterprise version where your data isn't used for training.
- The human-check rule. A person reviews AI output before it's sent, published, or acted on. Always.
A starter template
At [Company], we encourage using approved AI tools for drafting, summarizing, research, and brainstorming. Never paste confidential, personal, or regulated information into any tool that isn't on our approved list. When in doubt, run it through the Four-Question Test or ask [name]. A human reviews all AI-assisted work before it goes out. AI assists—it does not replace your judgment.
How to roll it out
Keep it to a page. Share it in plain language, not as a scary compliance memo. Walk through it once as a team, give a couple of real examples, and make clear it's there to help people use AI confidently—not to police them. Revisit it as tools and needs change.
A good AI policy fits on one page: what's encouraged, what needs care, what's off-limits, which tools, and a human check. Clarity beats length.