Write an AI use policy your team will actually follow
Most AI policies are too long to read and too vague to use. Here is how to write a short one that sets real rules and still lets people work.
A policy nobody reads is not governance. It is a document that makes you feel covered while your team keeps doing whatever works. The fix is not a longer policy. It is a shorter, clearer one.
Aim for one page
If it does not fit on a page, people will not keep it in their head, and a rule you cannot remember is a rule you cannot follow. Write for the person at the desk, not the lawyer.
Answer the questions people actually have
Your team is not asking for legal definitions. They are asking practical questions. Answer those:
- Which tools are approved, and for what
- What data is fine to put in, and what is never allowed
- When a human has to check the output before it goes out
- Who to ask when they are not sure
That last line matters more than it looks. Most mistakes happen because someone did not know who to ask, so they guessed.
Set the default to “ask”
You cannot write a rule for every case. So make the catch-all simple: if you are not sure, ask before you use it. Name the person. Make asking fast and judgment-free, or people will skip it.
Make it match how they work
A policy that ignores a busy season, a deadline, or how the work actually happens will get ignored right back. Walk it past the people who will live under it before you publish. If a rule makes their day impossible, it will lose.
Review it on a schedule
AI changes fast. A policy written once and forgotten drifts out of date in months. Put a date on it and a name next to it. Someone owns keeping it current, the same way someone owns every other part of the business that works.
A clear policy is one piece of anchoring AI so it keeps running and never drifts. It is also one of the first things we build with you, in your words, fit to how your team actually works.
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