Your staff use ChatGPT, Copilot, and a dozen other AI tools every day. That is not a problem to fix. It is a fact to manage. The tool that manages it is a plain, written policy that everyone can read and follow.
Most firms do not have one. Surveys through 2026 keep finding the same gap: leaders now agree that AI governance matters, but few have written the rules down. An acceptable-use policy closes that gap. It tells your team what is fine, what is off-limits, and who to ask. Here are the rules worth putting in yours.
Rule 1: Say where AI is allowed — and where it is not
Start with the map. List the tasks where AI is welcome: drafting, brainstorming, summarizing public information. Then list the places it is not: client records, contracts, and anything private or regulated. Clear lines prevent most mistakes. Review the map as the tools change.
Rule 2: Keep a human in charge
AI drafts. People decide. No AI output goes to a client, a filing, or a real decision without a person checking it first. This is not just good sense — it is a legal point. In the United States, work made only by AI, with no real human hand, cannot be copyrighted. Your review is part of what makes the work yours.
Rule 3: Use business accounts, not free ones
The plan matters as much as the tool. Free AI tools often use what you type to train their models. Business plans — like ChatGPT Team, Copilot for Microsoft 365, or Google Workspace — agree in their contracts not to. Put the rule in writing: company work goes through company accounts.
Rule 4: Protect the data going in
Name the data that must never go into a public tool: Social Security numbers, client financials, health records, deal terms, and passwords. Give people a simple habit — if you would not post it in public, do not paste it into a chatbot. When in doubt, strip out the names and numbers first.
Rule 5: Keep it alive
An AI policy written once and filed away is already out of date. Set a review every quarter. The tools change, the law changes, and your own use changes too. A short, current policy beats a long, stale one every time. This is the heart of practical AI governance.
An AI policy is not about slowing your team down. It is about letting them move fast without stepping on a rake. Five rules cover most of it: say where AI is allowed, keep a person in charge, use business accounts, guard the sensitive data, and review the whole thing every quarter. Write it in plain language, keep it to a page or two, and make sure everyone has actually read it. That is governance people will follow.
A few fair questions
How long should an AI policy be?
One or two pages. If it reads like a legal brief, no one will follow it. Short, plain, and specific beats long and formal every time.
Who should own the policy?
One named person, usually a leader who works with your IT partner. AI touches every team, so the policy needs an owner who can see across all of them and keep it current.
How do we know our policy is working?
Watch for two signs: fewer risky habits, and more people asking before they act. If you want a read on how well your current IT partner supports this, score your IT relationship in three minutes.
If you want help turning these rules into a policy your team will read, book fifteen minutes with me — Wayne Libonati, PCI’s CEO. Bring how your team uses AI today, and we will shape the rules around it.
