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TEMPLATE · PI

AI Acceptable-Use Policy Template

A starter policy for employee AI use covering approved tools, restricted data, human review, customer-facing output, and escalation.

MASTHEAD

Who this resource is for, and when to use it.

The audience is the seat at the table. The trigger is the moment to open the resource. The primary service is where the operating mandate lives.

USE THIS FOR
Owners, CEOs, COOs, IT leaders, HR leaders, and managers who need practical AI rules for employees.
TRIGGER
Use this when employees are already using AI tools or before the company launches a broader AI workflow program.
FIRST PUBLISHED
2026-05-06
PRIMARY SERVICE
Performance Improvement

THE CHECKLIST

What to inspect before the next operating call.

Each checklist line ties an operating risk to a question the team can answer in diligence.

Allowed use

Employees need clear, safe defaults.

  • Approved tools List the AI tools employees may use for company work and who approves additions.
  • Permitted tasks Allow drafts, summaries, research support, brainstorming, classification, and internal productivity work where review is clear.
  • Human accountability Employees remain responsible for checking accuracy, tone, source quality, and customer impact.

Restricted use

The policy should make sensitive boundaries obvious.

  • Restricted data Block confidential, customer, employee, financial, legal, clinical, security, and regulated data unless specifically approved.
  • High-impact decisions Do not use AI to make employment, credit, insurance, medical, legal, or financial commitments without specialist review.
  • Customer-facing output Require human review before AI-assisted content reaches customers, prospects, partners, or public channels.

Escalation

Good policy gives employees a path to ask instead of hiding usage.

  • New use-case request Create a lightweight form or manager route for employees who want to use AI in a new workflow.
  • Incident reporting Tell employees how to report bad outputs, data exposure, customer impact, or tool mistakes.
  • Quarterly review Review approved tools, incidents, user feedback, and new workflow requests at least quarterly.

OPERATING SEQUENCE

Turn the resource into operating work.

Each step is the input the next step needs. The board, the sponsor, or the management team can run the sequence end-to-end.

  1. 01

    Inventory current AI use

    Ask teams which tools they use, what data they enter, and which outputs reach customers or employees.

  2. 02

    Define approved tools

    Name the current allowed tools and the approval path for new tools.

  3. 03

    Set restricted data rules

    Define what information cannot enter AI tools unless reviewed and approved.

  4. 04

    Publish human-review standards

    Explain which outputs must be checked before use and who owns that review.

  5. 05

    Review quarterly

    Update the policy as vendors, workflows, laws, and company usage change.

COMMON QUESTIONS

Operator-grade answers.

The questions that come up before, during, and after running the resource.

  • Does a small business need a formal AI policy?

    Yes if employees use AI with business, customer, employee, financial, or confidential information. The policy can be short and practical.

  • Should employees be banned from AI tools?

    A full ban often pushes usage underground. Safer defaults, approved tools, and clear escalation usually work better.

  • Is this legal advice?

    No. This is an operating template. High-risk regulated uses should receive specialist legal review.

Want this translated into an operating mandate?

Human Renaissance turns the checklist into decision rights, owners, inspection cadence, and a board-ready scorecard.

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