AI tools can save time, improve service, and help teams get more from the information they already have. They can also create risk when employees use them without clear boundaries.

The answer is not to ban every AI tool or allow an anything-goes experiment. A short, practical policy gives people room to work while protecting sensitive information and keeping leadership informed.

Start With the Data

Before choosing tools, classify the information your organization handles. Public information may be appropriate for an approved AI service. Personnel records, criminal justice information, health information, financial data, credentials, and confidential business material require much tighter controls.

Your policy should clearly state what employees may never paste into a public AI tool. When the rule is easy to understand, it is easier to follow.

Approve Tools Instead of Chasing Them

Create a short list of approved AI services and explain which tasks they can support. Common low-risk uses include brainstorming, rewriting public-facing text, summarizing non-confidential material, and creating first drafts that a person will review.

Require a security and privacy review before a new tool connects to email, files, calendars, or internal systems. Convenience should not quietly become unrestricted access.

Keep People Accountable

• Verify outputs: AI can sound confident while being wrong.
• Review public content: A responsible employee should approve anything published in the organization’s name.
• Document important decisions: AI may assist, but it should not be the final decision-maker for hiring, discipline, eligibility, public safety, or other high-impact matters.
• Report mistakes: Employees need a simple way to report accidental data exposure or unsafe output.

Train, Review, Improve

A useful AI policy is a living operating guide, not a document that disappears into a folder. Review it at least annually and whenever the organization adopts a major new platform. Pair the policy with short examples that show employees what responsible use looks like.

Black Rock Technologies helps Michigan organizations evaluate AI readiness, protect Microsoft 365 data, and build technology policies that people can actually use. If your team needs a practical starting point, let’s build it together.

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