Different people are using different AI tools, and nobody is sure which information may be entered. An operational AI usage policy should explain permitted uses, data boundaries, review responsibilities and how to report problems. It needs to match the tools and work your business actually uses.
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Describe the permitted work
List approved tools and specific uses, such as drafting an internal summary from suitable notes. Explain which outputs remain drafts and which actions require approval. “Use AI responsibly” gives a team little help when deciding whether to upload a client file or send a generated answer.
Make the boundary usable
Build a working table with tool, permitted input, permitted output, reviewer, owner and escalation route. Include examples of information that staff must not enter until its suitability has been established. Have the appropriate privacy, security and legal advisers review the relevant requirements; this operational outline is not a legal compliance assessment.
Give staff a route for uncertainty
Where do they ask whether a new use is allowed?
Who can approve a changed tool or workflow?
What should they do after an incorrect output or unintended disclosure?
Where is the current policy, and who maintains it?
Test it against real situations
In an illustrative service business, an employee wants to summarise a client meeting. The policy should help them determine whether the notes are suitable for the approved tool, who checks the summary and whether it may be shared. If the employee still needs to invent those answers, the policy needs more detail.
Test three different outcomes: an approved use that may proceed, a use needing an authorised review and a use that must stop. Make the corresponding next action clear in each case. Record a policy owner and version so a screenshot of an old rule does not become the team's unofficial source of permission.
Related guidance: guide to mapping the work before changing it.
The voluntary NIST AI Risk Management Framework can support risk-management discussions; it does not certify this policy or replace applicable requirements. Review the policy when tools, access or workflows change, and include it in practical staff training. Hili Consulting can help connect the written rules to a workflow people can follow.
