---
title: "Write an AI use policy in one week"
description: "A five-day sequence to write a short, usable AI policy — what tools are approved, what data may go in, what needs review — that people will actually follow."
url: https://lidvizion.ai/guides/write-an-ai-use-policy-in-one-week/
site: Lid Vizion
index: https://lidvizion.ai/llms.txt
---

[Field guides](https://lidvizion.ai/guides/) 5 steps

# Write an AI use policy in one week

A five-day sequence to write a short, usable AI policy — what tools are approved, what data may go in, what needs review — that people will actually follow.

For: Owners, operations and HR leads at companies where staff already use AI tools without clear rules.

Most AI policies are either missing or so long nobody reads them. A useful policy fits on a page or two, starts from how people already use AI, and makes the safe choice the easy one. This sequence gets a first version agreed in a week, then keeps it current. It is a practical starting point, not legal advice; have counsel review anything with regulatory or contractual weight.

## Day 1 — Find out what is already happening

**Goal:** Base the policy on real use, not assumptions.

1. Ask staff which AI tools they use, for what, and with what information.
2. List the accounts: company-paid, personal and free tiers.
3. Note any customer, contract or industry rules that mention data handling.
4. Collect the questions people already ask about what is allowed.

**You finish with:** An honest picture of current AI use and the rules that already apply.

## Day 2 — Classify the information

**Goal:** Decide what may and may not go into AI tools.

1. Sort information into a few simple classes, such as public, internal, confidential and restricted.
2. Give one plain example of each class from your own business.
3. Decide which classes may be used with which approved tools.
4. Name the information that never goes into any AI tool.

**You finish with:** A one-table data rule anyone can apply in seconds.

## Day 3 — Approve the tools

**Goal:** Give people a safe default instead of a list of bans.

1. Choose the approved tools and the account type for each, preferring business plans with admin controls.
2. Check each tool’s data retention and training settings, and set them.
3. Decide how someone requests a new tool, and who approves it.
4. Plan how personal or free accounts are phased out for work use.

**You finish with:** An approved-tools list with settings and a request path.

## Day 4 — Set review and accountability

**Goal:** Decide where a person checks the output before it matters.

1. List outputs that need human review: anything sent to customers, published, legal, financial or about people.
2. Make clear that the person who uses the output is responsible for it.
3. Say how mistakes or data exposure are reported, and to whom.
4. Name one owner for the policy and its updates.

**You finish with:** Review rules, a reporting path and a named policy owner.

## Day 5 — Publish, teach and schedule the review

**Goal:** Make the policy known and keep it current.

1. Write the policy in plain language, on one or two pages.
2. Walk the team through it with examples from their own work.
3. Put it where people look: the handbook, the intranet and the tool itself where possible.
4. Set a date to review it, and review sooner when tools or rules change.

**You finish with:** A published policy, a trained team and a review date.

## Common pitfalls

- Banning AI outright, which pushes use onto personal accounts.
- Copying a long template nobody reads.
- Rules with no approved tool to use instead.
- No owner, so the policy is out of date within months.

Want a hand getting started?

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[See how it works](https://lidvizion.ai/services/fractional-chief-ai-officer/) [Talk this playbook through](https://lidvizion.ai/contact/?need=fractional-chief-ai-officer&from=%2Fguides%2Fwrite-an-ai-use-policy-in-one-week%2F#write)

## More guides like this

- [Build a 90-day AI plan](https://lidvizion.ai/guides/build-a-90-day-ai-plan/)
- [Get a stalled AI pilot into production](https://lidvizion.ai/guides/get-a-stalled-ai-pilot-into-production/)

## Related answers

- [What should a practical 90-day AI plan include?](https://lidvizion.ai/answers/what-should-a-90-day-ai-plan-include/)
- [When should a company hire a fractional Chief AI Officer?](https://lidvizion.ai/answers/when-should-a-company-hire-a-fractional-chief-ai-officer/)

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