Insights
AI Policy: How To Set Clear Rules For AI In Your Organization.
Quick Access:
- What is An AI Policy?
- Why is An AI Policy Important?
- How Is AI Used In Your Organization?
- What Should An AI Policy Include?
- From AI Policy To AI Literacy.
- Ready to Take Control of AI Within Your Organization?
AI is already part of everyday work in many organizations. Employees use tools such as ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot to generate content, summarize documents, analyze information, translate text, or automate repetitive tasks. At the same time, AI is increasingly embedded in existing business software. This creates new opportunities, but also new questions.
Which AI tools can employees use? What company or customer data can they enter? When should AI-generated output be reviewed by a person? And who is responsible for making these decisions?
With the European AI Act introducing new rules for the development and use of AI, organizations need greater control over how AI is used. A clear policy - part of a solid ai-strategy - can help translate responsible AI principles and applicable requirements into practical guidelines for everyday work."
What Is An AI Policy?
An AI policy is a set of guidelines that defines how AI can be used within an organization.
It provides employees with clear boundaries and helps the organization manage risks related to data, privacy, security, transparency, and human oversight.
A policy can answer practical questions such as:
- Which AI tools are approved for business use?
- What information can and cannot be shared with an AI system?
- For which application is human review required?
- Which AI use cases require additional approval?
- Who is responsible for AI within the organization?
- What should employees do when they identify a risk or incident?
The goal is not simply to restrict AI use. A good AI policy should make it easier for employees to understand how they can use AI safely and responsibly.
Why Is An AI Policy Important?
AI adoption can move faster than organizational governance.
An employee can start using a publicly available AI tool within minutes. AI functionality can also appear inside software that teams have already been using for years. As a result, organizations do not always have a complete overview of where AI is being used, for what purpose, or what data is being processed.
That overview becomes increasingly important under the AI Act.
The AI Act follows a risk-based approach. The obligations that apply depend on factors such as the AI system, its intended use, and whether an organization acts as a provider or deployer. For example, using AI to help generate product descriptions raises different considerations from using AI in recruitment or employee management.
An AI policy helps organizations translate these differences into practical rules.
Want to understand the broader requirements first? Read our article on the impact of the ai act on your business , where we explain the different risk levels, compliance timeline, and key steps organizations can take to prepare.
Starting Point: How AI Is Used In Your Organization?
Before deciding what employees can and cannot do, organizations first need to understand how AI is already being used today. And that means looking beyond the most obvious tools.
AI can be found in CRM platforms, HR software, marketing applications, PIM systems, customer service solutions, analytics platforms, and many other business systems. Employees may also independently use publicly available generative AI tools.
Creating an overview of these applications helps answer three important questions:
1. Where is AI being used?
Identify the AI tools and AI-enabled systems currently used across the organization.
2. What is AI being used for?
Look at the actual use cases, such as content generation, translation, product classification, data enrichment, customer service, recruitment, or analysis.
3. What data is involved?
Understand which data is processed and whether it includes confidential business information, personal data, customer data, product data, or other sensitive information.
This overview provides the foundation for defining rules that fit the actual AI use within your organization.
What Should An AI Policy Include?
1. Approved AI Tools
Employees should know which AI tools are allowed to use for business purposes.
Without clear guidance, employees may choose tools themselves without knowing how information is stored, processed, or potentially reused.
Organizations can therefore define which tools are approved, which require additional approval, and which should not be used for business purposes.
2. Rules For Data
What information employees enter AI systems is just as important as which systems they use.
Entering publicly available product information into an approved AI environment is very different from sharing confidential company information, customer data, or personal information with anAI tool.
An AI policy should therefore define what types of data can be used in different AI applications and which information requires additional safeguards or should not be entered at all.
3. Human Oversight
AI-generated output can be incorrect, incomplete, or misleading. It should therefore not automatically be treated as reliable.
Organizations should determine when human review is necessary and who is responsible for that review.
The appropriate level of oversight depends on the application. Generating a first draft of marketing copy is very different from using AI to support decisions that affect employees, customer, or other individuals.
The greater the potential impact, the more important appropriate human oversight becomes.
4. Transparency
Organizations also need to consider when people should know that they are interacting with AI or viewing AI-generated content.
Since August 2026, transparency obligations under Article 50 of the AI Act apply to certain AI systems and AI-generated or manipulated content.
An AI policy can help employees understand when these requirements are relevant and when AI use or AI-generated content needs to be disclosed.
5. Roles And Responsibilities
AI governance needs clear ownership.
Who evaluates whether a new AI tool can be used? Who assesses potential risks? Who is responsible for monitoring AI applications? And where should employees go when they are unsure about an AI use case?
These responsibilities may be distributed across teams such as IT, Legal, Data, Security, HR, or other business departments. What matters is that responsibilities are clearly defined.
Without clear ownership, AI governance can quickly become everyone’s responsibility and therefore nobody’s responsibility.
A Policy Should Enable AI, Not Just Restrict It.
There is a risk that an AI policy becomes a long list of things employees are not allowed to do. That misses an important opportunity.
AI can already help organizations work faster, automate repetitive tasks, improve content, enrich data, support analysis, and make information more accessible. A policy should create the conditions to capture that value responsibly.
Instead of only saying what is prohibited, organizations can provide clear examples of acceptable AI use.
Employees might, for example, be encouraged to use an approved AI environment for brainstorming, summarizing non-sensitive information, improving text, or supporting repetitive tasks, while applications involving sensitive data or consequential decisions require additional controls.
Clear boundaries give employees room to experiment without leaving responsible AI use to individual judgment.
AI Policy: Not A One-Time Exercise.
AI is developing quickly. New tools are introduced, existing systems gain new AI functionality, and employees discover new applications.
An AI policy therefore cannot be a document that is created once and then forgotten.
Organizations should regularly review:
- which AI applications are being used;
- whether new risks or use cases have emerged;
- whether approved tools are still appropriate;
- whether responsibilities and controls still work;
- whether employees understand and follow the guidelines.
The policy should evolve together with the organization’s use of AI.
From AI Policy To AI Literacy.
An AI policy only works if employees understand the guidelines and know how to apply them in practice. That is why a clear AI policy is closely connected to AI literacy.
The AI Act specifically addresses this topic. Organizations need to ensure that people working with AI systems have the appropriate knowledge and skills to use them responsibly.
Want to know what this means in practice? Read our blog about [AI literacy].
Building A Foundation For Responsible AI.
The AI Act is accelerating the need for organizations to think more systematically about AI.
But responsible AI use does not start and end with compliance.
Organizations need to understand which AI systems they use, establish clear boundaries, manage their data responsibly, define ownership, and make sure employees know how to work with AI.
An AI policy brings these elements together and translates them into practical guidance for everyday work.
The result should not be less AI use, but better AI use: controlled where necessary, transparent where required, and useful to the people working with it.
Ready to Take Control of AI Within Your Organization?
Do you want to gain more control over the use of AI within your organization, or do you need support with AI Act compliance?
Squadra helps organizations navigate the rapidly changing AI landscape. We support you in developing clear strategies and provide practical guidance to help you use AI responsibly and effectively.
Let’s talk!
