What is an AI acceptable use policy?

An AI acceptable use policy sets what staff may and may not do with AI tools at work. It covers approved tools, data limits and review steps, and it works as a plain-language rulebook for daily use.

What should an AI usage policy include?

Cover approved tools, rules for sensitive data, review of outputs, when to disclose AI help and who owns the policy. Keep each point short enough that a busy employee will actually read it.

Who should own the policy?

Pick one named person, often an operations or IT lead, with input from legal. A policy without an owner stops getting updated, which makes it nearly as risky as having no policy.

Is an AI policy the same as AI governance?

No. The policy is the written set of rules. Governance is the wider system of roles, checks and oversight that enforces them. See AI governance for the full picture. See the EU AI Act guide.

How often should we update it?

Review it on a set schedule and whenever you add a new tool or process. Tools change fast, so a policy written once and left alone falls out of date quickly.

What Is an AI Policy? Definition and Outline

Definition

AI policy

An AI policy is a short written set of company rules for how employees may use artificial intelligence at work. It names approved tools, data limits, review steps and owners. It is also called an AI use policy.

In short: Written rules for using AI at work.

What an AI policy covers

Approved tools
Which tools staff may use, and how to ask for more.
Data rules
What information stays out of AI tools.
Output review
A person checks work before it goes out.
Disclosure
When to say AI helped with the work.
Owners
Who answers questions and updates the rules.

An AI policy turns good intentions into clear rules people can follow on a normal workday. It answers a simple question: what may our staff do with AI, and what may they not?

Most versions of an AI use policy cover the same five areas. A mid-size company can handle all five in a few pages.

Why a company needs an AI policy

No policy

Each person decides alone
Sensitive data may leak
Nobody owns the questions

With a policy

One standard for everyone
Clear data limits
Named owners to ask

Without rules, people decide for themselves. A global survey by the University of Melbourne in early 2025 found that 48% of employees had uploaded sensitive information to public generative AI tools.

It also found that 44% had knowingly broken company AI rules.

A policy sets one standard for everyone. IBM also notes that this kind of governance helps beyond compliance: it reduces liability by protecting data privacy, security and access.

The same gap shows up as shadow AI, when staff use tools nobody approved. A written ai policy gives them a clear, approved route instead.

A simple AI policy template outline

01
Purpose
Say who it applies to and why it exists.
02
Approved tools
List what staff may use.
03
Data rules
Define what must stay out of tools.
04
Review
Require a check before outputs are used.
05
Owners
Name who answers and who updates.

A mid-size company does not need a long document. A short ai policy template with plain sections is easier to read, follow and enforce.

A guide from CMIT Solutions warns against copying an enterprise template. Those assume resources a smaller company lacks, so people ignore a policy they cannot follow.

Keep the rules matched to your real tools and teams. For ai policy examples of AI in use, see AI use cases.

How to keep an AI policy alive

Keeps it current

One named owner
A regular review date
Legal and IT involved

Lets it go stale

No owner assigned
Written once and filed
Copied from a template

A policy is not a one-time document. CMIT Solutions points out that a policy with no clear owner does not get updated, and an outdated AI policy is nearly as risky as having none.

Give one person the job, schedule a regular review, and link the policy to wider AI governance. Bring in legal and IT, since IBM notes that legal teams are key stakeholders in managing AI risk.

If you want help setting this up, our AI governance consulting covers it.

Our data

What AI answers when buyers ask

We asked ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity 10 buyer questions about AI audit and compliance. They named 85 companies, and 69% appeared in only one of the three.

Criterion	ChatGPT	Gemini	Perplexity
Companies named	41	39	45
Sites cited most	holisticai.com and deloitte.com (5 of 10)	xcelacore.com (4 of 10)	aicompliancevendors.com (4 of 10)

Nexum measurement, October 22, 2026, via DataForSEO: 10 buyer questions to each AI, US English, 30 answers in total. 14 companies appeared in all three. Google showed an AI Overview for 10 of the 10 questions.

FAQ

AI policy questions

An AI acceptable use policy sets what staff may and may not do with AI tools at work. It covers approved tools, data limits and review steps, and it works as a plain-language rulebook for daily use.
Cover approved tools, rules for sensitive data, review of outputs, when to disclose AI help and who owns the policy. Keep each point short enough that a busy employee will actually read it.
Pick one named person, often an operations or IT lead, with input from legal. A policy without an owner stops getting updated, which makes it nearly as risky as having no policy.
No. The policy is the written set of rules. Governance is the wider system of roles, checks and oversight that enforces them. See AI governance for the full picture. See the EU AI Act guide.
Review it on a set schedule and whenever you add a new tool or process. Tools change fast, so a policy written once and left alone falls out of date quickly.

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