When people hear "AI policy," they picture a 40-page binder written by a legal department. So a business with eight people figures it's not for them.
Here's the thing. Somebody on your team is probably using an AI tool right now. Writing a customer email, summarizing a contract, cleaning up a spreadsheet. Maybe that's great. Maybe they just pasted in a customer's account number. Without anything written down, you honestly can't tell which.
What goes wrong without one
It's usually not dramatic. It's small stuff that adds up. Customer details going into free tools. A quote that AI wrote with the wrong number in it, and nobody checked. Two people with completely different ideas about what's allowed, both sure they're following the rules.
What a small-business version needs
You don't need a binder. You need four questions answered in plain words, on a page or two.
Which tools can we use?
A short approved list, plus a simple way to ask about a new one. "Ask first, and you'll get an answer within a week" works fine.
What can't go in?
This is the line people actually need. Customer names, account numbers, health information, passwords, anything you'd hate to see outside the building. Use real examples from your own work so nobody has to interpret.
When does a person check the work?
Anything AI writes that goes to a customer gets read by a person first. That one rule heads off most of the embarrassing stuff.
What happens when something goes wrong?
Who they tell, and how fast. People hide mistakes when they don't know what'll happen next. Tell them up front and they won't have to.
The gap I see most
A list of preferred tools isn't a policy. If the page names the tools and stops there, people fill in the rest on their own. One person reads "preferred" as "only." Another figures anything goes.
Your next move
Write the four questions on a sheet of paper and answer them for your business, even roughly. That's version one, and it's already better than nothing. If you'd like help turning it into something your team will actually read, here's how I put one together.