AI Acceptable Use Policy Template

Overview

Every organization needs an AI acceptable use policy—yesterday. Employees across your organization are already using ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot, and other AI tools. Without clear guidelines, you're exposed to data protection risks, compliance violations, and quality issues.

This ready-to-customize policy template provides a comprehensive framework for governing AI tool use across your organization. It's professionally drafted to balance enabling innovation with protecting the organization, and it's designed for rapid deployment with minimal customization.

What's Inside

• Purpose Statement: Clear articulation of policy goals—enabling responsible AI adoption while protecting company data and ensuring compliance
• Scope Definition: Who the policy applies to (employees, contractors, vendors) and what tools it covers (generative AI, coding assistants, image generators, custom AI)
• Key Definitions: Clear definitions of AI, generative AI, approved tools, sensitive data, and human-in-the-loop
• Approved Tools Framework: Structure for maintaining an approved tools list with use cases and data classification permissions
• Tool Approval Process: Procedure for requesting approval of new AI tools not on the approved list
• Permitted Uses: Specific guidance on acceptable AI uses (drafting, research, brainstorming, code generation, data analysis)
• Prohibited Uses: Clear boundaries including inputting sensitive data, customer data processing, automated decision-making without review, misrepresentation, and security circumvention
• Human Review Requirements: Mandatory review points before external publication, customer communications, legal documents, and production deployment
• Data Classification Guide: Matrix mapping data types to AI tool permissions (public, internal, confidential, restricted)
• Roles and Responsibilities: Accountability framework for employees, managers, AI governance, IT/security, and legal/compliance
• Violations and Enforcement: Clear consequences for policy violations and reporting procedures
• Training Requirements: Initial, annual, and role-specific training mandates
• Policy Review Cadence: Schedule for policy updates and triggers for interim review

Who This Is For

• Chief AI Officers establishing foundational AI governance
• IT/Security Leaders managing AI tool proliferation and data protection
• HR Leaders defining employee expectations for AI use
• Legal/Compliance ensuring AI use meets regulatory requirements
• Any Organization that needs AI governance now

Why This Resource

This isn't a generic policy outline—it's a complete, professionally-drafted policy ready for customization. Bracketed placeholders clearly indicate where organization-specific information is needed. The structure follows best practices for enterprise policy documents, and the language balances legal precision with employee accessibility.

Most organizations spend weeks drafting AI policies from scratch. This template gets you to a deployable policy in days.

FAQ

Q: How much customization is required?

A: Core policy structure and language are ready to use. You'll need to customize: organization name, approved tools list, role titles, reporting contacts, and any organization-specific prohibitions or permissions. Bracketed text clearly marks customization points. Most organizations can finalize in 2-4 hours.

Q: Is this policy legally reviewed?

A: This template reflects best practices and common enterprise policy structures. However, policies should always be reviewed by your legal counsel before deployment to ensure alignment with your specific regulatory requirements and employment practices.

Q: How should we communicate this policy to employees?

A: We recommend: (1) Executive announcement emphasizing both enablement and protection, (2) Required training on policy provisions, (3) Easy access via intranet/policy portal, (4) Manager Q&A sessions for questions. The training requirements section provides a framework.