How to Create an AI Tool Approval Workflow
A practical guide for small and medium businesses
AI tool approval should not depend on informal judgement, scattered emails, or one-off conversations.
A business needs a repeatable workflow.
An AI tool approval workflow is the process used to review proposed AI use, assess the data and risk involved, set conditions, record the decision, and review the use over time.
The workflow should not approve AI tools in isolation. It should approve specific AI use cases.
How should a Business Approve New AI Tools ?
A business should approve new AI tools by approving specific use cases, not tools in the abstract.
That distinction matters.
Asking “should we approve this AI tool?” is often too broad. The same AI tool may be low risk when used for internal brainstorming, but high risk when used with confidential customer information, legal drafting, financial analysis, employment decisions, source code, or customer-facing advice.
The better question is:
Is this use of this AI tool acceptable, with this data, for this purpose, under these conditions?