Free guide and assessment · October 2026
Adopting AI Without Losing Control
A Practical Operating Guide for Small and Midsize Businesses
Where is AI getting its information, and who approved the procedure it follows? Those are the questions I would ask before letting a tool handle customer updates, estimates, or follow-up.
Before approving its use, I want trials showing that the output is accurate and meets the company’s standard of customer service and language. This guide works through those questions and the decisions about access, authority, review, and what happens when something goes wrong.
Both PDFs are free to download. No email address or registration required.
The operating guide
Seven pages covering the business case, source data and approved procedures, limits on what the tool may do, human approval, testing, accountability, and recovery. I draw on NIST and OWASP primary guidance and distinguish that guidance from my own operating recommendations.
The assessment and example
An eight-page printable PDF: a blank assessment on pages 1–4, followed by a completed fictional roofing-company example on pages 5–8. It records who checks the information, what is approved, the test evidence, and the decision about live use.
The example keeps live use on hold when accuracy and customer-service tests fail and the vendor review remains incomplete. The company, people, results, and financial assumptions are fictional.
Worksheet status key: Y = verified; P = partial; N = absent or unmet; U = unknown. Use N/A only with a reason.
Open the guide PDF · 7 pages · Version 1.2
Open the assessment PDF · 8 pages · Version 1.2
Discuss an AI adoption review
If you have a specific use in mind, I can help work through whether it is worth pursuing, what it should be allowed to do, and what needs to be in place before a trial.
