Free AI Governance Checklist for Small Business
Answer 10 questions based on AI security, policy, and governance risks for small and medium organizations. Get an AI governance maturity score, priority risks, and practical next steps before your team expands AI use.
Do you know which AI tools your team is using?
Include ChatGPT, Copilot, Gemini, Claude, meeting assistants, browser extensions, CRMs, and automation tools.
Use this AI governance checklist before AI spreads
The largest AI risk for many small and medium businesses is not advanced automation. It is uncontrolled use: staff entering customer data, employee records, contracts, financials, or private business processes into tools without clear boundaries.
This checklist turns the AI Edge security and governance briefing into a practical snapshot. It covers shadow AI, approved tools, restricted data, vendor review, human review, customer-facing AI, prompt injection risk, incident response, accountability, and staff training.
Pair it with the AI Readiness Scorecard when you want a broader adoption view, or use the Prompt Quality Grader to improve specific workflow prompts after governance guardrails are clear.
AI governance FAQ
What is AI governance for a small business?
AI governance is the set of practical rules, owners, reviews, and training that help a small business use AI without exposing sensitive data, misleading customers, or creating unmanaged operational risk.
Does a small business need an AI policy?
Yes. A useful AI policy can be short. It should define approved tools, restricted data, human review requirements, vendor approval, incident reporting, and who is accountable for AI decisions.
What is shadow AI?
Shadow AI is when employees use AI tools without formal approval or visibility. It often starts with good intent, but it can create privacy, confidentiality, vendor, and customer trust risks.
What should be checked before approving an AI tool?
Check where data is stored, whether prompts can train the vendor model, deletion rights, breach response obligations, access controls, audit logs, and whether staff can use the tool safely.