Get IT to sign off on your first AI tool
The order to follow, who approves what, and a note for your IT provider that you fill in here and send. Nobody looks after your IT? Switch to the checklist you work through yourself.
- Use itOnce you've picked a tool and a first job.
- TakesAbout 5 minutes to fill in and send.
- From the mapThe same note as the Getting sign-off page in your map.
IT sign-off note
The order, who signs off, and the note. Sidekick Orchestration, sidekickorchestration.ai
The order
- Security basics first. Your IT provider confirms two-step sign-in, strong passwords and phishing protection on email, files and client systems. In our client work, every security problem we've seen came from weak passwords, phishing or a risky link without two-step sign-in. None came from AI.
- Know your sensitive systems. List which systems hold client, staff or financial information, and what AI may reach in each.
- Then choose the tool, based on your current systems, your client agreements and any rules on where data is stored. A decent tool that gets used all the time beats a perfect tool nobody picks up.
Who signs off
- Partners or the owner decide whether the firm uses AI and on what work.
- Your IT provider approves accounts and connections, and how they're set up.
- Working on your own? Your manager or partners approve the tool and the job; IT approves the account and any connection to email, calendar or files.
More access gives AI more to work with, and more ways to get things wrong. Start read-only, with drafts only. Expect to give feedback, and add a written rule each time something goes wrong.
Note for your IT provider
Subject: Turning on [tool] for [first job]
Hi [name],
We'd like to start using [tool] on a business account for [first job]. To start, it's for [number] people, and [account owner] owns the account. Can you help with three things?
1. Confirm two-step sign-in is on for everyone using it, and on the email and file accounts it may connect to. 2. Set up [tool] as a business account, signed in with our Microsoft 365 accounts, with training on our data turned off. 3. Approve one connection to start, read-only with drafts only: [one system, for example our email or a shared folder]. Nothing sends on its own.
Could you tell us by [date] what you need from us, and the cost if there is one?
Thanks, [your name]
What IT will likely ask
Who owns the AI account; whether every permission is needed; what job it's for; one person or many. Have answers ready. Sending email on your behalf is the permission they'll question first.
If IT is slow or says no
- Ask what's blocking it: security, time or cost. Get the reason in writing.
- If it's security, fix the named item first. It's usually two-step sign-in.
- If it's time, send this note and agree a date.
- If it's cost, ask what the quote covers and compare it with the cost guide.
- Don't wait in silence. At one client, a leader used a personal AI account for work for months while the firm was still getting IT on board. Ask IT for a business account with nothing connected as a safe bridge.
Get a version filled in for your firm
The free AI Opportunity Map writes this note for your firm, with your first job, your email suite and a link to a one-page setup checklist for IT. It takes about 5 minutes.
Free map: sidekickorchestration.ai/assessment