Inline Electric
Inline Electric Supply Company

Guidelines for Using AI at Work

This guide explains how to use AI effectively, when to seek approval first, and the steps we take to protect our customers, employees, and company.

June 1, 2026 Internal — All Employees

Purpose

Artificial intelligence will fundamentally change how we work at Inline. Used effectively, it has the power to streamline our operations, spark new ideas, and elevate the service we deliver to our customers across the entire business.

We actively encourage practical and responsible AI adoption. To support this, we've put clear guardrails in place to protect our people, our partners, and our company data.

This guidance applies to any AI tool used for work—including chatbots, writing assistants, browser extensions, spreadsheet add-ons, coding tools, and any other AI system connected to company information.

Our Basic Standard

Do
Use only approved AI tools

For low-risk tasks to accelerate your work.

Don't
Don't use personal or unapproved AI tools

With any confidential, sensitive, or non-public company information.

Always
Maintain human judgment

A person must review, approve, and take ownership of the final result.

Approved Tool Guidance

At this time, the following tools are supported for work use:

Approved

Gemini (Google Workspace)

Approved when accessed through your Inline Electric gmail account.

Approved

Canals.AI

Approved for the order-entry and Accounts Payable workflows where Inline has implemented it.

Not Approved

Personal AI accounts, public tools, consumer apps, browser extensions, plugins

These are not approved for use with any company information.

Approved tools and guidance may change as Inline continues evaluating AI platforms and internal workflows.

Good Everyday Uses

Employees may use approved AI tools for low-risk work such as:

  • Drafting general messages
  • Improving grammar, tone, or clarity
  • Brainstorming ideas
  • Organizing notes or thoughts
  • Creating outlines, agendas, or checklists
  • Summarizing non-sensitive information
  • Preparing first drafts of internal materials
  • Creating templates or examples that do not include real company data
  • Helping with formulas or spreadsheet structure using non-sensitive data
AI output should always be reviewed before it is sent, shared, published, or used for a business decision.

Never in Personal or Unapproved AI Tools

Do not enter, upload, paste, screenshot, or connect the following information to personal or unapproved AI tools:

Customer information
Pricing, quotes, orders, invoices
Vendor information
Employee information
Financial data
Internal reports, contracts, non-public docs
Screenshots/exports from Eclipse, Canals, Grow
Passwords, API keys, tokens, credentials
Source code, logs, sensitive system files
Any other confidential or proprietary info
If you are unsure whether information is sensitive, treat it as sensitive and ask before using AI with it.

Uses That Require Approval First

Some AI use cases may be valuable, but they need approval before use. Please ask your manager before using AI to:

  • Work with customer, vendor, employee, pricing, quote, invoice, financial, contract, or internal-report information
  • Summarize meetings that include sensitive business information
  • Connect AI to company email, documents, spreadsheets, Eclipse, Canals, Grow, customer records, financial systems, or other business systems
  • Draft or change customer pricing, quotes, credits, purchase decisions, vendor payments, account terms, HR decisions, or legal/compliance positions
  • Submit requests, change records, approve items, send messages, or change settings in any company system
If you are unsure whether approval is needed, start with your manager. For tool access, system connections, sensitive data, or anything that could change a business record, your manager should involve the technology team or appropriate leadership before the work continues.

Prohibited Uses

Employees must not use AI to:

  • Bypass security controls, login requirements, access restrictions, safety filters, or company approvals
  • Make final employment, legal, financial, credit, pricing, medical, disciplinary, or other high-stakes decisions
  • Send customer, vendor, employee, or public-facing communications without human review
  • Create, approve, submit, or change orders, invoices, payments, customer records, vendor records, ERP records, or employee records without an approved workflow
  • Upload restricted files, credentials, sensitive exports, system screenshots, or source code into unapproved tools
  • Misrepresent facts, hide sources, generate harmful content, or violate privacy, confidentiality, copyright, contracts, or company policy

Human Review Is Required

AI can be wrong, incomplete, misleading, or overly confident. Before using AI output, review:

Facts, names, dates, numbers
Prices, quantities, units, products
Formulas, citations, assumptions
Customer-specific details
Tone, professionalism, context
Business appropriateness
If AI helps create something for a customer, vendor, employee, report, decision, or system workflow — a person must review it first.

If Something Goes Wrong

If you accidentally enter sensitive information into an unapproved AI tool, connect the wrong tool, or receive unsafe output:

  • Stop using the tool for that work
  • Do not paste the information again or share the output further
  • Record the tool name, approximate time, and general type of information involved
  • Do not include passwords or full sensitive details in your report
  • Notify your manager if company information was shared or you are unsure what to do next
Your manager can help decide whether the technology team needs to be involved.

Quick Checklist

Before using AI for work, make sure it's C.L.E.A.R.

  1. Company-approved Am I using a company-approved tool through my Inline-managed account?
  2. Low-risk information Is the information public, low-risk, or approved for this tool?
  3. Easy to stand behind Would I be comfortable with this prompt or output being retained or reviewed?
  4. Accuracy checked Can a person verify the result before it is used?
  5. Real person in control Will a person stay in control of any sending, approvals, or changes?
If the answer to any of these is no — or you're unsure — stop and ask.
Final Reminder

AI is a tool to help us work better.

It can help employees move faster, think more clearly, and reduce repetitive work. It should not be used as a shortcut around judgment, privacy, security, approvals, or accountability.

When in doubt — ask before using AI with company information.