Write Your Team's AI Rules in an Afternoon · Lesson 2 of 7
Move work onto company accounts
25 minutes. Who owns the account decides who owns the work.
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Your survey probably showed some work happening in personal free accounts. This lesson explains why that matters, what a business plan changes, and how to pick the tools you'll approve.
1. You don't own them. A personal account belongs to the person who signed up. Every chat, every uploaded file, every saved instruction lives there. When that person leaves, it all leaves with them, and you can't get it back or delete it. With a company account, an admin you choose can add people, remove them, and see who has access.
2. Training settings are up to each person. On the consumer plans, your company's information may be used to improve the vendor's models unless each person finds the right setting and turns it off. On business plans, the default is the other way around. Here's what the vendors' own pages said on October 9, 2026:
- Claude: Anthropic's consumer terms (Free, Pro and Max) include a model training setting in Privacy Settings. Anthropic's pricing page lists model training as "Opt-out" on Free, and "None by default" on the Team plan. The consumer terms don't apply to Claude for Work (Team and Enterprise) or the API.
- ChatGPT: On consumer accounts, a setting called Improve the model for everyone (under Settings, then Data controls) decides whether new conversations can be used for training. OpenAI says that on ChatGPT Business, Enterprise and Edu, inputs and outputs aren't used for training by default.
- Microsoft Copilot Chat: When someone signs in with a work account, Microsoft applies enterprise data protection at no extra cost, and says prompts and responses aren't used to train its foundation models. You can tell it's on by a green shield near the New Chat button. If you don't see the shield, the person may be signed in with a personal Microsoft account.
- Gemini: On a personal Google account, a setting called Keep Activity decides whether chats are saved and used to improve Google's services, including training, with help from human reviewers. Google says that in Google Workspace, it doesn't use customer data to train models without permission, and prompts aren't reviewed by people outside your organization without permission.
Even with training off, your chats are still stored for a time and processed to answer you. "Not used for training" isn't the same as "never seen by anyone." That's why Lesson 3's never-paste list still matters on a business plan.
3. Free accounts now carry ads. OpenAI says ads may appear on ChatGPT's Free and Go plans, and that Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise and Edu don't get them. In October 2026, OpenAI also said it would test ads shown while ChatGPT makes an image, on free accounts only. A free account's job is to be free. A business account's job is to serve your business.
A recent report also described contractors reading and grading real ChatGPT chats with usernames removed. Removing a name doesn't remove an address or an account number someone pasted in. It's one more reason client work belongs in a workspace your company controls.
The names differ. The idea is the same.
| You use | Company plan to look at | What to check on its page | |---|---|---| | Claude | Team (or Enterprise) | Central billing, admin controls, no model training by default | | ChatGPT | Business (or Enterprise) | Workspace admin, data not used for training by default, no ads | | Microsoft 365 | Copilot Chat with work sign-in (included with eligible plans), or a paid Microsoft Copilot license | Green shield showing enterprise data protection | | Google Workspace | Gemini in Workspace on your Workspace plan | Workspace privacy terms, admin controls |
Prices change often, so check each vendor's pricing page before you decide. Two things to keep in mind:
- You probably need one assistant, not four. Pick the one most people already use, or the one that fits your email and files. If you already pay for Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace, start by checking what you already have.
- Not everyone needs a paid seat on day one. Start with the people who use AI most. The rule still applies to everyone: work goes in the company account or not at all.
Send them a short note:
> We want to move staff AI use onto [Claude Team / ChatGPT Business / Copilot Chat with work sign-in / Gemini in Workspace]. Can you tell us what we already have, what it costs to add, who should be the admin, and how to turn off or limit other AI tools if we decide to?
- Open the Approved Tools and Data List template. Work in Part 1.
- From your survey tally, list every tool people use today.
- For each one, decide: Approved, Approved for low-risk work only (no customer or employee information), or Not approved.
- For each approved tool, write the plan and account type: "Company Claude Team account," "Copilot Chat signed in with your work email," and so on.
- Name the admin for each approved tool. That's the person who adds and removes people.
- Write the date by which personal accounts stop being used for company work. Two to four weeks out is realistic.
- Add a line for the hidden tools from Lesson 1: note-takers, browser extensions, AI features inside other apps.
Pick your one approved assistant, write it at the top of Part 1 with its plan and admin, and set the switch-over date.
- Every tool from your survey has a decision next to it.
- Each approved tool names a plan, an account type and an admin.
- There's a date after which work stays out of personal accounts.
- You've checked the vendor's pricing page (or asked your IT partner) before buying anything.
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