Data privacy and AI coworkers: what to know
Connecting an AI agent to your business data is a trust decision. The questions to ask — and the answers that should reassure you.
Giving an AI coworker access to your inbox, CRM, and files is a real trust decision. Here's how to think about it.
Ask these questions
- What can it actually do? Reads should be broad; writes should be gated behind an approval policy you set. High-risk actions should stop for a person whatever the policy.
- Is access scoped? Connections should be per-workspace and revocable at any time.
- Are credentials protected? Connected-account tokens should be encrypted at rest, never exposed in logs.
- Is there a record? Every action logged, so you can always see what was accessed and done.
Why the approval model matters
The safest system is one where the agent proposes and you dispose. It can read widely to be useful, but under the default policy it can't send, change, or delete anything without you okaying it — and you decide if and where that loosens. That's what makes it safe to connect to real business data — not a promise, but a control you hold.
For agencies specifically
You're a custodian of your clients' data too. An AI coworker that logs what it did and gates writes behind your policy is one you can actually stand behind when a client asks how their data is handled.