All levels
Your Focus: Data Safety
Sort every paste in two seconds, so customer data only goes where your company allows it.
Data safety means you know which AI tools your company approves and you sort every piece of information before you paste it. To move up one level, find your company's approved tools list, then pause before each paste and ask two questions: which account am I in, and which light is this? This page shows what each answer looks like, how to tell which one is yours and a 30 day plan to move up one step.
In 30 seconds
- The question: "What do you put into AI tools?" Four answers, scored 0 to 3.
- Your results tip: "Find your company's list of approved AI tools, then sort data before you paste: public info is fine, customer and deal details stay in the company workspace, and passwords or personal records never go in."
- What moves you up is a question asked earlier: before the paste, not after something goes wrong.
- The plan: one step up in 30 days, about 30 minutes a week, then retake the assessment.
The four levels of data safety
Each answer word for word, what it looks like in a real week and what keeps people there.
Scroll sideways to see the whole table.
| Score | Your answer | What a week looks like | What usually keeps you here |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 of 3 | "Whatever helps: notes, emails, CRM exports. I haven't thought much about it." | Call notes, threads and exports go into whichever AI is open, sometimes a personal login or a free site | Nobody showed you the rules, and no tool warns you |
| 1 of 3 | "I avoid obvious things like passwords, but I'm not sure which tools are approved." | Passwords stay out, but customer notes go into the handiest tool, such as a browser extension | You only screen for what feels secret, and you've never seen the approved list |
| 2 of 3 | "I know our approved tools and keep customer details out of personal accounts." | Customer work happens in the company workspace, signed in with your work email | The account is your only check, so red items still slip into the approved tool |
| 3 of 3 | "I sort data before I paste: public info in any approved tool, customer and deal data only in the company workspace, restricted data never." | Every paste gets two questions, and red data stays out even of the approved tool | Nothing yet. The risk is new tools and AI features that arrive before the policy does |
What changes between levels is the question you ask before a paste. From 0 to 1, you start asking "Is this secret?" From 1 to 2, you add "Where am I?", which means the approved tool and the work account. From 2 to 3, you ask "Which light is this?" on every paste, even inside the approved workspace.
Where you probably are
- Check your results screen. Every area shows a bar with your score, such as "1 of 3." That number is your level here.
- Use the tie rule. When scores tie, Data safety comes second of ten, behind only Fact checking. So it wins most ties: it usually makes your three unless three or more areas scored lower than it. It may be in your three because it wins ties, not because you scored lowest here. With a perfect score, it's one of your "next three moves."
- Match your profile. Each plan page describes this area at its level.
Scroll sideways to see the whole table.
| Your profile | Likely answer here | What your plan page says about it |
|---|---|---|
| Curious Starter (0 to 9) | 0 or 1 | Week 1: "Find your approved tool and learn the data traffic light" |
| Occasional Experimenter (10 to 17) | 1 | "If Data safety is one of them, do it first" |
| Capable Practitioner (18 to 24) | 2 | 2 answer: "Know the approved tools." Next point: "Sort every paste: green, yellow, red" |
| AI Power Seller (25 to 30) | 3 | Strip customer data from shared templates; suggest a one page policy if there's none |
If Data safety is one of your three, trust the bar over the profile. It may match your other areas and still win the tie.
Your move up one level
Aim for one step, not the top.
From 0 to 1: learn what's off limits
Target answer: "I avoid obvious things like passwords, but I'm not sure which tools are approved." Stop pasting whole exports by default. Learn the red list: passwords, API keys, personal data beyond business contact details, health or financial records, other customers' confidential information and anything under NDA. Is It Safe to Use AI at Work? covers it, including what to do if you slip.
From 1 to 2: get in the right account
Target answer: "I know our approved tools and keep customer details out of personal accounts." Find the approved tools list; How to Talk to Your Manager About Using AI helps you ask. Move every customer task into the company workspace. A paid personal plan doesn't count: Free vs Paid AI Tools explains why. Using unapproved tools with company data is called shadow AI.
From 2 to 3: sort inside the approved tool too
Target answer: "I sort data before I paste: public info in any approved tool, customer and deal data only in the company workspace, restricted data never." Name the light before every paste, and strip names the task doesn't need. Then check what you've saved: your seller context file and every prompt template carry data into every chat that uses them.
Already at 3: bring your team along
Your advanced tip: "Help your team get the same clarity: suggest a one page AI policy if your company doesn't have one yet." Some companies call it an acceptable use policy. AI Policy for Sales Teams has a template; AI Power Seller covers sharing templates safely.
Example: Jordan, prospecting rep at Tallyline (fictional rep and company)
Jordan answered 1 here: no passwords ever, but prospect emails went into a free summarizer found online. In week 1, Jordan got the approved list from the sales manager. The summarizer wasn't on it, so that work moved to the company workspace. In week 2, Jordan's paste log turned up sample invoices a prospect had sent, with bank details. Financial records: red. Now Jordan describes them instead: "a carrier invoice in a different format every week." Your gaps will differ. Follow your log, not Jordan's.
Your 30 day plan
Your results screen gives this area one tip. This page turns it into a month, so the pause becomes automatic. Weeks 2 and 3 find the gaps a list alone won't show you.
Turn yellow into green before you paste
Many tasks don't need the names. Remove them and the request is green.
Scroll sideways to see the whole table.
| Task | Yellow version (company workspace only) | Green version (any approved tool) |
|---|---|---|
| Prep questions for a call | The account name, contact and deal stage from your CRM | "A VP of Sales at a midsize software company is hiring a new team" |
| Handle an objection | The buyer's exact email, with name and pricing | "A finance lead says our price is above budget for this year" |
| Improve your own email | A sent email with the prospect's name and company | The same email with names and company details deleted |
| Plan a territory | A CRM export of your accounts | "Fifty accounts, mostly logistics, 200 to 2,000 employees" |
If the task needs names, such as a recap for a real buyer, it stays yellow.
Scroll sideways to see the whole table.
| Week | Focus | What to do | Done when | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Find the list | Find your company's approved AI tools list. Learn the three lights. Start the two second pause before every paste | You can say from memory which tools and connectors are approved, which account takes customer data, what's off limits and who to ask | About 30 minutes |
| 2 | Log your pastes | For five working days, note each paste by type, never content: "call notes, company workspace, yellow." Mark any paste where you weren't sure | Five days logged, with the unsure ones circled | A few seconds per paste, plus 10 on Friday |
| 3 | Fix the gaps | Move customer tasks out of personal or unapproved tools. Remove red data from your context file and saved prompts. Ask about every unsure item | No yellow outside the company workspace, and no red anywhere you've saved | About 30 minutes |
| 4 | Check and keep | Log one more day and compare it with week 2. Save your sorting rules in your context file so every chat starts with them. Retake the assessment | One clean day of pastes, rules saved, new score | About 30 minutes |
Prompts for data safety
Run these in your company approved AI tool. None of them asks you to paste real customer data: they use invented examples or lists of tool names only.
Prompt
Week 1: practice the sort on invented examples
Quiz me on sorting sales information before it goes into AI. Make up 12 items a sales rep might want to paste, using invented companies and people only. Mix the three lights:
- Green: public information, your own drafts, general questions, anonymized notes.
- Yellow: customer and prospect names, deal details, call transcripts, CRM exports, internal pricing. Company approved workspace only.
- Red: passwords, API keys, personal data beyond business contact details, health or financial records, other customers' confidential information, anything under NDA. Never, unless policy explicitly allows it.
Show one item at a time and wait for my answer. After each, say if I was right and which rule applies. At the end, list the kinds of items I got wrong.Prompt
From 0 to 1: make your red list card
Make me a reminder card to pin next to my screen: what never goes into any AI tool at work unless our policy explicitly allows it. Use exactly these six items: passwords, API keys, personal data beyond business contact details, health or financial records, other customers' confidential information, anything under NDA. For each, give one invented example a sales rep might come across, such as a prospect's personal cell number in a CRM note. Then add one line on what to do if something red goes in by mistake: stop, note what type of item and where, and tell my manager or IT quickly. Keep it short enough to read in 20 seconds.Prompt
From 1 to 2: list your tools, not your data
Here is every AI tool I use for work, including browser extensions and AI features inside other apps, with what I use each one for: {tool name and task, one per line, no customer details}. Help me prepare for a short conversation with my manager or IT. For each tool, write the questions I need answered: is it on our approved list, which account should I use, and can it be used with customer or deal information. Group the tools I use for customer work first. Don't guess whether any tool is approved.Prompt
From 2 to 3: write the rules into your saved context
Write a short "Data rules" section for the seller context file I keep in my company approved workspace. Use these rules exactly: public information and anonymized notes are fine; customer and prospect names, deal details, transcripts, CRM exports and internal pricing stay in this workspace only; passwords, API keys, personal data beyond business contact details, health or financial records, other customers' confidential information and anything under NDA never go in unless our policy explicitly allows it. End with one line reminding me to name the light before every paste. Keep it under 120 words.Prompt
Already at 3: suggest a one page policy
My sales team doesn't have a written AI policy yet. Draft a short note to my manager suggesting we adopt a one page version. Include: why it helps reps move faster with fewer mistakes, the six headings it should cover (approved tools, data rules, verification, calls and recording, outreach, accountability), and three questions only our legal, security and IT teams can answer. Leave every company specific detail as a [placeholder]. Don't state what any law requires.Try it now
Your first 15 minutes
- Open your company approved AI tool. Not sure which it is? Ask your manager, and use only public information until you know.
- Find your company's list of approved AI tools: check the intranet, IT's pages or your onboarding documents. Write down where it lives. Can't find it? Send your manager one line asking for it today.
- Start with one habit. There's no prompt this week: "This one is a habit: pause for two seconds before every paste." In those two seconds, ask: which account am I in, and which light is this?
- Run the week 1 quiz prompt above for five minutes. Note the kind of item you missed.
Your data safety checklist
0 of 9 done
Ticks are saved in this browser only.
Key idea
Data safety isn't knowing the rules once. It's two questions before every paste: which account am I in, and which light is this?
Related focus areas
Each will get its own page; until then, the guide next to it covers the same ground.
- Fact checking: the other half of Session 4. Data safety is what goes in; fact checking is what comes out. A hallucination can come from the safest tool. Guide: How to Use AI for Account Research.
- Workspace setup: a saved context file feeds every chat, so it's where sorting matters most. Guide: How to Build a Seller Context File.
- Post call admin: transcripts and call notes are yellow, and recording needs consent and an approved note taker. Guide: AI for Sales Call Notes.
Retake the assessment
Retake it at day 30. Answer from your paste log, not your plan: pick the answer that matches what you actually did in a normal week. One step up here adds one point to your total.
Free assessment
What's next
Everything on this page is free, and so is the guide from your results: AI Policy for Sales Teams. For how AI fits the rest of your week, see AI for Sales: A Practical Guide. The AI for Sales Certification covers this area in Session 4, with a drill that sorts 15 sales items into green, yellow and red. Lead a team? See team options.
Frequently asked questions
Is a prospect's business email address red data?
No. Business contact details aren't red, but a prospect's name and work email are still customer data, so they're yellow: company approved workspace only. Personal data beyond that, such as a personal cell number or home address, is red.
Is my company's approved AI tool safe for everything?
No. The approved workspace is the right place for yellow data, but red data stays out of it too, unless your policy explicitly allows it. Approval also covers specific tools and connectors, not every AI feature in other apps.
If I remove the names, can I paste call notes anywhere?
Only into an approved tool. Notes with nothing that points to a person or company are green, and green means fine in any approved tool, not any tool at all.
Why is Data safety a focus area when I've never had a problem?
Because it wins ties: it comes second of ten, so it usually shows up unless three or more areas scored lower. And never having a problem isn't the same as sorting before you paste. This question measures the sorting.
Not sure which reading order fits you? Find your path.
AI for Sales Certification
Find your approved tools list today
10 self paced sessions, an optional weekly live class and a graded capstone, all practiced on your own accounts. Membership is $50 a month. Add the $250 certification when you're ready.
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