Your staff are already using AI. Now what?

A practical briefing for business leaders on getting real value from AI while protecting your IP and retaining control.

Most engineering and manufacturing businesses already use AI, whether leadership has approved it or not. Staff are pasting drawings, quotes and customer data into chat tools to get work done faster. That is a productivity win and an IP risk at the same time.

This 30-minute online briefing, followed by Q&A, is for business leaders who want to move from individual experimentation to deliberate, safe adoption. No jargon and no sales pitch: just the decisions you need to make, and the order to make them in.

DateThursday 19 November 2026

Time15:00 GMT

FormatOnline30-minute briefing plus Q&A

ForCEOs, MDs and ownersNo technical background needed

Why this matters now

AI-use at work has run ahead of the rules for it. In most businesses it started with individuals finding a faster way to write an email, check a calculation or summarise a document, and it has grown from there without anyone deciding it should.

68%of UK organisations say staff use unapproved AI tools at least occasionally.

60%of UK businesses say their employees have not completed comprehensive AI training.

Source: SAP UK and Oxford Economics, survey of 200 UK director-level leaders, published February 2026.

Banning the use of AI isn't the solution here - people who have found a quicker way to build a quote or check a drawing tend to keep using it, quietly, on whatever free tool is to hand. And where personal data is involved, UK GDPR still applies whether or not anyone approved the tool.

The question this briefing answers: “My staff are already using AI. How do I get value from it whilst retaining the control and oversight I have across the other parts of my business?”

What we’ll cover

Five short sections, in the order you’d tackle them.

The reality check
What staff are actually doing with AI today.
Where your IP actually goes
Free tools versus business accounts, what “used for training” really means, and which of your data is truly sensitive: drawings, pricing, customer data and process know-how.
Five decisions every leader needs to make
The choices that turn scattered individual use into something the business controls.
AWhich tools are approvedBWhat can and can’t go into themCWho owns AI in the businessDHow you’ll see what’s being usedEWhat it’s allowed to cost
From individual use to business use
Why the real prize is AI that knows your business, and learns as you use it
Your first 90 days
A simple sequence: a policy, approved tools, one or two use cases that matter, then build from there.

The briefing runs for 30 minutes, followed by an open Q&A.

What you’ll take away

Everyone who registers receives two practical resources to use straight after the session.

TemplateOne-page AI use policyA plain-English starting point you can adapt and issue to staff, covering approved tools and what can and can’t go into them.

ChecklistYour first 90 daysThe sequence from the session as a checklist to work through with your leadership team, from policy to your first use cases.

Who it’s for

CEOs, MDs and owners of engineering and manufacturing businesses.
Leadership teams who know staff are using AI but don’t yet have a policy for it.
Anyone responsible for IP, data or compliance who wants a practical place to start.

Your host

Michael Douglas

Managing Director, Mainspring

Michael leads Mainspring, an independent AI implementation partner for engineering and manufacturing businesses. Mainspring builds the governed knowledge layer and controls that let companies use AI on their own information, safely and under their own control.

More insights

Compliance and regulationAI regulation for businesses: what applies now, what is coming, and what to do about itA plain-English guide to the UK, EU and US rules for companies that use AI rather than build it.Read the piece →KnowledgeWhat is a second brain in AI, how is it used, and where is it headed?The store of knowledge, connections and rules that lets a model work with your business.Read the piece →FoundationsAI models: what the differences are, what they cost, and how to choose oneFrontier, mid-tier or small: the rung matters more than the logo, and it decides the bill.Read the piece →

Register for the briefing.

Thursday 19 November 2026, 15:00 GMT. A 30-minute online briefing, followed by Q&A.

Michael Douglas · Your host

Your staff are already using AI. Now what?

Why this matters now

What we’ll cover

The reality check

Where your IP actually goes

Five decisions every leader needs to make

From individual use to business use