AI usage policy

Last updated: 5 November 2026

We teach small businesses to use AI, and we use it ourselves every day. This policy explains where we use it, how we ensure we’re using it responsibly, and what it means for you.

Where we use AI

AI is part of how Vant Academy runs. We use it to:

• Create and edit content. That includes course materials, handouts, website copy and imagery, social media posts and newsletters. AI tools also help us research, outline, draft and tighten our materials.
• Design, build and manage this website. AI coding and design tools helped build the site, and they help us maintain it, test it for accessibility and keep it secure.
• Draft communications. That includes emails, replies to enquiries, booking information and follow-ups.
• Research and plan. AI helps us keep up with a fast-moving field, summarise what’s new and sort useful information from noise.
• Handle routine admin. That covers organising information, checking our work and repetitive tasks that would otherwise take a long time, such as inbox filtering and calendar management.

We’d be doing our job badly if we taught small businesses the benefits of AI but didn’t use it ourselves.

A human makes every significant decision

We run as a human-in-the-loop and human-on-the-loop organisation. In plain terms:

• Human in the loop. For anything that reaches you, such as a course handout, a web page, a post or an email, a person reviews any work which has been produced by, or with the assistance of, AI before it goes out. We check facts, ensure it’s consistent with our voice and tone, and cut anything wrong or unhelpful. If it doesn’t pass that review, it doesn’t get published or sent.
• Human on the loop. Some routine background tasks, such as sorting research material or running website checks, work more automatically. A person sets the rules for these tasks, watches what they do and can step in or stop them at any time. Their output still goes through a human before it’s used.

Whichever way we work, a person owns every significant decision. AI can suggest, draft and flag, but it never has the last word on anything significant. We are accountable for everything we publish, send and teach, whatever tool helped produce it.

What we don’t use AI for

• Decisions about you. AI does not decide who can book, whether you get a refund, or anything else that affects you. People make those decisions.
• Teaching. Our courses are taught by a person. You’ll use AI tools during them, but a human trainer leads every session.
• Replying to you on our behalf. AI may help draft a reply, but unless we tell you otherwise, a person reads your message and sends the answer.

Your data and AI

We treat any personal data that passes through an AI tool with the same care as data anywhere else in our business. That means lawfully, fairly and securely, in line with UK data protection law.

In practice:

• We use only what the task needs. Some tasks involve your details. If AI helps us draft a reply to your email, for example, it will see your name and email address. We give AI tools no more personal information than the task genuinely needs, and we protect it according to how sensitive it is.
• We never put sensitive information into AI tools. That includes health information, accessibility needs and anything else the law treats as special category data.
• We choose our tools carefully. We use business-grade accounts and settings that stop providers training their models on our data, wherever that option exists.
• AI providers are processors. Any AI tool that handles personal data for us is held to the same rules as our other service providers. It may only use the data on our instructions, it must keep it secure, and it’s listed in our privacy policy.
• No solely automated decisions. We never make decisions about you that have legal or similarly significant effects using AI alone.

Our privacy policy sets out exactly what data we collect, why, who processes it, how long we keep it and how to use your rights.

AI in our training

During our courses you’ll use real AI tools on real tasks. We practise with made-up examples, not real customer or personal data.

Getting it right

AI makes mistakes. It can get facts wrong, sound confident when it shouldn’t, and miss context. Human review is how we catch those mistakes, but no review is perfect. If you spot something wrong in anything we’ve produced, tell us at hello@vant-academy.co.uk. We’ll put it right.

Reviewing this policy

We review this policy at least once a year, and sooner if we change how we use AI or the law changes. The date at the top shows when we last updated it.