An AI Manifesto is a one-page, signable statement of how an organisation works with AI, written for humans rather than auditors. It has three parts: the Shield, meaning what you will never do; the Heart, meaning the principles that guide grey-area decisions; and the Engine, meaning the pre-approved uses your people can get on with today.
Why it matters for a UK business
Policies get filed. A manifesto gets signed, and people remember what they signed. It is the human half of governance: the document that tells staff what the business will never do with AI, what it stands for, and how AI is meant to work for them rather than against them.
What it looks like in practice
Three parts. Shield: the red lines, the things that will never be done regardless of how useful they would be. Heart: what the business stands for and how AI is expected to serve it. Engine: how AI actually works here, day to day, for the people using it.
What to do about it
Write it in your own voice, not a template's. Keep it short enough to read in one sitting. Have leadership sign it first, visibly, before asking anyone else to.
Related terms
Read next
The AI Manifesto template → · All 22 terms in the glossary · The resource library
If this is the term that has come up in your business and you want it worked through against your own situation rather than in the abstract, that is a conversation, not a page.
Speak to ChrisWritten by Chris Duffy. Last reviewed .
