General AI tools for individual work
A general-purpose tool can support brainstorming, drafting, and exploration without a custom interface. It may fit low-sensitivity work under your organization’s approved-use policy. Check the particular service settings and data handling before use.
- Best fit: flexible tasks where the individual can judge and edit the result.
- Source control: depends on the product and its configuration.
- Operating work: approved-use guidance, user training, and review of service changes.
Custom assistants for recurring knowledge questions
A custom assistant retrieves approved sources for a defined audience. It needs permissions that respect source access, references users can check, and a route to a person when the answer is unavailable.
- Best fit: internal procedures, product knowledge, support preparation, or onboarding.
- Source control: an approved library with named content owners and access rules.
- Operating work: content updates, evaluation questions, source checks, and escalation review.
Controlled workflows for operational tasks
A workflow connects a request to a specified output or action. If it uses operational tools, define who may request each action, its permitted destination, the approvals required, and the record to retain. A chat interface is one possible way to initiate that process.
- Best fit: document preparation, intake triage, reviewed system updates, or operational handoffs.
- Source control: task-specific data and tool permissions, verified in the selected deployment.
- Operating work: integration maintenance, exception handling, access review, and recovery.
Questions to resolve before choosing
Select the least complex approach that meets the actual requirements. Deployment location is a separate decision: a custom interface alone does not establish where data is processed or stored.
- Is the task individual exploration or a repeated team process?
- Does it need current internal sources or restricted records?
- Will the system prepare information, or also take action?
- Can a reviewer check the result with reasonable effort?
- Who will maintain the sources, tests, permissions, and integrations?