AI with a Smile
The strategy everyone nodded at
5 min read · Updated 2026-11-08
Satire — a fictional story
The four-minute adoption
In the fictional firm of Northwind Stationery, the director put up a slide that said "We will embed responsible AI across the value chain." Everyone nodded. The nodding was sincere. The meeting ended early, which everyone also counted as a success.
In the corridor, an account manager asked what she was supposed to do differently on Monday. The director said the point was the direction of travel. The account manager said she travelled by email. They agreed it had been a good meeting.
The slide meets a real paste
On Tuesday someone pasted a customer's unpaid invoices into a chat tool to "get the tone right." The tone came back warm. The invoices were now in a tool nobody had named. The strategy had not forbidden this, because the strategy had not named any tool, any data, or any person.
The director called another meeting. The new slide said "See previous slide, but operationalized." The nodding was a little slower.
What the corridor needed
Northwind's useful version, written later on one page, listed three approved tools, a ban on customer invoices in the public chat tool, and one person who could grant an exception. It was less impressive. People could repeat it.
This story is fiction. It is general education, not legal advice, and not a report about a real firm.
What Businesses Can Learn
- A strategy you cannot restate is a slide, not a decision.
- Name the tools, the data, and the person who can say no.
- Applause in the room is not the same as a rule staff can follow.
This article is general education, not legal advice. ComplianceEU Alliance is an independent private initiative, not a regulator or certification body.