EP002: AI policy basics for operators.

This episode translates AI policy concepts into practical operating decisions for leaders, managers, and delivery teams.

• Episode: 002
• Title: AI policy basics for operators
• Runtime: 10m 30s
• Host: Michael Hanna-Butros Meyering

AI policy works only when it is written as operational guidance people can apply in daily workflows.

• 00:00 Why AI policy fails in real teams
• 01:20 Story 1: Claude Sonnet 4.6 and model-change governance
• 04:40 Story 2: AI infrastructure cost signals and procurement controls
• 07:40 Action block: policy + change management implementation
• 09:40 Monday-morning actions + outro

• Anthropic launched Claude Sonnet 4.6 (February 17, 2026), which reinforces the need for model-upgrade controls and evaluation gates in internal policy.
• Anthropic announced it will cover electricity price increases tied to data-center growth (February 17, 2026), making infrastructure impact a practical procurement and governance issue.

• Scope: which AI use cases are allowed, restricted, or prohibited.
• Data: which data classes may be used with which tools.
• Controls: review, logging, exception handling, and escalation.
• Accountability: who owns policy updates and incident response.

• Add a model-change trigger section to your AI policy (when re-evaluation is mandatory).
• Add three infrastructure-risk questions to AI vendor intake.
• Run one manager briefing with a clear script for allowed/restricted use.
• Audit one active AI workflow for drift between policy and real usage.

• Anthropic, “Announcing Claude Sonnet 4.6”: https://www.anthropic.com/news/claude-sonnet-4-6
• TechCrunch coverage, “Anthropic releases Claude Sonnet 4.6”: https://techcrunch.com/2026/02/17/anthropic-releases-claude-sonnet-4-6/
• Anthropic, “Covering electricity price increases from AI data centers”: https://www.anthropic.com/news/covering-electricity-price-increases
• Reuters coverage (via Investing.com): https://www.investing.com/news/stock-market-news/anthropic-to-cover-electricity-price-increases-in-areas-where-it-builds-data-centers-3894580
• NIST AI Risk Management Framework: https://www.nist.gov/itl/ai-risk-management-framework
• NIST Generative AI Profile: https://www.nist.gov/publications/artificial-intelligence-risk-management-framework-generative-artificial-intelligence
• OECD AI Principles: https://oecd.ai/en/ai-principles
• ISO/IEC 42001 overview: https://www.iso.org/standard/81230.html

This episode uses AI-assisted production tools (voice rendering, editing support, and publishing automation). Final editorial and risk decisions are human-led.

Welcome to episode one of AI Change Desk.

This launch episode introduces the mission of the show and a practical framework you can use immediately to manage AI rollout decisions in your organization.

• Episode: EP001
• Title: Welcome to AI Change Desk
• Runtime: 6m 25s (launch edition)
• Host: Michael Hanna-Butros Meyering

• 00:00 Cold open: the 3 questions teams keep asking about AI
• 00:42 Intro (show ID)
• 00:57 Show mission: AI as an operating shift, not a tool announcement
• 01:39 Plain-English definitions: AI, LLM, and change management
• 02:34 Personal context + why this show exists
• 03:21 Boundaries + AI-use disclosure
• 04:06 Show contract: practical, credible, actionable
• 04:39 4D Desk Memo: Decision, Data, Drift, Deployment
• 05:30 Inner workflow: how this podcast is produced
• 06:04 Listener question + outro
• 06:15 Outro (show close)

• AI rollouts fail more often from adoption and governance gaps than model quality.
• Treat AI changes as operational decisions with clear ownership and controls.
• Use the 4D Desk Memo to make fast, defensible decisions: Decision, Data, Drift, and Deployment.

This episode used AI-assisted production for:

• Script drafting support
• Voice synthesis through an authorized ElevenLabs voice model
• Packaging and publishing automation

Final editorial decisions, risk posture, and publication approval were made by Michael Hanna-Butros Meyering.

• Daily research scan
• Source verification and editorial filtering
• Script lock in Context -> Impact -> Action format
• Voice rendering through ElevenLabs API
• Audio QA
• RSS.com episode publishing
• Google Cloud Storage + Google Sites web publishing

• ElevenLabs API quickstart: https://elevenlabs.io/docs/eleven-api/quickstart
• RSS.com Core API docs: https://api.rss.com/v4/docs
• Google Cloud Storage static hosting: https://cloud.google.com/storage/docs/hosting-static-website
• Episode page: https://www.michaelhbm.com/AIChangeDesk/episodes/ep001-welcome-to-ai-change-desk.html
• Transcript (TXT): https://storage.googleapis.com/site-app-html/AIChangeDesk/transcripts/ep001-welcome-to-ai-change-desk.txt
• RSS feed: https://media.rss.com/aichangedesk/feed.xml

What is one AI-related decision your organization keeps postponing right now?