A Note to the Teacher: My Team Needs Real AI

You can’t lead what you don’t understand. And you can’t understand what you’re not allowed to touch.

I give about a dozen presentations a year on AI-related topics. Recently, that’s included the art of the possible – building apps, analyzing data, drafting documents – using readily available tools like ChatGPT, Claude, and NotebookLM.

One of the most common responses I get from audience members: “My institution won’t let me do this” or “They’ll only give us Copilot.”

This is a problem.

How can we expect leaders to build fluency if they’re not given access to the tools they need to practice? How can they evaluate vendors, coach their teams, or challenge the hype if they’ve never actually used AI to get real work done?

You can’t lead what you don’t understand. And you can’t understand what you’re not allowed to touch.

Problem solved.

In addition to my 2026 AI Playbook for Clinical Operations, I’ve also prepared a handy-dandy permission slip that you can share with your IT team. I hope it’s helpful.

A Permission Slip for Clinical Operations Professionals

Dear IT Department / Legal / Compliance / Whoever Is In Charge of This,

Please allow the bearer of this note to use AI that actually does things.

Not the limited AI that’s been “approved for enterprise use” but can only summarize paragraphs. Not the chatbot that answers questions about PTO policy. The real stuff.

Specifically, I am requesting that my team be granted access to AI that can:

Build things. Small apps. Dashboards. Tools that solve the specific problem we have on Tuesday, not the generic problem a vendor imagined we might have someday.
Analyze data. Upload a spreadsheet. Ask a question. Get an answer. Without filing a ticket and waiting three weeks for someone in IT to run a report that answers a different question.
Draft documents. First drafts of site communications. Protocol summaries. Meeting notes. The 60% of writing that’s pattern-based, so we can focus on the 40% that requires judgment.
Do research. Search the web. Read PDFs. Synthesize information from multiple sources. Like a very fast, very patient research assistant who doesn’t need coffee breaks.

I understand this request may cause concern. Let me address the obvious objections:

“But what about data security?” Valid question. I’m not asking to upload patient data to the internet. I’m asking for tools that let us work smarter on administrative tasks – the same tasks we currently do with email, spreadsheets, and Post-it notes. If those are secure enough, this should be too.

“What if the AI makes a mistake?” It will. So do we. The question isn’t whether errors happen – it’s whether they’re recoverable. Administrative work involves recoverable errors. That’s why it’s the right place to start.

“We need to wait for guidance from [regulatory body].” We’ve been waiting. Meanwhile, 69% of our colleagues actively want AI to handle routine tasks so they can focus on higher-value work. And our staffing crisis isn’t waiting for anyone.

“What if people use it wrong?” That’s why I need access – so I can build fluency, evaluate outputs, coach my team, and challenge vendors. I can’t lead what I don’t understand.

Here’s what I’m not asking for: unsupervised AI making patient-facing decisions. Black-box automation with no audit trail. Magic.

Here’s what I am asking for: tools that help us handle the administrative work that’s crushing clinical operations. Tools that let us automate the 60% so we can elevate the 40%. Tools that are already transforming the organizations brave enough to use them.

The future of clinical operations is being designed right now. I’d like to participate.

Please sign below.

Respectfully,

Your Name / Someone Who Is Tired of Manually Cross-Referencing Documents

Want to go deeper?

I’ve put together The 2026 AI Playbook for Clinical Operations: a roadmap from fluency to transformation, based on a recent essay series. I’m a 20-year veteran of AI and I’m still surprised by what these tools can do when you’re actually allowed to use them. If I need it, we all need it.

Permission slip not required. Seeing it in action helps.

Book a demo and we’ll show you what “AI that actually does things” looks like—real examples, real outputs, and a clear path to using it safely for administrative work.