Companion to the AUP
Approved AI Tools
The current list of tools sanctioned for client and internal work — what to use, what's in evaluation, and what's off-limits.
To: PDG All Staff From: Brian Athey Date: May 20, 2026 Version 1.0 — Effective May 20, 2026
This document is the source of truth for which AI tools PDG staff can use for work. If a tool isn't here, it isn't approved — see the request process at the bottom of this page.
Tier 1 — Claude Enterprise. Universal, company-paid.
Claude Enterprise. Provisioned through PDG SSO at no cost to you. Every staffer gets a seat. This is the default — reach for it first for any work, especially anything involving client data. It's where we've made the security, audit, and indemnification investment, and it's the only place sanctioned for MCP, plugged-in data sources, API integrations, and automated workflows.
Bundled approved tools (no request needed)
| Tool | Where it lives |
|---|---|
| Gemini | Bundled in Google Workspace |
| NotebookLM | Bundled in Google Workspace |
| Adobe Firefly, Adobe Podcast | Bundled in Adobe enterprise contract |
| Canva AI (free tier) | Bundled in Canva |
| Asana AI | Bundled in Asana |
| Zoom AI Companion | Bundled in Zoom |
| Microsoft Copilot | Bundled in M365 |
| GitHub Copilot | Bundled where assigned to engineering |
| ShotStack | Existing data/programmatic agreement |
| Segment | Existing data agreement |
Tier 2 — Approved specialty tools. Department-approved, department-funded.
Approval flow: request the tool from your department head with a one-paragraph use case, expected data scope, and rough monthly cost. Your department head approves based on departmental need and budget; the company pays out of the department line. Quarterly review — unused seats get reclaimed.
| Category | Tool | Use case |
|---|---|---|
| Conversational LLM | ChatGPT (Plus or Team seat) | Specific workflows where ChatGPT is materially better than Claude — DALL·E image gen, custom GPTs, certain voice features. Prompt-and-response only; no MCP, no plugged-in data sources. |
| Voice and audio | ElevenLabs | Voice generation/cloning. Consent rules in AUP §9 apply — no voice cloning without written client consent; no opponent voices in political work. |
| Voice and audio | Suno | AI music for ad creative. No paid placement without legal sign-off on copyright. |
| Video | Opus Clip | Long-form → short-form social clipping. |
| Video | Quso.ai | Specialty video editing. |
| Video / image | Dzine | Political content video/image generation. Review before public-facing use. |
| Image generation | Midjourney | Image generation for client creative. Verify license tier covers commercial use. |
| Web / app builders | Lovable | Website prototyping, internal tools, demos. AI-generated code goes through normal code review. |
| Code | Replit | Cloud dev + AI agent. Not for proprietary client code unless on an enterprise tier. |
| Marketing / SEO | RankMath AI | SEO optimization on client sites. |
| Design | Canva Pro | Brand-aware design (Pro seat). Canva AI free tier is bundled — Pro is the paid seat. |
Tier 3 — Personal AI tools. Not company-paid.
Your own personal subscriptions to AI tools — personal ChatGPT Plus, personal Claude Pro, Perplexity, Grok, personal Midjourney, etc. — are Tier 3. PDG does not pay for them and does not reimburse.
Tier 3 tools cannot be used for client or PDG work. No client or PDG data, no work-product generation, no uploads of proprietary material. AUP Section 6 is the binding rule. If you need a tool to do work, route it through Tier 1 or Tier 2.
Requesting a tool not yet on the list
If the tool you want isn't on the Tier 2 list above, send your department head a short note with:
- Tool name and link to the vendor's site.
- What you'd use it for (one or two sentences).
- What data the tool would touch (client data? public only? internal docs?).
- Why an existing approved tool doesn't work for the use case.
- Estimated monthly cost.
Your department head reviews against department need and budget. If it's a new vendor (not previously vetted), the request forwards to Brian for security, privacy, and IP/indemnification review before any spend.
Expected turnaround: two business days from the department head; up to a week if vendor vetting is required. Don't start using the tool for work while a request is pending.
What gets a tool approved?
When evaluating a new AI tool, the checklist is:
- Does it train on inputs? Tools that train on customer data are off the list for any sensitive work.
- Does it offer enterprise-grade auth and admin controls? SSO, audit logs, role-based access — preferred.
- Does the vendor commit to standard data-protection terms? SOC 2 Type II, ISO/IEC 42001, or a clear DPA. Scope confirmed, not just the badge.
- What does it cost, and is the value clear? Especially relative to what we already have approved.
- Where does it overlap with existing approved tools? If it duplicates Claude or another approved category tool without unique value, the answer is usually no.
What gets a tool removed?
- Vendor changes terms in a way that puts client data at risk.
- Material security incident that hasn't been resolved.
- Better tool in the same category at a comparable price.
- No active PDG users for two consecutive quarters.