Issue 1 · October 2026
Celebrating 25 years
25 years, and what I’m telling clients about AI
Four practical steps to get your team ready for AI.
A note from Eduardo
Hi there,
I started ALCON DTS in Austin on September 20, 2001, nine days after 9/11. Security meant something different to every business owner I talked to that fall, and it’s changed a dozen times since.
What hasn’t changed is how we work. We learn how your office actually runs before we touch anything, so our team already knows your environment when you need us.
Thank you for trusting us with that. Once a month, I’ll send you one practical topic I’m already talking through with clients.
This month: AI readiness
Before AI reaches your whole team: four steps
Almost every client conversation I’ve had this year ends up at AI, and it usually starts with “Should we turn it on for everyone?” My answer is usually: not yet.
AI assistants inside your business apps see whatever your staff can see. The folder someone shared with “anyone with the link” back in 2019 can show up in an answer in seconds. So we clean up access first and buy licenses second. Here’s the order I recommend.
Step 1
Find out what’s already in use.
List every AI tool, add-on and meeting recorder in use today, and where that information goes. Clinics: confirm a signed business associate agreement (BAA) covers each tool that touches patient information.
Step 2
Write the rules down.
An acceptable AI use policy names the approved tools, what information can go into them, and who reviews the results. Have counsel review it, then train staff. (Our free templates help.)
Step 3
Clean up access before you license.
Review admin rights and files open to anyone with the link, and close accounts the day someone leaves. An approved AI tool sees what those permissions allow.
Step 4
Pilot small, then expand.
Train a pilot group first, then widen use as results come in.
TXA Texas note (general information).
Texas passed three laws in 2025 worth knowing. HB 149 (TRAIGA) requires health care providers to disclose AI use in patient care. SB 1188 adds rules for AI in diagnosis and requires patient records to be stored in the U.S. SB 2610 can shield businesses in Texas with under 250 employees that own or license computerized data containing sensitive personal information from punitive damages after a breach, if they can show a qualifying cybersecurity program was in place at the time. Your attorney can tell you how each one applies to you.
Resource spotlight
AI policy templates
Six free templates from ALCON DTS: an Acceptable AI Use Policy, an AI Readiness Self-Assessment Checklist with 46 scored checks, and addenda for healthcare, legal, defense contractors and financial services. Adapt them for use inside your organization.
Tip of the month
Lock down your Microsoft 365 admin accounts
October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month, so here’s where I’d start: your Microsoft 365 admin accounts. An admin account controls your whole Microsoft 365 setup, so it’s the first one to protect. Require multifactor authentication (MFA) on each of them, and where you can, I’d move admins to a phishing-resistant method like a FIDO security key.
Next step
Want help putting this in place?
Our AI readiness review looks at identity, sharing, devices and how your team already uses AI, and tells you what’s safe to pilot. Book a review, or just reply.
Here’s to the next 25 years,
Eduardo Contreras
Founder & CEO, ALCON DTS
P.S. Planning next year’s security work? Our cybersecurity assessment helps Texas businesses prepare for SB 2610, and our HIPAA consulting helps a clinic keep its written program and systems in step.
Coming in November
Holiday-season scams
I’ll walk through fake delivery notices, gift card requests and “updated” bank details, and the one habit I recommend before anyone on your team pays an invoice.
