Ready for Claude?
Håvard Røste
September 28, 2026
(Top illustration: Fortolker / ChatGPT)
Many small and large businesses have now started using some form of AI chat or agent. The ones that succeed usually have a plan for the rollout, and it doesn't need to be complicated.
Through Fortolker, I regularly work with businesses facing a range of questions about AI. Which tool should we choose? How do we go about it?
These questions are hard to answer in general terms, because there are many factors to consider: organisational maturity, the systems the business already uses, industry or sector, and what you are trying to achieve. Before rolling out and investing in AI chat and AI agents, it's wise to take the time for a short preliminary analysis.
Either way, here are eight tips for putting Claude to work in your business. Most of them apply to other AI tools as well.
First of all, what are Claude and Claude Code?
So what is Claude?
In short, Claude is an AI assistant you write or talk to in plain language, much like you would with a colleague. You write what you need help with, and Claude answers, writes a draft or carries out the task.
You can upload documents, spreadsheets and images and ask Claude to work with them. No technical skills are required.
Some examples of what Claude can be used for in the everyday life of a small business:
- Writing: Draft a friendly reply to the customer complaining about delivery times, a quote, a job ad or a news item for the website.
- Summarising: Upload a long contract or tender document and ask for the key points and deadlines.
- Improving text: Paste in an email and ask Claude to make it shorter, clearer, more formal and so on.
- Translating: Translate a product description into another language, or understand an email from a foreign supplier.
- Analysing numbers: Upload a spreadsheet of sales figures and ask which products perform best, or ask for a chart.
- Creating documents: Ask for a board presentation, an onboarding checklist for new hires or a written procedure.
- Thinking out loud: Discuss a price change, prepare for a difficult conversation or get input on a marketing plan.
Claude Code: when you want to build something yourself
Claude Code is Claude's tool for building software, and it is included when you buy a Claude licence. You describe what you want, and Claude writes the code, tests it and fixes errors along the way.
With Claude Code, businesses can build tools that used to require help from developers and were often costly projects:
- A simple app for time tracking or stock counts
- A form that collects orders and puts them straight into a spreadsheet
- A price calculator for quotes on your website
- An automation that moves data between two systems the business uses
- A survey
You can build simple internal tools yourself, with a bit of patience. Note that anything that handles customer data or payments, or will be used by many people over time, needs someone who understands security, operations and maintenance. That applies to code written by Claude and code written by a person alike.
1. Choose the right licence
Claude comes in several versions, and for most businesses the Team subscription is the right starting point. It provides shared workspaces, user administration and the ability to connect Claude to the tools you already use.
Businesses in regulated industries, or with particularly strict requirements for sign-in and logging, should consider the Enterprise licence.
For most small and medium-sized businesses, Claude is the natural starting point. Claude Code becomes relevant when the business wants to build its own tools or has developers, but as mentioned, it is included when you buy a paid Claude licence.
Always check the answer!
Whichever version (or AI agent) you use, remember that AI agents like Claude are not fact machines! Claude can make mistakes, especially with facts, figures and recent events. Treat the answer as a good first draft from a colleague, and check it before passing it on.
2. Clarify data use before you start
On a Team or Enterprise licence, Anthropic acts as the business's data processor, and a Data Processing Agreement (DPA) is automatically included in the commercial terms.
Any personal Pro accounts fall under the consumer terms, so it's recommended to keep all use on the company subscription.
Then write a short one-page policy: what data Claude may work with, what stays out, and who is responsible. Clear guidelines make it easier for employees to start using the tool with confidence.
3. Build shared context
This is the step with the greatest impact. Set up shared projects in Claude and add what the tool needs to understand your business, for example:
- The tone and language of your communication
- Procedures and recurring work processes
- Templates for reports, quotes and emails
- Key terms, products and customer groups
- Who is responsible for what
With good context, Claude produces drafts that read like something you would have written yourself.
For businesses without much existing structure, the project can become the everyday workspace: where shared context lives, where new employees get up to speed quickly, and where your tools are connected.
Still keep your documents in a proper document store, with access control and version history, and let Claude draw from there. That way you own your knowledge and can switch tools later.
For developers, the same principle applies in Claude Code: a CLAUDE.md file in the codebase tells the tool about conventions, architecture and ways of working.
4. Appoint internal ambassadors
Choose two or three people who are curious and have recurring tasks that take up a lot of time. They get access to Claude first and become the business's own experts. They are the ones colleagues ask, they show what works, and they pick up on what needs adjusting.
Give the ambassadors dedicated time in their calendars and a clear mandate from management. In larger businesses, it pays to have one ambassador per department, so everyone has someone nearby to ask.
5. Create the first three workflows
The ambassadors build three concrete use cases or workflows, based on tasks they already do every week. Good candidates are:
- Summaries of emails, meetings and cases
- First drafts of quotes, replies and reports
- Weekly status reports based on data from your own systems
When colleagues see a task go from two hours to fifteen minutes, adoption tends to spread on its own. Then the question is what to do with all that extra time ;-)
6. Connect Claude to the tools you use
Claude can be connected to document storage, email, calendars and project tools, among others. Claude then retrieves the information directly, and employees no longer need to copy text back and forth. Each connected service has its own terms, so include every new connection in the assessment from step 2.
7. Train the rest of the organisation
Run a short, practical training session for everyone. Show how to write good instructions and how the shared projects are used, and let the ambassadors demonstrate the workflows they have built. Let each person choose which workflows to start with.
8. Measure and adjust
Keep track of two things: how many people use Claude regularly, and which tasks actually get done faster. When results fall short, the answer usually lies in better context in the projects.
The skills that matter more
More and more of the world's most experienced developers now let AI agents write the code. David Heinemeier Hansson, the creator of the Ruby on Rails framework, describes the division of labour like this: he decides what should be built, the agents carry it out, and he evaluates the result.
The same shift applies to most knowledge work. As Claude and other AI agents take on more of the execution, these three skills become more important:
- Stating precisely what you need ("prompting")
- Giving the tool the right context ("feeding the tool data")
- Judging the quality of what comes back ("critical thinking and judgement")
Businesses should increasingly develop these skills, and a good plan for introducing and starting to use AI chat and AI agents is a good place to begin. It's often smart to run a smaller pilot and gain some practical experience before rolling it out to the whole organisation.
Need a sparring partner?
Fortolker can guide your business through rolling out Claude (and other tools) from start to operation, including choice of setup, data use policies, context and projects, ambassadors, training and follow-up.
We also work with Gunstig.ai, which has specialist expertise in efficient workflows and automating tasks such as customer service and marketing.
Whenever it suits you, we're happy to have an informal coffee chat about this or other topics within digitalisation, innovation and communication! ☕🤓
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