I Just Wanted to Help!

The end of the quarter was approaching, and chaos reigned in the project management department. Denis stretched his stiff limbs and massaged his sore shoulders. He had never worked for a multinational company before, and although he found the rules restrictive, it wasn't so bad. Except for this period. Although this wasn't his first overtime, he had never experienced it so badly. Everyone here was tense.

He also looked around nervously, wondering when it would be his turn to be questioned. Before him, Dora, the team leader, called on her colleagues from behind her double monitors at the most unexpected moments.

The day was coming to an end. Denis could already see hope as the time on his smartwatch crept closer and closer to the end of the working day, but then Dora spoke again.

"Mariann, do you know what's going on with the downtown hotel? I can't find any notes about the project anywhere... or the presentations... or even the invoices!" She leaned even closer to her laptop screen.

Denis's stomach lurched; it was his project. Let's get this over with, he thought. All his work had been praised so far, and this time would be no different.

"I worked on those files, I'll send them to you right away..."

"Just send me which folder they're in and I'll find them."

"I can't, because they're in my own folder on my computer," replied Denis awkwardly, his chair squeaking.

"Why are they on your computer?" Dora raised her head like a hunting dog that had caught a scent.

His colleague cowered beside him, then quickly got up and rushed out of the room. Dora's forehead creased with worry.

"I don't understand. You should be able to upload everything to the project manager app. If this function isn't available to you, then you need to tell IT..."

"It is available," said Denis slowly, the muscles in his face moved with increasing difficulty. "I used AI... I put together all the presentations and reports with it."

"With what?" Dora looked up sharply.

"AI, you know, that..."

"Artificial intelligence, I know, but we don't have a subscription to it..." Her mouth stretched into a grimace and she buried her face in her hands. "Whose account is that?"

"It's... it's mine," replied Denis, his mouth dry.

"Is it a paid account? Does it comply with GDPR? Does the data end up on the internet?" Dora leaned closer over her laptop.

"I... I don't know, but I used my own free credits to make the presentations as good as possible! I put a lot of time into it!" Denis was indignant; after all, he had been using AI for his own entertainment until now.

"And you didn't bother to check the company policy?!" Dora jumped up from her squeaky office chair.

Her slender figure loomed menacingly over the desk, like the main villain in a video game.

Denis swallowed hard, but still hoped that the problem wasn't that serious. He forced himself to remain calm and took a deep breath.

"This software wasn't in the guidelines, but the deadline was tight and you wanted results! With AI, I put it together in three hours, which would otherwise have taken six to eight hours!

"Isn't that what you're paid for?" Dora retorted.

Denis's face burned. His voice trembled as he struggled not to sound disrespectful.

"Yes, but I also noticed that we use outdated software within the firm, and companies this size are generally very slow to adapt to innovations. After the project was completed, I wanted to introduce the use of AI so that we could stay at the forefront!

Dora's face turned from red to purple.

"Multinational companies are innovators because that's where the capital is! We can be efficient because we only modify processes when we have a good reason to do so and it has been proven to be worthwhile! And what are you doing? Well, what? You're posting our clients' and employees' data, including financial records, on the internet, where anyone can access it! How does that serve innovation? They don't even have to hack our servers to access our trade secrets. Even our clients and competitors can see them!"

Hearing Dora's angry litany, Denis's self-esteem was revived. His blood pounded in his ears at the humiliating tone of her voice, and he had to clench his fists to keep his uncontrollable trembling from betraying him.

"There wasn't any special data in it! This isn't the national security service! We just renovated an old hotel. The offer went out, got accepted, signed, and the hotel is almost ready!

"That's confidential business information!" Dora replied coldly. "I'm calling the DPO! Everyone stays here today until we clarify the situation!"

Dora stormed out of the room. Denis slumped back in his chair, devastated. His back was covered in cold sweat, his stomach was trembling. As silence settled over the office, he could hear only the last sentence echoing in his ears: "I'm calling the DPO." He didn't even know who that was or what they did, but they must be important. They would definitely make sure that no multinational company would ever hire him again. But everyone had praised those presentations. It is unfair!

DPO: data protection officer.