As of 13 August 2026, AI can only partly create an IT checklist for a new starter.

What to actually do

1. Hand it to a person

   The route this page recommends

   A person who owns the outcome does this end to end, worth it when the failure is dear.

2. Use a tool built for this

   Second choice

3. Do it yourself

   The distant third

   A chat interface, chat-fluent skill, and roughly 30 minutes until you can act on the result.

   How to actually do it

   1. Open the organisation's current IT onboarding policy, systems inventory, role-access matrix, equipment policy and security guidance.
   2. Gather the new starter's role, team, manager, start date, work location and employment type, and remove passwords, authentication codes and unnecessary personal data.
   3. Paste the approved documents and role details into the prompt, keeping the source headings or naming each source clearly.
   4. Ask the chatbot to produce the checklist in before-start, first-day and first-week sections with an owner, approval route, timing and completion field for every task.
   5. Compare every listed system, permission, device and security control with the current internal documents, and add any missing items from the source material.
   6. Send the uncertain items and the separate access decisions to the manager and authorised IT or security colleague for confirmation before using the checklist.
   7. Save the confirmed checklist in the approved internal location and give the final version to the person completing the onboarding.

   Prompt

   Create an IT onboarding checklist for a new starter in the UK. Use only the information in the material I provide and do not invent systems, permissions, approval routes, deadlines or contacts.
   
   Employee role: [role and team]
   Start date: [date]
   Manager: [name or role]
   Work location: [location or remote]
   Employment type: [type]
   
   Approved internal information:
   [Paste the systems inventory, role-access matrix, equipment policy, security policy, onboarding process, support contacts and any relevant team notes here.]
   
   Produce:
   1. A checklist grouped into before the start date, first day and first week.
   2. Separate sections for identity and account setup, hardware, software and applications, permissions, email and collaboration tools, security controls, support contacts and handover.
   3. One row per action with columns for task, owner, source of truth or approval needed, target timing and completion status.
   4. A short list of missing information and questions for the manager or IT team.
   5. A separate list of access or security decisions that must be confirmed by an authorised human.
   
   Preserve exact system names from the source material. Mark anything uncertain as 'Confirm' rather than guessing. Do not include passwords, authentication codes, personal data or secret credentials.

   Open it prefilled in ChatGPT or Claude, or copy it into Gemini, which takes no prefill link.