# Ask Steward Ask compliance questions in plain English and get answers from the standards, Sted's knowledge base and your own records, with the sources shown. Source: https://sted.digital/docs/product/ask-steward · Last reviewed 17 October 2026 · Strand Product Ask Steward answers compliance questions in plain English. He can explain what a standard or Sted's knowledge base says, with the sources quoted, and answer from your own documents, records, tasks and training, as you and within your permissions. When he cannot see something, he says so and who can. ## What this is Ask is a conversation with [Steward](/docs/product/steward), Sted's AI assistant, about compliance. He is an AI and never pretends to be a person. He answers in his own voice, plainly, and drops the wit for anything serious. He answers three kinds of question. The first is what the rules say: "What does ISO 27001 expect from an access control policy?" Steward answers from the standards and Sted's knowledge base and quotes his sources. The second is what your organisation has: "Who still has training outstanding on the new backup policy?" or "How many incidents did we close last quarter?" He answers those from your own data, reading it as you, with your level and your plan. The third is how to use Sted: "How do I assign a document to someone?" He looks that up in these docs and links you to the page he used. ## Where to find it **Ask Steward** is a row in Steward's menu, not in the sidebar. On a computer, open Steward's button at the bottom right and select **Ask Steward**. On a phone, open the **Menu** and select **Ask Steward** under the heading **Steward**. The page opens with the title **Ask Steward**. The cross at the top right closes it. ## How it works ### Ask a question 1. Open Steward's menu. 2. Select **Ask Steward**. 3. Type your question in **Ask a question**. 4. Select **Ask**. Every question is screened by a guardrail before it reaches the model. If your question needs your organisation's data, Steward gathers it as you, then writes the answer from what he found. ### Follow up, or start again Type a follow-up under the answer in **Ask a follow-up** to keep the conversation going, up to 20 questions in one conversation. Only the person who started a conversation can add to it. Select **New question** to start a fresh one. Each visit to Ask starts with a blank page. Earlier conversations are kept but not shown, because an earlier answer may be out of date once someone changes a document or closes a record. ### What Steward can answer What Steward can read follows what you can read. Everyone can ask about the standards and the knowledge base, your organisation's profile, tasks, the documents you can see and your own training. Questions about records need the Full Management System plan. Administrators and Policy and Process Owners can also ask who is outstanding in the training register, and administrators alone can ask about audit readiness and recent activity. He reads your organisation's approved, current wording when he searches your documents, so his answer matches what your people have been asked to follow. ### Reading an answer Under each answer, **What Steward looked at** lists his evidence, each with a link to the document, record or task it came from. Sted builds those links itself; the answer's own text never carries a clickable link, so a link someone typed into a record cannot reach your screen through Ask. If part of what you asked is outside your level or your plan, a note under the answer says what Steward could not check and who can. If he runs short of time, he answers from what he has and says what he did not check. ### What reaches the model Steward sends the model only what your question needs, gathered as you. People's names reach it only from tools that administrators and Policy and Process Owners use, and the subject of a restricted or confidential record never reaches it. [Where your data lives](/docs/product/where-your-data-lives) covers where the model runs and how input is screened. ## Permissions | Action | Administrator | Policy and Process Owner | Reviewer | Personnel | |---|---|---|---|---| | Ask a question | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | | Add a follow-up | Their own conversations | Their own conversations | Their own conversations | Their own conversations | | Ask about the training register | Yes | Yes | No | No | | Ask about audit readiness or recent activity | Yes | No | No | No | | Ask about records | Records they can open | Records they can open | Records they can open | Records they can open | When a question touches something your level cannot see, Steward answers the rest and a note under the answer names the level that can. ## Limits and plan features Sted does not publish a retention period for Ask questions and answers yet. Each person can ask 20 questions an hour, and an organisation 60. When you reach the limit, Ask says how many seconds are left before you can ask again. Record questions need the Full Management System plan, and training questions need Framework and Users or Full Management System. ## Related guides - [Steward](/docs/product/steward): who he is, his menu and the emails he signs. - [Where your data lives](/docs/product/where-your-data-lives): where the model runs and what is screened. - [People, levels and invitations](/docs/product/people-and-levels): the levels that decide what Steward can read for you. - [Records and record templates](/docs/product/records): what Steward reads when you ask about records. - [Building a training and awareness programme](/docs/guides/training-and-awareness): what to do with the outstanding training he finds. ## Frequently asked questions Q: Can Steward see my organisation's records? A: Yes, the ones you can see yourself, on the Full Management System plan, which includes records. He reads them as you, so a record hidden from your level stays hidden from him, and the subject of a restricted or confidential record never reaches the model. Q: How long does Sted keep my Ask questions? A: Sted has not published a retention period for Ask questions and answers yet. Leaving Ask hides your conversation from view but does not delete it. Q: Is Steward a real person? A: No. Steward is the AI assistant inside Sted, drawn as a duck, and he never pretends to be a person. Check anything that matters against the sources he lists under each answer. Q: How many questions can I ask Steward? A: Twenty an hour for each person, and 60 an hour across your organisation. If you reach the limit, Ask tells you how many seconds are left before you can ask again. Q: Can Steward tell me how to use Sted? A: Yes. Ask him how to do something in Sted and he looks it up in these docs and links you to the page he used.