The rapid spread of AI tools has polarized the academy, and theology is no exception. This paper offers a programmatic report on the use of AI in theological work, asking how these tools can function as "picks and shovels" that support, rather than replace, theological inquiry. First, it presents concrete examples of AI-supported tasks in theology (e.g. corpus work, conceptual mapping, and drafting support), drawn from ongoing collaborations and conversations with practitioners and theorists at universities in Amsterdam, Bielefeld, Heidelberg, and Oxford. Second, it analyses legal, ethical, and practical challenges to scaling up such usage, including data protection, copyright, and concerns about academic integrity. Third, it sketches a vision for the future implementation of AI in theology, arguing for structured, critically supervised integration into research and teaching. The paper represents early-stage accompanying research (Begleitforschung) within a larger project on AI and theology and explicitly aims to invite further discussion and collaborative publication.