Welcome to the fifth episode of Late Night Brew: Copilot!
We’ve already discussed the many features and capabilities of Copilot. Now, it’s time to talk about the preparation required to adopt this revolutionary AI assistant into your organisation.
Robert Buktenica and Neil Wells-West talk about the one thing organisations must establish before utilizing Copilot: data governance.
Watch the episode to find out why data governance is crucial to Copilot adoption!
TIMESTAMP
00:07 – Introduction
00:40 – The Brew
01:19 – What do organisations need to consider before adopting Copilot?
02:26 – What’s the danger of using Copilot without proper planning?
03:51 – What’s involved in data governance?
TRANSCRIPT
Introduction
Robert Buktenica: Hello, everyone, and welcome to another episode of the Late Night Brew, where we talk the brews first, then we get around to what we’re supposed to eventually.
Joining me for the next episode of the Copilot series, Neil Wells-West. Welcome back, buddy.
Neil Wells-West: Hey, Buk. Nice to be back again.
The Brew
Robert: Always, Sir. As a storied veteran of many episodes, you know the drill. Before we dive into the preparation for Copilot, what brew are you having with me today?
Neil: So today I’ve gone right out of the normal space, and I’m having a Belvoir Sparkling Elderflower. Look at that. It’s even got its own ticket. Look, it has its own little ticket. So, yeah, looking forward to that.
Robert: That’s high fancy. That’s very high class, Sir. I don’t know if I’m fancy enough for that. I am having, it’s a Schöfferhofer. It’s a shandy. So, you know, half beer, half grapefruit juice. Quite lovely. Quite easy drinking. And not too high octane.
What do organisations need to consider before adopting Copilot?
Robert: Now, diving right into it, what is something that every organisation needs to consider, think about before adopting Copilot?
Neil: Yeah, another great question, Buk. Thank you for that. I can answer that very simply, and it’s about data governance, really. Top of the list, really.
Many organisations, and I think many companies have a propensity for wanting to try out new technology. Copilot is a really good candidate for that because it’s got so many bells and whistles. “What can I prod and play with first?” and “What results can I get out of it?”
Robert: All the marketing, you know.
Neil: All the marketing, yeah. “It’s going to change my life,” and, you know, the whole, “Everything’s going to change.” But no, before you do any of that, data governance. And the reasons for that may not be obvious, but, you know, what you have access to, Copilot has access to, basically.
What’s the danger of using Copilot without proper planning?
Robert: Awesome. Now, that is all sorts of potentials, and that actually rolls into the next question of, potentially, you know, what’s dangerous about just, “Hey, we got Copilot now, here’s your license, go have fun.”
Neil: Yeah, so I think there’s a couple of other considerations there, I think. Without proper planning for the rollout of any kind of technology, there is a propensity for it being abused, or a propensity for it being underused, or not well understood. And that can actually have a negative effect further down the line.
But the overarching danger here, I mean, I think the word danger is probably a bit strong, but actually, maybe it’s not. It’s not always obvious what users have access to. A lot of organisations happily kind of stroll along, assuming that everything is secure, assuming that their sensitive data is in the right place and locked down. But what Copilot will do is expose that immediately.
If there are holes in your data governance, in your permissions management, Copilot will expose that, and potentially, you know, reveal content to people who shouldn’t be seeing it.
Robert: Definitely. And just for quick clarity, for the sake of when we’re, you know—you and I both know data governance, right, in the back of our heads, we’re fully aware.
What’s involved in data governance?
Robert: For the rest of anyone who might be watching who doesn’t, could you give a quick summary of what you mean, or what’s involved in data governance?
Neil: Yeah, yes, yeah. It’s very easy for us to use our sort of industry-standard terms here and assume that everybody else knows what we mean. This is about making sure that the information that you store in your Microsoft 365 environment is protected in the right way.
And it really boils down to a term that Microsoft uses, which is just enough access. Every user should have just enough access to any data that they need to do their job. Otherwise, you run the risk of, as I said, you know, getting into problems where eyes on certain types of data may not be desirable.
Robert: Yeah, making sure the right people have the access to the right data.
Neil: To the right things. Yeah.
Robert: Awesome. Well, that wraps it up quite neatly for this episode. Stay tuned for our next one. Neil, once again, buddy, appreciate it. Always enjoy our time together.
Neil: Thank you, Buk.
Robert: Cheers, Sir. If you have any questions, or if you want to get your organisation ready for Copilot, all of our information is below, how we can help. Cheers, mate. Take care.
Neil: Cheers, bud.
Didn’t catch the first few episodes of our Copilot series? Catch up on the entire Late Night Brew: Copilot series now! If you want a more comprehensive dive into this AI technology, download our Unleashing the Power of Microsoft Copilot: The Definitive Guide from Readiness to Deployment eBook.
If you’re interested in implementing Copilot for your organisation, feel free to contact us or book a Microsoft Copilot Readiness Assessment with us.
