AI Readiness Assessment.
Know where you stand.
71% of organizations are using AI, but only 30% feel ready to operationalize it. That 41-point gap is where security incidents, compliance failures, and wasted licenses live. ABT's free assessment tells you exactly where your institution stands and what to fix first.
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Freddie Mac Bulletin 2025-16 — AI governance is no longer optional.
Effective March 3, 2026. Every Freddie Mac seller and servicer using AI or machine learning — from Microsoft Copilot to custom agents to third-party LLM tools — must maintain a documented AI governance framework covering risk assessment, data access controls, monitoring, incident reporting, and human oversight. Non-compliance puts seller/servicer eligibility at risk.
What Bulletin 2025-16 actually requires
- Risk assessment of every AI/ML tool in use — including Copilot, not just vendor models
- Data access scope documentation — what each AI tool touches, what leaves the tenant
- Output validation and human-in-the-loop controls — especially for underwriting, servicing, and borrower-facing decisions
- Bias and fair-lending testing — ECOA implications of automated decisions
- Incident reporting procedures — for AI errors, hallucinations, or data leakage events
- Third-party AI governance — vendors, models, prompts, and data flows
How the assessment maps to the mandate
- Copilot license allocation — who has access, what workloads are enabled
- Purview classification and labeling — maturity against Sensitive Info Types for loan files
- DLP policy scope — coverage across Exchange, SharePoint, OneDrive, Teams
- Entra ID conditional access — policies gating AI tool access by device, location, risk
- Audit log completeness — M365 Unified Audit Log retention and query-ready state
- Shadow AI detection — Defender for Cloud Apps posture on unsanctioned LLM tools
Four pillars. One assessment. Complete picture.
AI readiness is a governance decision, not a licensing decision. ABT evaluates your Microsoft 365 tenant across four dimensions that determine whether Copilot deployment will succeed or create risk.
Security Posture
Your Microsoft Secure Score is the starting line. Most financial institutions begin around 32%. Guardian clients average above 85%. That gap matters because Copilot amplifies whatever security posture you already have. A low Secure Score with Copilot active means AI can surface board minutes, salary spreadsheets, and member PII faster than an attacker manually browsing SharePoint. ABT's assessment reads your actual Secure Score and maps a priority fix list: MFA enforcement, Conditional Access policies, endpoint protection through Defender, and Entra ID Protection for leaked credential detection.
Data Governance
Copilot respects your permissions. If a teller can access the CEO's SharePoint folder, Copilot can summarize it. That is the problem. Most credit unions and banks have years of accumulated SharePoint permissions that nobody has audited. Sensitivity labels in Microsoft Purview classify documents by risk level. DLP policies block member NPI from leaving governed boundaries. Retention policies keep data from disappearing when it should not and from lingering when it should not. ABT checks all three before any AI deployment starts.
Identity and Access
Every Copilot query runs under the identity of the person who asked it. If your IT admin has standing Global Admin privileges 24/7, Copilot gives them AI-powered access to everything in the tenant. Entra ID with Privileged Identity Management makes admin access time-boxed and auditable. Conditional Access policies enforce where and how people authenticate. Password hash sync with Entra ID Protection catches leaked credentials before attackers use them. ABT evaluates all of this because identity is the perimeter for every AI interaction.
Adoption and Training
Technology without adoption is waste. One 100-person organization deployed Copilot licenses to every employee and found only 9% using it properly after 90 days. The rest either ignored it or used it without understanding what data it could access. Successful deployments start with a champion group of 10-15 people who learn Copilot's strengths, document real use cases, and train their peers. ABT measures adoption by department, tracks which features get used, and adjusts training based on actual behavior. The goal is not just licenses purchased. It is people producing better work.
Check Your AI Readiness in Minutes
ABT's free assessment evaluates your Microsoft 365 tenant across all four readiness pillars. You get a score, a prioritized fix list, and a clear path forward. No sales call required.
Your assessment covers six critical areas
The getmygrade.myabt.com assessment reads your tenant configuration and returns a scored report. Here is what each section evaluates.
Secure Score Baseline
Your Microsoft Secure Score compared to industry benchmarks. Financial institutions typically start at 32%. Guardian clients average 85%+. We show you the gap and what to fix first.
Data Loss Prevention
Are DLP policies protecting member data? Are sensitivity labels applied to documents containing NPI? Copilot will surface whatever is accessible, so DLP must be tight before deployment.
Entra ID Configuration
Conditional Access, MFA enforcement, PIM configuration, and leaked credential detection via Entra ID Protection. Identity is the perimeter for every Copilot interaction.
Compliance Readiness
Audit logging, eDiscovery, retention policies, and regulatory alignment for FFIEC, NCUA, and state examiners. AI deployment creates new audit trails that examiners will review.
License Optimization
Are you on the right Microsoft plan? Business Premium ($32/user bundled with Copilot) vs. E3/E5 vs. E7. We identify wasted licenses and the most cost-effective path to Copilot deployment.
User Readiness
Technology without adoption is waste. We assess your team's readiness for AI tools, identify champion users, and recommend a phased rollout that matches your institution's culture.
From assessment to first AI agent in 90 days
ABT has deployed Copilot and AI agents across 750+ financial institutions. This is the proven path.
Assess
Free tenant assessment via getmygrade.myabt.com. Scored report with prioritized fix list across all four pillars.
Harden
Guardian deploys security foundations. Secure Score to 85%+, sensitivity labels, DLP policies, Conditional Access configured.
Deploy
Copilot Business licenses activated. Champion group trained first. Phased rollout with adoption metrics tracking from day one.
Govern
Agent 365 governance controls active. Custom agents deployed via Copilot Studio. Continuous monitoring via Guardian Security Insights.
Go deeper on AI readiness
FFIEC CAT to NIST CSF 2.0: What Financial Institutions Need to Know
The compliance framework shift and how it affects your AI governance readiness.
GOVERNANCEAgent 365 Governance for Financial Institutions
Five controls that make AI agent deployment safe for credit unions and banks.
SECURITYBYOD and AI Security: Mobile Policy for Financial Institutions
80% of employees bring their own AI tools. Here is how to govern that reality.
Frequently asked questions
Assess Your AI Readiness
Not sure where to start? Tell us about your institution and we will help you understand where you stand before any Copilot or AI agent deployment.
- Security and Governance
- Guardian Managed Security
- Guardian MxDR
- Security Assessment
- Attack Simulation
- Security Insights
- Cloud and Data
- Microsoft 365 and Azure
- Business Intelligence
- Virtual Desktops
- Productivity Insights
- Mortgage and Custom
- MortgageExchange
- DocumentGuardian
- App Pilot
- Point Central
- Email Signatures
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