AI Readiness Assessment

Your team is already using AI.
We’ll show you where.

33% of employees feed company data into AI tools your IT department doesn’t see. ABT scans your Microsoft 365 tenant for shadow AI use, audit gaps, and Copilot-readiness blockers, then gives you a 90-day plan to bring it under your control.

Featured Short

Trusted by 750+ of the Nation's Leading Lenders, Banks & Credit Unions.

TIER 1 MICROSOFT CSP
SOC 2 TYPE II
ZERO TRUST
NIST CSF ALIGNED
FFIEC
GLBA / FTC SAFEGUARDS
NCUA / FDIC
CFPB / GSE AUDIT READY
750+ INSTITUTIONS
SINCE 1999
33%
of employees feed company data into unsanctioned AI tools
Cyberhaven Q1 2026 shadow AI report
60%
of enterprise AI copilots had data-exfil vulnerabilities in red-team testing
2026 prompt injection threat landscape
8%
Copilot adoption when employees can choose any AI tool (vs 68% captive)
2026 enterprise AI choice studies
750+
financial institutions ABT manages Microsoft tenants for
25+ years CSP experience
The problem you can’t see

Your people aren’t waiting for IT.

When the approved path is slower than the workaround, employees take the workaround. They paste loan files into ChatGPT on their phones. They draft examiner correspondence in free public chatbots. They summarize compliance meetings using browser extensions your tenant has no record of. Most of it never shows up in your audit logs because it never touched your tenant.

Data walking out the door

Member NPI, loan-file PII, and board-meeting content pasted into consumer AI chat windows. The data leaves your control the moment it’s submitted. There’s no record of where it went, how it was retained, or whether the model trained on it.

Audit gaps you can’t close

Examiners increasingly ask which AI tools your team uses and how you control them. If the answer relies on what employees self-report, you have a finding waiting to happen. Visibility starts with knowing what’s actually running.

No examiner trail

An audit-ready AI deployment produces complete logs of what was asked, what data was accessed, and what actions were taken. Shadow AI produces none of that. When the next examination asks for evidence, there’s nothing to show.

The lesson regulated industries learned the hard way: unmanaged hidden AI usage is more dangerous than rapid managed deployment. The fastest path to control isn’t prohibiting the tools your people already use. It’s giving them a sanctioned alternative inside your Microsoft 365 tenant, with audit trails and data boundaries that examiners can actually review.

ABT Readiness Framework

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 Microsoft Defender, and Microsoft 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, community banks, and mortgage companies 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 and borrower information 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. Microsoft 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 Microsoft 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.

Get your AI Readiness Assessment

Complimentary for active ABT clients. Includes a tenant scan for shadow AI, a prioritized 90-day fix list, and an executive readout your board can review. Senior-engineer engagement, two- to three-week delivery.

What We Check

Your assessment covers eight critical areas

ABT runs the assessment using Microsoft’s automated readiness tooling and Defender for Cloud Apps shadow AI discovery, then layers senior-engineer interpretation on top. You get a scored report, a prioritized fix list, and an executive readout in two to three weeks.

SHADOW AI

Shadow AI Discovery

Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps identifies every AI service your tenant users have touched in the last 30 days. ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and the long tail of free chatbots show up here, including which users and how often.

DATA

Data Loss Prevention

Are DLP policies protecting member NPI and borrower information? Are sensitivity labels applied to documents containing regulated data? Copilot will surface whatever is accessible, so DLP must be tight before deployment.

DEVICE

Browser Extension Audit

Microsoft Intune and Defender for Endpoint identify which AI browser extensions are installed on managed devices. This is where personal-account ChatGPT signs in alongside corporate Microsoft 365, often invisibly.

SECURITY

Secure Score Baseline

Your Microsoft Secure Score compared to financial-institution benchmarks. Most institutions start at 32%. Guardian clients average above 85%. We show you the gap and what to fix first.

IDENTITY

Tenant Readiness

Microsoft Entra ID configuration, Conditional Access policies, MFA enforcement, PIM for admin accounts, and Purview compliance posture. Identity is the perimeter for every Copilot interaction.

LICENSE

Copilot Utilization Review

Existing Copilot seats in your tenant, who’s using them, and where adoption has stalled. We also identify the most cost-effective licensing path forward, whether that’s Microsoft 365 Business Premium plus Copilot Business or an enterprise stack.

DEPLOYMENT

Phased Deployment Plan

A prioritized 30/60/90-day remediation roadmap with assigned ownership, estimated effort, and sequencing. Not a generic checklist. Specific to what your tenant scan revealed.

GOVERNANCE

AI Use Policy + Executive Readout

A draft AI use policy your board can adopt, plus a 30-minute executive readout covering findings, business risk, and recommended next steps. Designed to satisfy examiner questions before they’re asked.

Don’t have all the prerequisite Microsoft tooling? That’s common, and it doesn’t disqualify you. ABT delivers every component your tenant supports today and includes specific recommendations (with cost) for the components you’re missing. The assessment is the first step in closing the gap, not a gate to entry.
What it costs

Two paths in.

The AI Readiness Assessment is a senior-engineer engagement that typically retails at $2,000. ABT runs it complimentary for active clients as part of the Microsoft 365 service relationship.

Active ABT Microsoft 365 clients

Complimentary

Typically valued at $2,000

You’re managing Microsoft 365 with ABT today. The AI Readiness Assessment is included as part of your CSP relationship, scheduled at your timing.

  • Two- to three-week engagement led by an ABT senior engineer
  • Eight-component tenant evaluation across security, identity, data governance, AI usage, and deployment readiness
  • Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps shadow AI discovery (every AI service your tenant users touched in the last 30 days)
  • DLP and sensitivity-label audit across SharePoint, OneDrive, Teams, and Exchange
  • Microsoft Secure Score baseline plus financial-institution peer benchmark
  • Custom 30/60/90-day remediation roadmap with assigned ownership and effort estimates
  • Draft AI use policy your board can adopt without rewriting
  • Executive readout deck plus 30-minute live walkthrough for IT, compliance, and risk leads
  • Examiner-ready documentation package (FFIEC, NCUA, CFPB, GSE exam contexts)
Schedule my assessment

Microsoft 365 not yet with ABT?

Let’s talk

Move your Microsoft 365 to ABT and the assessment is included as part of the relationship. Or scope it as a standalone paid engagement first.

  • Move your Microsoft 365 to ABT (Tier-1 CSP) and the assessment is complimentary
  • Microsoft 365 Copilot promotional pricing through June 30, 2026 ($10/user/month incremental over Business Premium) becomes available the day you transition
  • No-cost CSP transfer support for qualifying institutions
  • Or scope as a standalone paid engagement ($2,000) and decide afterward
  • Same eight-component scope as the active-client engagement
  • Senior-engineer-led discovery, interpretation, and executive readout
Talk to a specialist
Your Path Forward

From assessment to first AI agent in 90 days

ABT manages Microsoft tenants for 750+ financial institutions. This is the path we’ve proven across the ones deploying Microsoft 365 Copilot and AI agents.

1
Week 1-2

Assess

Tenant scan plus shadow AI discovery. Scored report with prioritized fix list across all four pillars and eight components.

2
Week 3-6

Harden

Guardian deploys security foundations. Secure Score to 85%+, sensitivity labels, DLP policies, Conditional Access configured.

3
Week 7-10

Deploy

Microsoft 365 Copilot Business licenses activated. Champion group trained first. Phased rollout with adoption metrics tracking from day one.

4
Week 11-13

Govern

Microsoft Agent 365 governance controls active. Custom agents deployed via Copilot Studio. Continuous monitoring via Guardian Security Insights.

Frequently asked questions

What does the AI Readiness Assessment actually include?
The assessment evaluates eight components: shadow AI discovery via Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps, DLP and data exposure analysis, browser extension audit via Microsoft Intune, Microsoft Secure Score baseline, tenant readiness across Microsoft Entra ID and Purview, Copilot license utilization review, a phased 30/60/90-day deployment plan, and a draft AI use policy plus executive readout. Delivery is two to three weeks, with senior-engineer interpretation layered on top of automated Microsoft tooling.
Is the assessment really complimentary? What’s the catch?
For active ABT clients, yes, complimentary as part of the Microsoft 365 service relationship. The engagement typically retails at $2,000 elsewhere. There’s no obligation to deploy Copilot, no contractual commitment, and no upsell call masquerading as a results review. If the assessment surfaces work you decide not to do, you keep the report. If you decide to act on it, ABT can scope the remediation as a separate engagement.
What if we don’t have Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps deployed?
Common, and it’s not a blocker. ABT delivers every component your tenant supports today, then provides specific recommendations (with cost) for the pieces you’re missing. For shadow AI discovery specifically, Defender for Cloud Apps gives the deepest visibility, but we can also work with audit logs, Conditional Access sign-in data, and endpoint telemetry to surface most of the picture. The assessment report tells you what you have, what you’re missing, and what closing the gap would cost.
Doesn’t Microsoft 365 Copilot have its own security issues?
Yes. EchoLeak (CVE-2025-32711), disclosed in early 2026, was a zero-click data-exfiltration vulnerability in Microsoft 365 Copilot. Microsoft patched it within days, but the underlying lesson stands: any AI inside your tenant needs the audit trails, data boundaries, and DLP controls that detect and prevent these patterns. Red-team testing in 2026 found that 60% of enterprise AI copilots had similar exfil vulnerabilities. The right response isn’t avoiding Copilot; it’s deploying it with the governance framework that makes attacks visible. That’s what ABT’s readiness work delivers on day one, independent of which CVE is in the news.
What if my employees just want to use ChatGPT?
They probably already are, and that’s the problem. When employees can choose any AI tool, Copilot adoption drops to 8% (vs 68% when employees are captive). The fix isn’t prohibition. It’s making the sanctioned alternative as fast and useful as the workaround. Microsoft 365 Copilot runs inside your tenant on your data, with audit trails, and integrates directly into Outlook, Teams, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. Once it’s deployed correctly, the workaround stops being faster, and the sanctioned tool becomes the path of least resistance.
How do you assess AI readiness for a financial institution?
Financial institutions assess AI readiness across four pillars: tenant security posture (Microsoft Secure Score), data governance (DLP and sensitivity labels in Microsoft Purview), identity and access maturity (Microsoft Entra ID, Conditional Access, PIM), and deployment readiness (licensing, training plans, adoption metrics). For mortgage companies, credit unions, and community banks, this also requires examiner-ready audit trail completeness and a documented AI use policy. ABT’s assessment automates the technical evaluation and delivers it with senior-engineer interpretation tuned to your regulatory context.
What’s the practical AI readiness checklist for banks and credit unions?
The practical checklist: Microsoft Secure Score above 70%, MFA enforced for all users, DLP policies active for PII and NPI, sensitivity labels deployed across SharePoint and OneDrive, Conditional Access policies configured, Microsoft Entra ID P2 with PIM enabled, SharePoint permissions audited for oversharing, shadow AI discovery via Defender for Cloud Apps, browser extension audit via Intune, and a documented AI use policy approved by your board. ABT’s assessment covers all of these automatically and delivers the gap report.
How long does it take to become AI-ready?
Most financial institutions can move from assessment to first Copilot deployment in 90 days. The timeline breaks down as: 1-2 weeks for assessment, 3-4 weeks for security hardening and Guardian deployment, 3-4 weeks for Copilot licensing and champion group training, and 2-3 weeks for governance controls and phased user rollout. Institutions with existing Microsoft 365 E3 or E5 deployments and active Guardian monitoring can move faster.

Find your shadow AI.

Tell us about your institution and we’ll show you exactly which AI tools your team is using today, how they map to examiner expectations, and what it takes to bring them inside your tenant.

SOC 2 Type II
Tier-1 Microsoft CSP
750+
Financial Institutions
25+
Years
8
Assessment Components
Complimentary for ABT M365 clients
Schedule your AI Readiness Assessment
Typically a $2,000 senior-engineer engagement. Included as part of your CSP relationship. An ABT readiness specialist will reach out within one business day to scope timing.
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