As the digital landscape evolves, technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) are becoming increasingly embedded in business operations. However, a recent survey highlights a gap between AI adoption and governance practices.
The study conducted by ShareGate, based on responses from over 850 IT and security leaders across the U.S., Canada, and Europe, found that 29% of organisations have experienced cases where AI tools have surfaced sensitive data unintentionally. At the same time, 93% of respondents say they are confident in their Microsoft 365 governance framework’s ability to manage AI responsibly.
The data exposed in these instances spans multiple categories, including customer records (36%), sensitive internal documents (31%), personal data and PII (30%), HR records (30%), financial data (25%), and proprietary IP (21%). However, only 51% of organisations report having completed a full governance review since enabling Microsoft 365 AI tools, including Copilot.
The findings also show that AI has increased governance workload. Over 70% of respondents say AI has added to their governance burden, and nearly 8 in 10 express at least moderate concern about AI accessing content that has not been recently reviewed for permissions.
According to the report, AI tools such as Copilot have not created governance challenges but have highlighted existing gaps, including fragmented oversight and inconsistent controls. At the same time, 80% of respondents expect measurable returns from Microsoft 365 AI investments within 18 months.
Governance activities such as permission audits, data cleanup, and lifecycle management are reported to influence confidence in AI initiatives, with more than three-quarters of organisations indicating that governance plays an important role in AI adoption decisions.
In response to these challenges, organisations are increasingly considering external support. Around 80% of respondents say they are likely to engage an external partner for an AI governance assessment before expanding their use of AI tools.
