Blog Data governance strategy for Copilot
Implementing Copilot?
Why data governance is a key pillar of a successful strategy
By Insight Editor / 11 Mar 2025 / Topics: Data and AI Cybersecurity Generative AI Microsoft 365 Copilot
When the Generative AI (GenAI) hype took off, one major concern emerged: data security. While Microsoft Copilot has always been more secure than applications such as ChatGPT – keeping sensitive information within the safe confines of your own IT environment – risks such as data leakage and unauthorised access still require attention. Fortunately, Microsoft is developing new features to further enhance security and mitigate these risks.
As an experienced Microsoft partner, Insight recently attended and sponsored MC2MC Connect. This event brings together Microsoft experts and enthusiasts, providing a platform to connect with peers, explore new and upcoming features, and exchange ideas and best practices.
The insights we gained will help us better support customers in overcoming their challenges – for example, when it comes to deploying Copilot. One of the key concerns we encounter has to do with data governance. Many customers want to integrate Copilot into their IT environment but lack a solid data governance strategy.
Here are some of the most common questions we hear:
- How can we secure data and prevent leaks or unauthorised sharing with third parties?
- How do we protect prompts in Copilot and ensure the security of its generated output?
- How should we classify data effectively?
- How can we automate and safeguard data streams?
Without proper data governance, you risk unauthorised access to sensitive data. Additionally, you won’t be able to fully harness Copilot’s potential.
Labeling sensitive documents
While Copilot quickly became a popular tool in organisations, many struggled to use it securely and efficiently. Behind the scenes, Microsoft has been working hard to address these concerns, ensuring users can leverage their data with confidence. During MC2MC, experts showcased several upcoming features designed to tackle many of the challenges mentioned above.
Before rolling out Copilot across your organisation, it’s crucial to prevent the tool from generating output based on restricted files. Previously, managing this was complex, but Microsoft is simplifying the process. New features make it easier to apply labels, ensuring Copilot tailors responses based on user roles. For example, a sales representative might receive different insights than a board member.
To further prevent data leakage, Microsoft now enables automatic labeling of new documents as highly sensitive if they stem from previously labeled content. Additionally, they are developing mechanisms to label SharePoint sites and groups in bulk, making governance more seamless.
Insight helps you get started
Copilot is a powerful solution that helps your employees work more efficiently and productively. To ensure a smooth implementation, you can rely on an experienced partner like Insight.
We offer a phased approach to securely introduce Microsoft Copilot in your organisation:
- We start by identifying your business goals and challenges.
- Next, we assess your company’s readiness for Copilot.
- We then help you define a solid data governance strategy, set up user permissions and roles, and implement essential security measures.
- Finally, we also assist you by providing training & resources, analysing results, and supporting change management.
Data governance is an ongoing process, and we recommend reviewing it multiple times per year to prevent data leaks and maintain high-quality output. With Microsoft Copilot, you only need to establish this foundation once. Once in place, you can scale and build without limits.
Click here to learn more about Microsoft Copilot and how Insight can support your organisation.
Author Profile
Sofyan Boumadiani
Connected Workforce Consultant at Insight
