Leverage Copilot for Microsoft 365: AI Strategy for Financial Institutions

Today’s banks and credit unions  (financial institutions) are increasingly exploring artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance operational efficiency, customer experience, and their competitive edge. With so many options, you want to feel comfortable your choice won’t cause reputation damage you might not recover from.

Copilot for Microsoft 365 (M365)  presents a compelling starting point to embark on your AI journey. Learn how Copilot for M365 can serve as a catalyst for AI adoption, emphasizing the importance of assessing controls and configurations to promote security, compliance, and employee comfort within your financial institution.

Leveraging existing M365 infrastructure

Many financial institutions already use M365 for their day-to-day operations. This existing infrastructure provides an integration point for Copilot, allowing institutions to leverage their current technology investments.

By embedding AI within familiar tools like Word, Excel, Outlook, SharePoint, OneDrive, and Teams, employees can gradually adapt to AI-driven enhancements without the steep learning curve associated with entirely new systems.

Additionally, they can significantly reduce risk by scaling down sources to internal, non-customer information while adopting a “walled garden” approach to monitor the reliability of the output, and correcting to improve future results.

Assessing controls and configuration

Before fully deploying Copilot, financial institutions should conduct a thorough assessment of their current controls and configurations within M365. This step helps align  implementation of AI tools with your institution’s security protocols — as well as FFIEC and interagency guidance around third-party risk.

Key areas of focus in an assessment should include:

• Data security — Protecting sensitive financial and customer/member data through robust encryption, access controls, and data segmentation.
• Compliance — Verifying AI tools comply with industry regulations such as GDPR, CCPA, NIST, FFIEC, and other relevant standards.
• Risk management — Identifying potential risks associated with AI deployment and developing mitigation strategies.
• IT infrastructure — Assessing the readiness of the existing IT infrastructure to support AI integration and scalability.

Building employee comfort and confidence

Introducing AI tools like Copilot for M365 requires careful consideration of comfort and confidence for management, boards of directors, and employees. It’s paramount AI and other digital solutions are viewed as one of tools available to drive efficiencies, improve performance, and enhance customer and member experience.

AI isn’t just something you can turn on and let run. It should align with your strategy and initiatives, helping you solve problems or improve processes. Institutions simply looking to implement any tool without fully scoping the options and impact are likely to be less successful.

Training programs, workshops, and incremental use cases can help employees understand the benefits of AI and how to effectively use these tools in daily tasks. By fostering a culture of continuous learning and providing ongoing support, financial institutions can promote a smooth transition and engagement to AI-enhanced workflows.

Collaboration with compliance, risk management, and IT/cybersecurity teams

Successful AI implementation in financial institutions hinges on collaboration with IT/cybersecurity, compliance, and risk management departments. These teams must work together to establish clear guidelines for AI use, monitor compliance, and address any emerging risks.

Regular audits, reviews, and monitoring can help maintain the integrity of AI systems while continuing to meet everchanging regulatory guidance and standards.