Before You Trust AI, Clean Up IAM - A CISO's Guide to Deploy Copilot

Why IAM is the Starting Point for Any AI Rollout

The rise of tools like Microsoft Copilot brings AI directly into the digital workplace — generating emails, surfacing documents, and summarising conversations. But AI doesn’t decide who gets access. Your identity and access data does.

That’s why more and more CISOs are putting IAM (Identity & Access Management) at the centre of their AI readiness strategy. And for good reason.

According to Gartner, 40% of Microsoft Copilot rollouts are delayed — largely due to identity issues like overprivileged access, orphaned accounts, and lack of visibility.

The Real Risks of AI Without IAM in Place

AI systems like Copilot don’t bypass access controls — they work with what’s already there. That’s what makes poor IAM hygiene so risky.

Here are some common issues we see in organisations rushing into AI:

• Oversharing → AI summarises or surfaces sensitive data to the wrong users

• Shadow access → Users have permissions they shouldn’t, often without knowing

• Privileged roles → Admins or senior staff retain broad access well beyond what’s needed

• Lack of oversight → No clear view of who can access what, or why

Why IAM is More Than Just Provisioning

IAM isn't just about provisioning and deprovisioning users anymore — especially in an AI-driven workplace. It's about understanding the real-world impact of access, and making sure AI only sees what it’s supposed to see.

As CISO Mike Den Buurman put it during our webinar:

“The real danger isn’t Copilot leaking data. It’s insiders asking the wrong questions and getting the right answers.”

That’s the risk. Copilot doesn’t invent access; it reflects your current identity state. If that state is messy, AI simply amplifies the problem.

This is why IAM must:

• Surface risky access before Copilot starts surfacing data

• Highlight hidden privileges that even admins may not know exist

• Embed governance directly into your M365 environment, without slowing productivity

Your IAM Roadmap: 6 Steps to Copilot-Readiness

To safely enable AI like Microsoft Copilot, organisations should follow a clear IAM maturity path. That’s why we’ve created a 6-step IAM checklist, based on real-world CISO priorities:

1. Strong Authentication & Baseline Hygiene – Apply strong authentication policies, clean up identity lifecycle issues, and block legacy authentication methods.

2. Conditional Access & Device Trust – Enforce authorisation policies and protect against unmanaged devices and risky sessions.

3. Privileged Access Management (PAM) – Eliminate standing admin roles, implement just-in-time (JIT) elevation, and monitor privileged activity.

4. Access Lifecycle & Reviews – Automate entitlement management and regularly certify access across users, groups, and sites.

5. App & Connector Consent Governance – Control third-party app access through admin consent workflows and least-privilege scopes.

6. Data Access Posture for M365 & Copilot – Restrict search visibility, apply sensitivity labels, and enforce secure data-sharing policies across Microsoft 365.

This checklist ensures that Copilot only sees what it should — and nothing more.

Interested in taking control of user access?