Expert Advice On AI Adoption And Copilot Readiness
When companies decide to introduce AI tools like Microsoft Copilot, enthusiasm can run high, while organizational preparedness is low. Pieter Kops, an expert in digital transformation and Microsoft 365, says that organizations need to clean up before they switch on.
While AI-powered tools have powerful capabilities, from automating routine tasks to analysing large data sets, companies frequently underestimate the groundwork needed to use them effectively and securely. We recently spoke to Pieter to uncover the dangers of jumping in too quickly and the best practice for getting AI adoption right.
Before you can do anything with AI, you must have a clear governance policy and well-organized documents and data. You’ll also need everything in the cloud.
Start with governance, not gadgets
Pieter and his team at ACA IT-Solutions know the value of a thorough readiness assessment. Their ‘Copilot Readiness Scan’ has become a go-to service for clients curious about AI implementation. It evaluates everything from permissions hygiene to metadata quality and data classification policies.
We get calls from customers who turn Copilot on and then panic: ‘Help, all our data is everywhere!’ Often there’s a single root cause: they don’t have a solid permissions model, so sensitive data is surfacing where it shouldn’t.
The other aspect is the quality of data fed to AI models. For example, Copilot’s reliance on Microsoft Search Index. If it contains old or irrelevant content, or worse, unprotected sensitive data, then Copilot’s outputs will reflect that. As Pieter says, “You get out what you put in.”
Hands up, who needs Copilot?
Not every user in your organization needs Copilot from day one. Beyond technical readiness, Pieter encourages clients to take a strategic approach to licensing. With Copilot licenses coming in at around €30 per user, per month, organizations need to carefully weigh up the ROI. “I advise some companies to get their employees to apply for a license,” says Pieter.
While C-level executives often want early access, more often than not it’s executive assistants, project managers, and technical staff who realize the most value. “Give them a form. Ask them: Why do you think you’ll save €30 a month? Get users to show you where the value is.”
Practical wins and real use cases
Pieter’s team has seen a growing number of success stories. Managing project information can be a logistical headache in any industry. Many of Pieter’s clients use a common approach to project management: storing projects in subfolders on a file server. To move a project to the next phase, they manually copy files to another folder structure and notify the next team by email.
“It can be a real mess,” says Pieter. “They’re duplicating files, losing metadata, and wasting time, just to move from one project phase to another. It’s one of the worst things you can do when it comes to managing information.” This kind of process not only introduces risk and inconsistency, but also completely undermines any effort to work in a structured, scalable way. That’s where WorkPoint 365 makes an immediate impact.
With WorkPoint 365, the need for manual copying disappears. Instead of duplicating files across folders, users simply change the project’s state within the system. The next team is automatically notified, tasks are generated, and all relevant permissions and metadata stay intact. WorkPoint 365 also lets you set up new permissions for the next phase of a project, transforming a previously clunky handover into a seamless, traceable workflow.
“When teams see how easy it is with WorkPoint 365, just a state change instead of copying and emailing, and they’re genuinely excited. That’s the moment you see desire kick in. They realize it’s that much better.”
Copilot has proved its worth in Pieter’s own work by quickly analyzing complex Excel data sets, saving hours of manual effort.
I scanned a 5,000-user environment to check for 2-Factor Authentication (2FA) status. Instead of filtering through Excel manually, I asked Copilot what it noticed. It interpreted the data and gave me actionable insights right away.
The future: Intelligent AI agents and project learning
Looking ahead, Pieter is excited about the potential of Copilot Agents, AI tools grounded in specific data libraries. He envisions an agent trained on past WorkPoint project data that could offer best practices or checklists before starting a new migration.
The challenge, however, lies in Microsoft’s current limitations: agents can only access a handful of libraries at a time. “All our WorkPoint project sites follow the same pattern,” he notes. “If I could connect an agent to everything under one URL pattern, we’d unlock a goldmine of organizational knowledge.”
Best practice for AI adoption
Pieter and his team at ACA IT-Solutions have a clear roadmap for getting started with AI:
- Secure your data: archive outdated content, fix permissions, and set up governance
- Educate users: run inspiration sessions to demonstrate real-world uses
- Be selective with licensing: identify where the tool can save time or increase value
- Build governance into everything because AI without boundaries is a risk
AI is not a gadget. This is enterprise software with real impact, and real consequences if you’re not prepared.
WorkPoint 365: The AI-enabler
As AI continues to reshape how businesses operate, one thing is clear: success doesn’t come from simply plugging in new technology. For organizations looking to truly benefit from AI, it starts with rethinking the way work gets done.
“AI can’t deliver real value unless the underlying processes and data structures are clean, consistent, and aligned,” says Pieter. “We work with organizations to make sure their workflows are not only digital, but intelligent, so when they’re ready to layer on AI, it’s working with high-quality inputs, not chaos.”
That clarity is critical. Many organizations want AI to streamline operations or uncover new insights, but few are fully prepared. Legacy systems, disconnected data, and manual processes often create friction.
WorkPoint 365 is an AI enabler for Microsoft-based organizations. Here are 10 ways that WorkPoint Partners, like Pieter at ACA IT-Solutions, use it to support Microsoft-based customers with AI adoption:
- Enable a phased, low-risk approach to AI adoption
- Support the gradual automation of processes like document approvals
- Ensure documents and data remain relevant, accurate, and easy to manage
- Label information using policies and structured workflows
- Provide clean, organized, and trustworthy data ideal for AI integration
- Strengthen control with its dynamic permission matrix
- Restrict access to sensitive documents based on defined user roles
- Restore original permissions if documents are wrongly shared
- Enhance compliance, governance, and data security
- Build a reliable, AI-ready foundation through smart information management