Balancing the risks and opportunities of AI

One of the areas where you need to pay attention, when leveraging the power of AI, is data security. At 9altitudes, we understand the importance of guiding our customers through the complexities and risks associated with AI. As your trusted advisor, we take a balanced and pragmatic approach to ensure you can leverage AI effectively and responsibly.

Therefore, we have gathered 6 advises specifically for you, who want to start leveraging AI while balancing the risks:

1. Acknowledge the importance of data security

Several governmental instances and organizations have raised concerns the past months about data security when working with AI. We recognize that many of these concerns are valid – security, compliance, and governance are important. As a company wishing to leverage the power of AI, you should remember that you (potentially) give the AI access to a wide range of organizational data, if not configured correctly, it could expose sensitive or regulated information. Therefore it’s important to consider how AI will impact your data governance.

Transparency is key, and we are here to help you navigate these concerns.

2. Differentiate between the different AI tools – and their security level

While general AI concerns are valid, it's important to differentiate them from the actual safeguards Microsoft has implemented for their AI-platform, Copilot. Microsoft has robust compliance and security features, making sure your data remains within your control under Microsoft's data policies and is not used to train their foundation models. Tools like Microsoft Purview and Security Copilot can help monitor and mitigate risks related to AI usage.

These safeguards are a fundamental part of how Copilot was designed, but you should remember that not all AI-platforms have the same focus on data protection. So when you are choosing which AI-platform to use, our advice is, that you take this into consideration as well.

3. Create a structured AI governance framework

To ensure responsible AI usage, we recommend establishing clear policies on who can use which AI-tools, what data the tool can access, and how outputs should be validated. Conducting Data Protection Impact Assessments (DPIAs) before widespread deployment is essential. Implementing role-based access control (RBAC) can restrict data exposure, and activating Microsoft Purview can aid in data classification, auditing, and risk detection.

4. Educating and empowering of your end users

Empowering your employees with knowledge is crucial. At 9altitudes, we are ready to provide training on data sensitivity and AI-generated content validation. Encouraging critical thinking is vital - Copilot is an assistant, not a decision-maker. Implementing human review processes before acting on AI-driven insights ensures accuracy and reliability.

Training should not stand alone. Users should know your company guidelines, so that they know how to use AI in compliance with your goals, ethics and compliance standards

5. Get tailored advice based on your company's risk profile

Every business is unique, and so are its risk profiles. High-regulation industries like finance, healthcare, and the public sector may require stricter controls, private instances, or even disabling AI-tools for specific workloads. Where some low-risk environments can proceed with standard security best practices and Microsoft's default safeguards. We tailor our advice to fit your specific needs.

6. Consider alternative AI strategies if necessary

For businesses highly concerned with cloud data processing, on-prem AI solutions or private GPT models may be viable alternatives. And open-source models running on Azure confidential computing, private cloud or other alternatives can reduce exposure. We help you explore all options to find the best fit for your business.