AI & AUTOMATION
Intelligent Automation. In the right hands.
Microsoft Copilot, Power Platform and workflow automation, deployed with the controls, oversight and governance to make AI work safely, and prove it.
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Your people are already using AI at work, whether you've approved it or not. The question is how you control it.
Your people are already using AI, with or without permission: meeting assistants, browser extensions, public chatbots, AI features built into the tools they use every day. It's happening whether you've planned for it or not. The opportunity that comes with it is real. But so is the exposure that comes from adopting it without governance.
Our partners:
What is shadow AI?
Shadow AI is what happens when your people adopt AI tools without your knowledge: meeting recorders, browser copilots, personal ChatGPT accounts, AI features switched on inside apps you already run. It's just how people get their jobs done faster.
But every one of those tools is a way for your data to leave your control - and if nobody's watching, nobody finds out until it's a problem.
You may already have a shadow AI problem if
- Staff are using personal AI accounts for work tasks
- There's no inventory of which AI tools have access to company data
- Copilot or other AI features are switched on by default, unconfigured
- There's no policy on what can and can't be shared with an AI tool
- IT and security are working from different pictures of what's in use
What do you need from AI & Automation?
AI adoption touches usage, data, security and people all at once. As those challenges evolve, it pays to be on the front foot. We support you across the full journey, wherever you're starting from.
Bring shadow AI into view
Get visibility over the AI tools your teams are already using, sanctioned or not, before it becomes a risk.
Roll out Copilot properly
Move from licensed to adopted, with data classified, security in place and people actually using it.
Automate the routine work
Free up capacity with workflow automation built on the Microsoft tools you already run.
Govern AI with confidence
Put classification, access controls and policy in place so AI can't reach what it shouldn't.
Where AI adoption starts to break down
AI risk rarely arrives as a single incident. It builds up, as shadow AI spreads, and nobody owns the bigger picture. Left unmanaged, this can lead to:
- Tools adopted informally, with no oversight
- Your data shared with public chatbots and browser extensions
- Copilot licensed, but never properly rolled out or adopted
- No classification of what data AI tools can and can't access
- No plan for scaling beyond a handful of early use cases
A structured approach to AI adoption
Adopting AI well is an organisational change, not a software purchase, and it needs to be handled as one. Here's how we bring structure and clarity to every stage.
Understand your exposure
We build an evidenced view of where shadow AI is already in use across your organisation, and where the risk sits.
Govern before you deploy
We classify your data and define policy before Copilot or any AI tool goes near it.
Deploy and drive adoption
We roll out Microsoft 365 Copilot and the wider AI stack, with a plan that gets people actually using it.
Scale what works
Once an early use case works, we extend them across your business, with governance that grows to match.
Start here:
Most organisations we meet sit somewhere between "AI is already happening, unofficially" and "we're ready to deploy Copilot but don't know where to start." Either is a good place to start with us.
Microsoft 365 Copilot Readiness Assessment
Start here if Copilot is already on your roadmap
- Assess licensing, data classification and platform readiness
- Identify risks to resolve before rollout
- Clear, evidenced plan to deploy and drive adoption
AI Visibility & Governance Assessment
Start here if you suspect shadow AI is already in play
- Map where AI tools are already in use across your organisation
- Identify data exposure and governance gaps
- Leadership readout with a clear, sequenced remediation plan
Why governance comes first
AI without governance just moves your risk faster. Before any AI tool, Copilot included, touches your data, we make sure the fundamentals are in place - through Microsoft Purview work, built in from the start, not bolted on afterwards.
- Data is classified, so AI only sees what it's supposed to
- Access controls are aligned to that classification
- Usage policy is defined and communicated, not implied
- Activity is monitored on an ongoing basis, not just at go-live
- We stay accountable through deployment, not just the assessment
Copilot is only the beginning
Copilot and AI agents don't just answer questions anymore; increasingly, they act; drafting, sending, updating records, triggering workflows, using the same permissions your people already have. That raises the stakes on governance.
We build agent governance into the same programme as your Copilot rollout: each agent scoped, owned and reviewed, not left to sprawl.
- Agents get created quickly, but ownership and permissions rarely keep pace
- Permissions and sharing links expand over time, giving agents more reach than intended
- Joiner-mover-leaver processes built for people don't account for agent identities
- One-off reviews fall behind as the number of agents in use grows
Backed by a secure foundation
Governance only holds if the infrastructure underneath it does too.
Cyber Security
Remedi8 continuously identifies exposure across your estate and closes it in structured patch waves, rather than leaving vulnerabilities to accumulate between manual patch cycles - so the environment AI is deployed into is one that's actively defended, not just assessed once and left.
Digital Employee Experience
Managed Endpoint and Endpoint Design sit on the same Intune and Autopilot foundation as your wider device estate. We keep that estate consistent, secure and adopted.
Cloud & Infrastructure
Your cloud and infrastructure estate is the foundation everything else runs on. We align security controls to the same environment we design, migrate and manage, so protection isn't bolted on afterwards.
Explore our AI & Automation capabilities
From initial visibility through to governed, scaled adoption, we deliver end-to-end AI & automation services across the Microsoft ecosystem.
- AI Visibility & Governance Assessment
- Data classification & Purview
- AI policy & risk management
- Microsoft 365 Copilot Readiness Assessment
- Microsoft 365 Copilot & Copilot Studio
- Adoption & change management
- Power Platform
- Power Automate
- Workflow automation
- Remedi8 automated remediation
- Structured patch waves
- Ongoing security monitoring
An integrated team, not a handover
AI adoption fails when it's treated as one project passed between suppliers. Espria works exclusively with UK organisations running on Microsoft, so our recommendations are grounded in the Microsoft 365, Azure and Copilot environment you already operate. One team plans it, together, from day one.
AI & Modern Work specialists
Design and lead Copilot and automation rollouts; they own the adoption plan that gets people using them.
Microsoft Purview specialists
Handle data classification and governance, so AI only ever sees what it's supposed to.
Cyber security specialists
Backed by Remedi8, secure the environment AI operates in, before and after go-live.
Case studies
Supporting the NAHT remotely
Founded in 1897 as the National Federation of Head Teachers’ Associations, in 1906, the organisation became the National Association of Head Teachers, or NAHT for short.
City Hire
City Hire is an independent tool and plant hire company supplying the construction industry since 1989. With a focus on high-quality equipment, reliable service and industry-leading technology,
Team17 – Using Power BI to Improve Reporting & Business Decision Making
A multi-award-winning video game development company got in touch with Espria to discuss improving their reporting and utilisation of their data.
The Development Bank of Wales – Managing a Laptop Refresh Project
The Development Bank of Wales is a public sector finance company employing almost 300 people based in Wales. Espria were engaged to manage a laptop refresh project.
National Association of Head Teachers – Managing a Move to the Cloud
Following the pandemic, NAHT was able to expedite its long-term plan to go fully cloud-based and complete the move from their bricks and mortar head office to the cloud in 2023.
Allvotec – Solving High Priority Issues in Minutes
Allvotec have over 30 years’ of experience in delivering value through technology, but faced an issue surrounding an SQL admin skills gap. Allvotec drafted in Espria to fill in the role of answering their highest priority issues.