{"id":19001,"date":"2025-05-01T09:05:00","date_gmt":"2025-05-01T16:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/insidetrack\/blog\/?p=19001"},"modified":"2026-03-13T14:34:31","modified_gmt":"2026-03-13T21:34:31","slug":"guiding-hands-inside-the-councils-steering-ai-projects-at-microsoft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/insidetrack\/blog\/guiding-hands-inside-the-councils-steering-ai-projects-at-microsoft\/","title":{"rendered":"Guiding hands: Inside the councils steering AI projects at Microsoft"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Microsoft<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As one of the first global enterprises to implement Microsoft 365 Copilot and other AI tools at scale, we entered the AI era with a mix of boldness and caution. That meant striving to capture the opportunities of AI fully while protecting our employees, customers, and company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Throughout that process, we\u2019ve relied on a series of employee-led councils to help us guide our strategy, drive our transformation, and shape our AI-forward culture. These bodies have been crucial for driving implementation excellence, maintaining an AI-ready data estate, and ensuring that we infuse this new technology with responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is the story of how Microsoft Digital, the company\u2019s IT organization, established the AI Center of Excellence (CoE), the Data Council, and a team of responsible AI champions connected to the company\u2019s overarching Responsible AI Council, and how these three groups are leading the way on effective, secure AI. Sharing these responsibilities across three different councils helps employees apply their specialized expertise and passion to challenges around implementation, data, and responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Different methods and structures will work for different organizations, but learning from the ways our AI councils operate can inspire your own efforts as you explore and implement AI projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The need for a guiding hand in AI<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Baccino,
Diego Baccino (left to right), Don Campbell, and Faisal Nasir know the value of AI initiatives across Microsoft Digital and lead and support the teams to drive governance, excellence, and security.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

AI is a fast-moving technology. In just the last couple of years, the world has progressed through the advent of generative AI, the release of enterprise-grade AI solutions like Microsoft 365 Copilot, and the emergence of agents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That velocity has meant that some companies have adopted AI with insufficient governance, security, data infrastructure, or strategies for aligning initiatives with their business priorities. That isn\u2019t just risky. It also doesn\u2019t drive effective impact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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“At Microsoft, we knew we couldn\u2019t just implement AI for its own sake,” says Don Campbell, senior director of Employee Experience Success at Microsoft Digital. \u201cJust like any other technology, the core challenge for AI is determining the right solutions to deliver on concrete, measurable business outcomes in the best, quickest, most responsible way.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

A clear vision detailing how AI will support your business is essential, but the technical and talent foundations also need to be in place. With technology as revolutionary as AI, that\u2019s a substantial challenge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Any organization adopting AI for the first time will have plenty of questions, and Microsoft was no different. In the past year, we\u2019ve had to wrestle with some foundational ideas:<\/p>\n\n\n\n