“The adoption of generative AI has surged globally, with usage jumping from 55% in 2023 to 75% in 2024, according to IDC’s latest study,” reports Pure AI. Understandably, much of that adoption so far has been to become familiar with the technology, develop proofs of concept and deploy pilot use cases within specific functions.

Now, according to recent Avanade Trendlines research, 60% of 4,100 organizations with $500 million to $5 billion annual revenue surveyed say they are making AI a top priority in 2025.

Microsoft has taken the lead in enterprise gen AI with the introduction of the Microsoft Copilot ecosystem, which has opened new gen AI-powered avenues for enhanced employee productivity and operational excellence. 

It continues to develop and introduce Copilots for specific purposes and industries. Two Copilots in particular, were developed to add capabilities to enterprise-wide functions, which offer ways to benefit financial services in 2025:

• Copilot for Microsoft 365 allows users to get more done faster with the help of a secure AI assistant embedded within the Microsoft applications they use every day.
• Microsoft Security Copilot provides security and IT teams a gen AI-powered assistant to enhance daily operations and help protect against sophisticated data attacks and online fraudsters.

Unfortunately, experts tell us that the frequency and sophistication of cyberattacks is expected to continue to accelerate, as threat actors themselves explore new ways to leverage AI. An ongoing shortage of skilled security analysts only makes the threat environment more challenging.

That’s why the financial services sector is giving Security Copilot such a close look. Added to an organization’s already strong security foundation, it can assist your security team in significant ways. Two of the most impactful:

• Support investigations. During a threat investigation, it can summarize signals, make inferences about what the attacker is trying to do, streamline and optimize investigations and then report on the investigation findings, all using natural language.
• Strengthen team expertise. Security Copilot can be configured to provide security teams with step-by-step guidance and automate tedious tasks, allowing them to focus on strategic priorities. In our own deployment of Security Copilot, we have found it particularly useful in security team development, helping less experienced security team members handle tasks such as investigating malicious scripts and creating hunting queries, which otherwise they would have escalated to more experienced analysts. It also improves their quality of life, as it provides them a “non-judgmental” assistant to ask questions of before reaching out to someone else.

One caveat: AI is not plug and play. When customized and deployed to address your organization’s specific environment, Copilot can help you protect your organization, customers, employees and data.

One of the benefits of working within the Microsoft Copilot ecosystem is access to a constantly updated set of best practices that is emerging from real-world experience. Those best practices can guide organizations in everything from use cases to pilots and deployments.

In addition, Avanade has developed a collection of tools and enhancements that help financial services companies get the most from their gen AI systems. On a larger scale, industry groups are beginning to work together to develop industry standards, protocols and guidelines that can serve as a basis for collaboration and can be updated as rules and regulations for the use of gen AI in financial services emerge.

Carefully and appropriately customized, Copilot for Security can help financial services companies create stronger, safer environments in which to operate. And Avanade is uniquely positioned to partner with you to make the most of your gen AI investment.

As a member of Microsoft’s Design Advisory Council for Security Copilot, we’ve helped shape its functionality, ensuring it has the capabilities and features to protect our clients from always evolving cyberthreats now and into the future. We have a deep understanding of how the technology works and how to get the best from it.

In addition, our approach, which combines advisory, consulting and managed security, is complemented by our experience working across 6,000+ AI projects for more than 350 clients.

Avanade offers a number of ways to get started, all at your own speed, in a way that works for your organization:

• Learn and Discuss Workshop / 1-2 hours: In this discussion, you will learn more about how to prepare for a secure gen AI deployment, including an exclusive demonstration of Copilot for Security Copilot and readiness assessment.
• Security Copilot Quick Start / 4–6 weeks: We identify your three top pain points and modernize their workflow leveraging Security Copilot. ​We then pilot these modernizations in your security operations and measure the optimization achieved, building the value case for broader modernization.
• Modernize and Expand / 6 weeks-6 months: Here, with our expert support and guidance, we partner with you to build upon the outcomes of Quick Start and modernize workflows for additional use cases. We will assist you with introducing the modernized workflows including well-engineered Security Copilot promptbooks into your production Security Operations.

If you’d like to learn more, let’s connect and explore how we can get 2025 off to a strong start, as we work together to unlock value for your organization.