Every business is being told to “do AI.” Few are told how. The gap between the two is where most SMBs are stuck: a couple of people quietly using ChatGPT, no policy, no training, and data permissions that would make an AI rollout genuinely risky. We close that gap with a practical program — and we know it works, because we run the same one inside 3rdmill.
Why most AI attempts stall
Messy data and permissions. AI tools surface whatever your staff can technically access — which in most businesses is far more than anyone realises. Before AI reads your files, someone needs to check who can.
Tools without training. Handing people a chatbot licence with no guidance on when and how to use it produces novelty, not productivity. The gains come from trained habits: drafting, summarising, meeting intelligence, research.
No policy or guardrails. Without a documented AI policy, usage emerges ad-hoc — including staff pasting client data into free public tools. Governance isn’t bureaucracy; it’s what makes AI safe enough to scale.
Our approach: both ends at once
Every seat
AI for Everyone
Immediate productivity gains across your whole team, built on the Copilot tools already in your Microsoft licences.
- Hands-on training workshops for frontline and back-office staff
- Prompt libraries tailored to your industry’s workflows
- Drafting, meeting summaries, research and everyday queries
- An AI usage policy drafted with you, aligned to best practice
- Quick-start guides your team keeps
Your champions
AI Governance & Agents
An AI committee of tech-savvy people from each part of your business — piloting agents and advanced use cases, with expert guidance on cadence.
- Committee setup, modelled on 3rdmill’s own AI Governance Committee
- Advanced tooling for power users: Copilot Premium, Claude, integrations
- Use-case workshops to find the highest-impact opportunities
- Proof-of-concept agent and automation builds
- Monthly cadence: review, share learnings, evolve the roadmap
We ran this program on ourselves first
3rdmill has its own AI Governance Committee. Our team uses Copilot and Claude daily; our committee meets on the same cadence we recommend, pilots agents on our own workflows, and feeds what works into what we advise. When we tell you which use cases pay off and which are science projects, that’s not analyst research — it’s our own ticket queue, our own meetings, our own automations. The same thinking drives how
our managed IT support keeps evolving.
Getting your data AI-ready
The unglamorous step everyone skips. Our data governance review maps where your data lives across Microsoft 365, audits permissions and sharing policies, and identifies what sensitive data an AI tool could surface to the wrong person. You get a stakeholder presentation, recommendations and a prioritised action plan — the difference between deploying AI confidently and finding out the hard way. It pairs naturally with
our cyber security work.
Frequently asked questions
Where should a business start with AI?
Start with the tools you already own. Copilot Chat comes free with Microsoft 365 licences and can be secured within your tenant. Pair it with staff training and a simple usage policy, and you get immediate, safe productivity gains before spending anything on advanced tooling.
What does AI training cost?
Our Copilot enablement package – two hands-on workshops, a tailored prompt library and a drafted AI usage policy – is $3,000 ex GST. It’s designed to move your whole team from curiosity to daily habit in a matter of weeks.
Copilot, ChatGPT or Claude – which should we use?
Pick one inside your ecosystem and commit. For Microsoft-based businesses that’s usually Copilot, secured within your tenant. We use Claude where deeper integrations and agents are needed. What we caution against is ad-hoc use of free public tools with corporate data – that’s a policy problem before it’s a tooling one.
Is our data safe to use with AI?
That depends on your permissions, and most businesses don’t know. Our data governance review ($3,500 ex GST) maps your data locations, audits permissions and sharing, and flags what an AI tool could expose – with a prioritised plan to fix it.
Can we get ongoing AI advice without a big engagement?
Yes. Our AI advisory retainer is $1,000 ex GST per month, month-to-month with no lock-in. You get our senior AI team at your governance meetings, help identifying and evaluating use cases, and guidance on tools and trends relevant to your industry.
Ready to move from AI talk to AI capacity?
Start with a use-case workshop or a training package. Either way, your team gets hours back — measurably, within weeks.
Enquire today
