Watch Now — The Innovation Circuit EP 9: A guide to data protection with Microsoft Purview during the AI revolution

With Microsoft 365 Copilot now able to access data across email, SharePoint, Teams, and OneDrive, organisations are facing new challenges in ensuring sensitive and confidential information stays protected. That’s why more customers are turning to Microsoft Purview for data classification, labelling, and data loss prevention. Having supported many clients on this journey, and now implementing it ourselves at Theta, this episode shares our real-world learnings, practical tips, and workarounds to help secure data in the age of AI.

We'll cover:

• Why data protection has become critical with Copilot
• What data sensitivity labelling is and how it works in Microsoft Purview
• What’s driving organisations to start data classification (Copilot, compliance, governance)
• What foundations are needed before implementing Purview (planning, policies, data understanding)
• Key learnings from going live (encryption, internal vs external sharing, label clarity)
• User-led vs auto-labelling approaches
• Challenges with PDFs and document handling
• Minimising user disruption and behaviour change
• Designing labels for different business areas without over-complexity
• Importance of UAT, pilot groups, and testing before rollout
• Managing third-party systems and document templates
• Co-authoring requirements for labelled documents
• Controlling who can change or downgrade labels
• Role of training, communication, and change management
• What comes next: using DLP to enforce protection and control Copilot access

Panellists

• Gregg Taylor – Lead Consultant, Data and Insights
• Liz Knight – Head of Cyber Security/Moderator

Listen wherever you get your podcasts or watch the full discussion below ⬇️

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Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Data Protection and Microsoft Purview

00:51 Understanding Data Sensitivity Labelling

04:06 Drivers for Data Classification and Compliance

05:57 Foundational Requirements for Data Protection

07:33 Lessons Learned from Implementing Sensitivity Labelling

10:29 Challenges with PDF and Document Management

13:42 Configuration and User Training for Labels

20:36 Data Loss Prevention (DLP) and Its Importance

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