AI GOVERNANCE & READINESS
Know how AI is being used—and what leadership needs to decide before it expands.
Get an independent view of AI use, data handling, vendor responsibility, Microsoft Copilot readiness, policy, and governance—without being sold an AI platform, implementation service, or a provider change.
Request Consultation AvailabilityWe'll confirm fit and provide secure scheduling and payment options before requesting supporting materials.
Helpful to have ready: a high-level description of known AI tools, current Microsoft 365/Copilot plans, key vendors, known concerns, and any existing AI, privacy, security, or acceptable-use policies. Please do not send client personal information, confidential materials, prompts containing sensitive data, credentials, source code, proprietary data, contracts, or other sensitive information through the website form.
Led by Sterling Unan, CISSP — 25+ years in financial-services technology and operations · Independent, product-neutral advisory
Technology & Cyber Risk Consultation
$495 fixed fee · 60–90 minutes
A leadership-level diagnostic—not an AI implementation or legal/compliance review.
A confidential consultation for leaders who need a clearer view of AI use, data handling, AI vendors, Microsoft Copilot, policy, accountability, and organizational risk.
YOUR CONSULTATION INCLUDES:
- A focused 60–90 minute leadership-level discussion
- An immediate Technology & Cyber Risk Snapshot
- A concise written Consultation Report within three business days
- Practical direction that can stand on its own
No obligation to adopt a tool, change providers, purchase a broader review, or enter an ongoing advisory arrangement.
Beech Tree does not sell AI platforms, managed IT services, or cybersecurity tools.
COMMON AI GOVERNANCE CONCERNS
Not sure which AI tools people are using—or what information is being entered into them?
Many organizations seek independent guidance after discovering employees are using public AI tools, evaluating Microsoft Copilot, receiving client or customer questions, facing a vendor proposal, or realizing they do not have a clear policy for AI use. The consultation helps leadership clarify current use, data-handling questions, vendor responsibilities, oversight needs, and decisions that should be made before AI use expands.
It is not an AI implementation, legal opinion, privacy opinion, or compliance-certification service. It is an independent starting point for deciding what should be verified, documented, approved, deferred, or escalated.
- Known and unknown AI-tool use across employees, contractors, and vendors
- Data handling, confidentiality, permissions, and access questions
- Microsoft Copilot, AI-vendor, platform, and contract-accountability questions
- Acceptable-use policy, leadership oversight, approval, and decision-making questions
AI GOVERNANCE CHECKLIST
7 Questions Every Organization Should Be Able to Answer About AI Use
If any of these questions are unclear, your organization has a gap worth addressing.
Not sure how your organization would answer these questions? That is exactly what a Technology & Cyber Risk Consultation is designed to address.
Request Consultation AvailabilityYour current technology providers, Microsoft 365 partner, legal/compliance resources, and internal teams remain part of the solution. The consultation gives leadership clearer questions, ownership, and next steps.
WHAT YOU RECEIVE
What you receive
During the consultation
- A focused 60–90 minute leadership-level discussion
- An immediate Technology & Cyber Risk Snapshot
- Key AI-governance, data-handling, vendor, policy, and accountability questions requiring verification
- Practical questions to take back to AI vendors, Microsoft 365 partners, security providers, legal/compliance resources, and internal teams
Within three business days
- A concise written Consultation Report
- A prioritized summary of observations and recommended next steps
- A clearer distinction between what is known, what needs verification, and what leadership should decide
- Practical direction that can stand on its own
- A leadership-ready summary of priorities, ownership questions, vendor follow-ups, and recommended next steps
This is independent technology and risk-management guidance—not an AI implementation, AI model audit, security test, legal or privacy opinion, formal compliance certification, product proposal, or managed-services sales conversation.
THE WHOLE PICTURE
Your AI vendor is not your AI strategy.
Your AI platform, Microsoft 365 environment, cloud providers, business applications, data sources, cybersecurity tools, and internal teams may each control an important part of AI use. But no individual vendor owns the whole picture. Leadership remains responsible for understanding business purpose, data access, permissions, vendor accountability, acceptable use, operational impact, and risk together.
Technology and cloud providers
Microsoft 365, cloud platforms, identity, files, email, collaboration, applications, and service availability.
AI platforms and enabled applications
Public AI tools, enterprise AI platforms, Microsoft Copilot, AI-enabled business applications, prompts, models, connected data, and vendor terms.
Security, privacy, legal, and business resources
Cybersecurity, privacy, legal/compliance, HR, vendor management, records, client/customer commitments, and internal operating practices.
Your organization
Leadership, governance, acceptable use, approvals, risk decisions, data-handling expectations, business purpose, and accountability.
AI governance becomes more important as organizations connect AI tools to files, email, customer or client information, business applications, and collaboration platforms. The goal is not to stop useful AI adoption. It is to know what is being used, assign ownership clearly, protect sensitive information appropriately, and make informed decisions.
AI Risk Extends Beyond the Tool
AI use affects data access, permissions, files, email, collaboration, client/customer communications, vendor relationships, employee behavior, and technology governance. Beech Tree's advisory considers the operating environment around AI—not only the AI tool itself.
INDEPENDENCE
Independent advice. Practical direction.
Independent perspective
Beech Tree does not sell AI platforms, managed IT services, cybersecurity tools, or vendor contracts. Recommendations are not shaped by product quotas, implementation revenue, managed-services revenue, vendor referral fees, or AI-platform incentives.
Built for leadership
The consultation is designed for owners, executives, managing partners, administrators, and other decision-makers who need a clearer view of AI accountability, data-handling questions, vendor responsibility, and organizational risk.
Actionable without pressure
The consultation stands on its own. There is no requirement to adopt an AI tool, change providers, purchase a broader review, or enter an ongoing advisory arrangement.
EXPERIENCE
Experience that connects AI governance to leadership decisions.
Sterling Unan, CISSP, brings more than 40 years of technology and cybersecurity experience, including more than 25 years supporting financial-services technology and operations. Beech Tree helps leadership teams translate technical complexity into practical questions, clearer accountability, and decisions that fit the organization's operating reality.
Led by Sterling Unan, CISSP, with 25+ years in financial-services technology and operations and more than 40 years of technology and cybersecurity experience.
Financial Services Technology & Operations
Experience supporting technology leadership, security, vendor relationships, business continuity, and the operational systems that support investment and client-service functions.
AI Governance Context
Practical understanding of AI-tool adoption, data access, permissions, sensitive-information handling, vendor dependencies, acceptable use, and the leadership questions created by AI-enabled work.
Cybersecurity, Governance & Resilience
CISSP-led cybersecurity experience, including identity security, Microsoft 365 governance, vendor oversight, backup and recovery, incident readiness, and business-continuity planning.
Independent Advisory Discipline
Experience improving vendor accountability, evaluating technology services, reducing unnecessary spend, and giving leadership practical information for better decisions.
Led by Sterling Unan, CISSP, with 25+ years in financial-services technology and operations and more than 40 years of technology and cybersecurity experience.
BROADER REVIEW OPTION
If a deeper review is needed
$495 Consultation
A focused, fixed-fee conversation that gives you immediate clarity on AI use, data handling, Microsoft Copilot, vendor accountability, policy, governance, and leadership questions. It includes your immediate Technology & Cyber Risk Snapshot and a written Consultation Report within three business days.
Technology & Cyber Risk Review
A comprehensive, independently scoped review of the organization's technology and cybersecurity environment. Separately scoped and priced based on organizational size, AI use, technology complexity, vendor relationships, data sensitivity, supporting systems, and the questions leadership needs answered.
Some organizations may decide they need a broader independent review after the consultation. If so, Beech Tree can discuss a separately scoped engagement focused on AI use, supporting technology environment, vendor relationships, cybersecurity governance, data protection, identity, access, policy, continuity, and operational resilience.
The initial consultation stands on its own. A deeper review is discussed only when leadership wants additional evidence, broader environmental visibility, or more detailed vendor-accountability analysis.
A full review typically includes:
- Complete technology-environment assessment
- AI-use, vendor, and data-access accountability review
- Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Copilot readiness/governance review
- Identity, permissions, access-control, and data-protection review
- AI policy, acceptable-use, training, approval, and escalation considerations
- Vendor accountability and contract review
- Backup, recovery, business-continuity, and operational-resilience readiness
- Technology governance and strategic alignment
Full reviews are separately scoped and priced after the initial consultation, only when additional detail would be useful to the organization.
What a Full Review Includes
- Written findings report with prioritized recommendations
- Vendor-accountability matrix for leadership
- AI-governance and technology-risk summary for leadership
- Practical plan with vendor questions, ownership, and next steps
EXAMPLE FINDING
Example finding
EXAMPLE: A SMALL ORGANIZATION
- Employees were using multiple public and enterprise AI tools, but leadership did not maintain a current inventory of approved tools, intended uses, data-handling expectations, or responsible owners.
- The organization was considering Microsoft Copilot, but had not assessed whether existing permissions, file-sharing practices, sensitive-information handling, and AI-use expectations were ready for broader deployment.
- The organization did not have a documented acceptable-use policy or approval process for AI tools used with organization, client, customer, employee, or other sensitive information.
- AI vendors and AI-enabled business applications had not been reviewed consistently for data access, vendor terms, retention, connected systems, security responsibilities, or escalation options.
- Employees and contractors had not received practical guidance on what information should not be entered into public AI tools or how potential AI-related concerns should be escalated.
Why it mattered:
AI use, data access, sensitive information, vendor dependency, and leadership accountability were exposed to avoidable operational and cybersecurity risk. The concern was not that employees or vendors were acting improperly—it was that leadership could not independently verify or document what AI tools were being used, how they accessed information, what guardrails existed, or who was accountable for decisions.
Practical next steps:
Document known AI tools, intended uses, responsible owners, and data-handling expectations. Establish basic acceptable-use and approval guidance. Clarify escalation paths for AI-related concerns. Confirm how planned AI platforms and vendors access organizational information, and establish leadership questions before expanding Microsoft Copilot or other AI use.
Illustrative example based on common patterns. The Snapshot distinguishes what is known, what is reported by leadership, what requires vendor confirmation, and what may warrant a separately scoped review. Details are generalized and do not describe a specific client engagement.
READY TO CLARIFY YOUR ORGANIZATION'S AI GOVERNANCE AND ACCOUNTABILITY?
Start with a focused, independent conversation.
Tell us the AI, Microsoft Copilot, data-handling, vendor, policy, or technology question your organization needs to answer—whether it involves unknown tool use, public AI tools, permissions, sensitive information, a vendor proposal, Microsoft Copilot, or another concern. We will confirm fit and provide secure scheduling and payment options before requesting any supporting materials.
$495 fixed fee · 60–90 minutes · Payment is collected when scheduling · No recurring contract
What happens next
- Request consultation availability
- Receive a secure scheduling and payment link
- Meet confidentially for 60–90 minutes
- Receive your Technology & Cyber Risk Snapshot immediately after the consultation
- Receive a written Consultation Report within three business days
A useful starting point
You do not need a complete AI inventory or policy before booking. Come prepared to describe known AI tools, current concerns, technology providers, planned Microsoft Copilot or AI projects, sensitive-information questions, and upcoming vendor, business, or technology decisions. The consultation will help identify what should be verified next.
The initial conversation can proceed without documents. If high-level supporting materials would be useful after scheduling, Beech Tree will provide secure instructions. Do not transmit client personal information, confidential documents, credentials, source code, proprietary data, sensitive prompts, contracts, security logs, or other sensitive information through the website form or unsecured email.
You do not need to adopt an AI platform, change providers, or stop useful AI work to engage Beech Tree. The consultation helps leadership understand the current environment, ask stronger questions, and make more informed decisions with existing vendors and teams.
Immediate Deliverable: Your Technology & Cyber Risk Snapshot
At the end of your consultation, you receive an immediate Snapshot summarizing priorities, risks, options, and vendor questions. The Snapshot distinguishes what is known, what is reported, what requires vendor confirmation, and what may warrant a separately scoped review. Your written Consultation Report is delivered within three business days after the consultation.
Request Consultation Availability
Tell us a little about your organization and the AI, Microsoft Copilot, data-handling, vendor, policy, or technology question you are trying to answer. We will confirm fit, scheduling options, and secure next steps.
INDEPENDENT TECHNOLOGY & CYBER RISK ADVISOR
Sterling Unan, CISSP, brings more than 25 years of direct experience in hedge fund technology and operations, including technology leadership, security, vendor relationships, business continuity, and the operational systems that support investment and client-service functions.
Sterling Unan, CISSP · Founder, Beech Tree Technology Advisors · 25+ years in hedge fund technology & operations