AI Governance Consulting: Rules for AI Your Staff Will Follow
Your staff are already using AI. Governance decides which tools they may use, with what data, and who owns each use. NetSys writes those rules with you, sets the technical controls that back them up in Microsoft 365 and the browser, and reviews the program on a schedule.
The short answer
AI governance consulting sets the rules, owners and controls for how a business uses AI. NetSys writes your AI acceptable use policy, keeps a register of approved tools and uses, configures controls that keep client data out of unapproved tools, and maps the program to NIST AI RMF 1.0. Reviews then run on a schedule.
Closest related page: AI security assessment. The assessment is a point-in-time review that produces findings, while governance consulting turns findings like those into a standing program with a policy, owners, controls and scheduled reviews.
Governance matters most where AI touches other people's information: law and accounting firms, medical and dental practices, financial advisers, and any business whose clients send security questionnaires. It also matters if an AI tool screens candidates for New York City jobs, or if an AI tool's output is used in the European Union, because specific rules apply there.
A small firm does not need an AI committee. It needs one named owner, a short policy people actually read, a list of approved tools on business accounts, and controls that make the safe path the easy one.
Inventory, policy, controls, then review
We begin with what is already happening: sign-in and app-consent logs, managed browsers and a short staff survey show which AI tools are in use, on which accounts. The policy is drafted with your managers and reviewed by your counsel, and each approved tool gets an owner, an account type and a data rule. Controls start in audit-only mode, so you see what they would block before they block it. After that, the register, logs and policy are reviewed on a set schedule.
What AI Governance Consulting Covers
AI Acceptable Use Policy
Short enough to read, specific enough to follow.
- Which data types may go into which approved tools, and which never may
- Rules for client, patient, employee and financial information
- When AI-drafted work must be checked by a person before it leaves the firm
- How staff request a new tool, and who approves it
AI Inventory and Use-Case Register
You cannot govern tools nobody has found.
- AI tools and embedded AI features found through sign-in logs, app consents and a staff survey
- An owner, an account type and a risk level recorded for every approved use
- Vendor terms checked for retention, model training and subprocessors
- Unapproved tools replaced with an approved option or retired
Controls That Back the Policy
The approved path should also be the easy one.
- Business AI accounts for approved tools, tied to company sign-in
- Warnings or blocks on unapproved AI sites from managed devices
- Data loss prevention rules on pasting sensitive content into restricted sites, where licensing allows
- Admin approval before staff can connect AI apps to mailboxes and files
- Microsoft 365 sharing cleaned up before Copilot can surface it
Frameworks, Laws and Reviews
Mapped to the standards clients and insurers ask about.
- Program mapped to the NIST AI RMF functions: Govern, Map, Measure and Manage
- An ISO/IEC 42001-style management structure for firms that want one
- NYC Local Law 144 and EU AI Act questions flagged for counsel where they apply
- Scheduled reviews of the register, the logs and the policy
Why firms choose NetSys for AI governance
Tell us which AI tools your team uses, what client data you hold and who is asking about AI. We will outline the policy, controls and review cadence that fit a firm your size.
- The policy and the controls come from the same team, so the rules are enforced as well as written
- A managed IT and cybersecurity firm since 1998, so AI is governed like every other system we run
- Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace administration handled in-house
- Honest scope: we build and evidence the program, and your counsel makes the legal calls
- Month-to-month terms for the ongoing reviews
Measured results from our case studies
AI Governance Consulting in practice
- Importers and distributors
Regional food importing company
Microsoft Copilot and Claude rollout for 25 employees, AI usage policies, connector access controls, and staff training.
Microsoft Copilot ConsultingIT for Importers and Distributors
Client names are withheld. Each card is the scope of a real NetSys engagement, as delivered.
What AI governance consulting includes, and what it does not
Governance fails when a written rule is mistaken for a working control, so the scope keeps the two apart.
| Area | Included | Not included |
|---|---|---|
| Policy | An AI acceptable use policy, data rules by type and an approved-tool list | Legal sign-off, which stays with your counsel |
| Inventory | Discovery from sign-in logs, app consents, managed browsers and a staff survey | A guarantee that every past use of AI has been found |
| Controls | Configuration in your Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace tenant and on managed devices | Monitoring personal phones or home computers |
| Frameworks | Mapping to NIST AI RMF 1.0, and an ISO/IEC 42001-style structure on request | An ISO/IEC 42001 certification audit |
| Hiring tools | Identifying AI in screening software and what NYC Local Law 144 asks of you | The independent bias audit the law requires |
| Reviews | Scheduled reviews of the register, the logs and the policy | Reading every prompt your staff write |
This is general information, not legal advice. Where a law such as NYC Local Law 144 or the EU AI Act may apply, we flag it for your counsel.
How an AI governance engagement starts
Most programs reach a signed policy and working controls in this order.
- Kickoff: an executive owner named, and the teams, tools and data types in scope agreed
- Discovery: AI use found through logs, managed browsers and a staff survey
- Policy: drafted with your managers, reviewed by counsel, then taught in a short session per role
- Controls: approved accounts issued, then blocking and data rules switched on after an audit-only period
- Review: the first scheduled check of the register, logs and policy, with changes recorded
How AI governance consulting is priced
There is no price list. The quote follows the kickoff call and moves with these factors.
- Headcount and the number of teams the policy covers
- How many AI tools and embedded AI features are in use
- Your Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace licensing, which decides which controls are available
- Regulatory scope, such as HIPAA, SEC Regulation S-P, NYDFS 23 NYCRR 500, NYC Local Law 144 or EU exposure
- A one-time program build, or ongoing reviews under a month-to-month agreement
For managed clients, ongoing governance reviews can be added to the per-user monthly agreement.
AI Governance Consulting FAQs
Does a small business need an AI acceptable use policy?
Yes, if anyone on staff uses AI tools, and in most firms someone already does. Without a written policy, each employee decides alone what client or employee data goes into which tool. A short policy naming approved tools, banned data types and a review step for client-facing output protects the business and gives staff a clear yes.
How do you stop staff pasting client data into ChatGPT?
Give staff an approved business AI account and make unapproved tools harder to use than the approved one. On managed devices we can warn or block on unapproved AI sites, and data loss prevention rules can audit or block pasting sensitive content into restricted sites where your Microsoft licensing supports it. Policy and short training cover the rest.
What should an AI governance policy cover?
An AI governance policy should cover approved tools, the data allowed in each, human review before AI output reaches a client, and an owner for each use. It should also set how staff request new tools, how AI mistakes are reported, how vendors are vetted and how often the policy is reviewed, in few enough pages that people read it.
Which AI governance frameworks do you use?
We map programs to the NIST AI Risk Management Framework (AI RMF 1.0), a voluntary framework built on four functions: Govern, Map, Measure and Manage, and add its Generative AI Profile, NIST AI 600-1. Firms that want more structure can align to ISO/IEC 42001:2023; certification under it comes only from an accredited certification body, not from NetSys.
Does NYC Local Law 144 apply to our hiring tools?
It may, if an AI or machine-learning tool substantially assists hiring or promotion decisions for jobs tied to a New York City office. The law then requires an independent bias audit within the past year, a published summary of the results and notice to candidates who live in the city. This is general information, not legal advice.
Does the EU AI Act apply to a US company?
The EU AI Act can apply to a US company: it covers providers and deployers outside the EU when an AI system's output is used in the EU. Prohibited practices have applied since February 2, 2025; after the 2026 AI Omnibus amendment, high-risk rules for uses such as hiring apply from December 2, 2027. General information, not legal advice.
Sources and technical references
- NIST: AI Risk Management Framework (AI RMF 1.0, January 2023)
- NIST AI 600-1: Generative AI Profile (July 2024)
- IEC: ISO/IEC 42001:2023, AI management system
- NYC DCWP: automated employment decision tools (Local Law 144 of 2021)
- NYC DCWP: Local Law 144 frequently asked questions
- EUR-Lex: Regulation (EU) 2024/1689, the EU AI Act
- European Commission: AI Act timeline after the 2026 AI Omnibus amendment
- Microsoft Learn: Endpoint data loss prevention
- Microsoft Learn: how users consent to applications in Entra ID
Guides on this topic
- AI security assessment of your current tools
- AI usage policy template guide
- Stopping shadow AI data leaks
- AI data privacy questions small business owners ask
- Fixing SharePoint oversharing before Copilot
- Data loss prevention for Microsoft 365 and endpoints
- What shadow AI means
- AI consulting to choose the right tools first
Name an owner, then write rules you can enforce.
Tell us which AI tools your staff use and what data your business holds. We will outline the policy, the controls behind it and a review cadence sized to your firm.