From Raw Data to Action: Analyzing SharePoint Governance with Copilot Cowork

SharePoint governance reports end up as CSV exports in the download folder – and there they gather dust. This raw data from SharePoint Advanced Management (SAM) contains exactly the answers that IT admins and compliance officers are looking for every day: Which sites are critical? Where does someone from outside have access? What needs to be changed immediately?

With Microsoft 365 Copilot Cowork, this process can be radically accelerated. Instead of hours of Excel analysis, you get a complete governance dashboard in minutes – including prioritized actions.

What is Copilot Cowork?

Cowork is Anthropic’s Claude-based desktop agent that can directly access local files, folders, and applications. For M365 admins, this means that CSV exports from the SharePoint Admin Center or SAM can be loaded directly into Cowork – without upload detours, without copy-paste.

How the workflow works: Analyze SAM reports

Step 1 – Export Reports

In the SharePoint admin center, under Reports → SharePoint Advanced Management , export the desired reports as CSV. Typical for governance reviews:

• SPO Site Permissions – Who has access to which site?
• OneDrive Site Permissions – User-level external shares
• Inactive Sites – Sites with no activity (candidates for archiving)

Step 2 – Load files into Cowork

In Cowork, you open a new task and upload the exported CSV files directly. Then formulate your question in natural language:

“Can you help me evaluate these SharePoint Data Governance reports, share insights, and create a dashboard?”

That was it. No SQL, no Python, no pivot table chaos.

Step 3 – Get Dashboard and Insights

Cowork analyzes the raw data and automatically creates a structured SharePoint Data Governance Dashboard with four tabs:

• Overview – KPIs at a glance: Total number of SPO sites, external shares, sites without sensitivity label
• Risk Sites – Prioritized table with privacy setting, random access count, and risk level (Critical / High / Medium)
• OneDrive – Account overview with sharing status, direct access items and risk score per user
• Actions – Expandable to-do list sorted by urgency: Immediate (this week), Short term (30 days), Medium term (quarter)

What the dashboard shows in concrete terms for OneDrive Access

Using the example of my tenant with 61 SPO sites and 3 OneDrive accounts, Cowork provides three critical insights immediately:

1. HR/Finance sites open externally – “Top Secret HR Team”, “Private HR Payroll Team” and “Payroll HR” have external sharing enabled and direct access for external users. Immediate need for action.
2. Massive label gap – 59 out of 61 sites (97%) do not carry a sensitivity label. Without classification, no automatic data protection via Microsoft Purview applies.
3. OneDrive Shared Publicly – A primary OneDrive account is marked as “publicly shared” and has 16 directly shared items.

Privacy Breakdown

From insights to actions

The decisive advantage: Cowork does not stop at the analysis. In the Measures tab  , you will find specific instructions for action – for example:

• Top Secret HR Team: Disable External Sharing · 2 Revoking Direct Access
• Payroll HR: Set data protection to private · Turn off external sharing

This list can be used directly as the basis for a SharePoint admin ticket, Power Automate automation, or team communication.

Conclusion

Microsoft 365 Copilot Cowork turns dry SAM CSV exports into actionable governance dashboards in under 15 minutes. For IT admins who need to conduct regular governance reviews, this is a real game changer. The combination of SharePoint Advanced Management as a data source and Cowork as an AI analysis layer finally makes enterprise governance accessible – without Excel expertise, without consulting effort.

Next step: Export your SAM reports today and ask Cowork, “Which of my sites are the biggest security risk?” – you will have the answer in minutes.

PS: Are you ready to implement solid governance for KIAgents? Contact me, Ragnar Heil, for advice on Agent 365, SharePoint Advanced Management, Microsoft Purview (Information Protection, Data Loss Prevention Policies, DSPM for AI), Rencore Governance, EasyLife365 Collaboration, ShareGate Protect, Data&More, or Agent 365 adoption strategies tailored to your organization. You can find my calendar here on our HanseVision Governance Landing Page.

Read this blogpost in German here at our HanseVision Blog.

Also keep in mind that Copilot Researcher with Anthropic Models currently (April 2026) breaks EU Data Boundaries and could conflict with your compliance rules and regulations. Check out my Blogpost.

The post From Raw Data to Action: Analyzing SharePoint Governance with Copilot Cowork first appeared on Ragnar Heil (MVP): Empowering M365 with AI.

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