Tender drafts from your own library.
Hours, not daysEstimated time to a first draft
Read the case study: Claude tender drafting connected to Microsoft 365
Claude, set up for your team and connected to Microsoft 365 and your other systems
We implement Claude for Irish businesses and professional firms. We connect it to the systems your business already uses, most often Outlook, SharePoint, OneDrive and Teams, and train your people to use it on their own work. We work alongside your existing IT provider, so you keep the IT support you already have.
We reply to arrange a short call. You don't need to know which plan or setup you want before you get in touch.
What we set up
We set Claude up for a named group in your business, connect it to the information they already use in Microsoft 365 and your other systems, and train them to use it on their own work.
That covers four pieces of work. We help you choose the right Claude plan and number of seats. We arrange the connection to Microsoft 365, or to the other systems you use, with your IT provider, so Claude can search the email, files and conversations each person can already open. We set up shared projects and instructions that describe how your firm works, so answers start from your conventions. Then we train the group on their recurring tasks.
Most firms start with partners, directors or a small senior group, then extend Claude to more people once they have seen what it does for their work. How the Microsoft 365 connection works
Microsoft 365 and other systems
Most of the businesses we work with run on Microsoft 365, so it is our main example. Claude connects to other systems too, and we set those up in the same way.
A connector lets Claude search and read information in another system, using each person's own sign-in, so it reaches only what they can already open. Anthropic documents connectors for these systems as well as Microsoft 365:
- Google Drive: search Drive and read Docs, Sheets, Slides and PDFs. Anthropic's documentation
- Gmail: search email and answer from the messages, read-only. Anthropic's documentation
- Google Calendar: answer questions about meetings, attendees and availability, read-only. Anthropic's documentation
- Slack: search channels, direct messages and files for context, on Team and Enterprise plans once a Slack administrator has approved the Claude app. Anthropic's documentation
Anthropic also runs a directory of connectors built by other software providers, and Claude can connect to a system's own connector by its web address. On Team and Enterprise plans, the Claude owner decides which connectors staff can use. We check what is available for your systems on the first call, and tell you if one of them has no connector yet.
Working with your IT provider
Your IT provider stays in place. Their part is small: an administrator approves Claude's Microsoft 365 connector for your tenant once, and can limit it to the people taking part. We send them exact, written instructions.
Many Irish businesses have their Microsoft 365 run by a local IT provider, and many of those providers concentrate on Microsoft products such as Copilot. Some prefer not to take on Claude themselves. That leaves you free to bring us in for the Claude work while they carry on looking after everything else.
We have set Claude up for firms whose IT is run by Microsoft-focused providers. The technical side is straightforward when the provider knows precisely what to do, which is why our instructions are specific and short. Administrator rights stay with your IT provider throughout.
What your IT provider needs to do, written so you can forward it to them. If they have said they cannot help with Claude, read the questions behind it. IT providers can read how a referral works.
How it works
Six steps, from a first call to a review a few weeks after training. Under each one is the reason it is there.
A short call
We talk about who would use Claude first, the work they want help with and how your Microsoft 365 is looked after.
Why this step: The work decides the plan, the setup and the training, so we start with it before recommending anything.
Plan and licences
We recommend a Claude plan and the number of seats for the first group, and your business holds the licences in its own name.
Why this step: Anthropic's Team and Enterprise plans come under its commercial terms, which say your data is not used to train its models by default, and they give you central billing and administration.
Your IT provider's approval
We send your IT provider written instructions for approving Claude's Microsoft 365 connector in your tenant, and limiting it to the people taking part.
Why this step: Microsoft requires an administrator in your tenant to approve the connector once before anyone can connect. Your IT provider holds that role, so the approval stays with them.
Connect and configure
We add the connector in Claude, connect the first users and set up shared projects and instructions that describe how your firm works.
Why this step: Claude gives more useful answers when it knows your conventions and can reach the right files. Doing this once for the group saves each person working it out alone.
Train the group
Hands-on sessions where people use Claude on their own recurring tasks and learn what to check before relying on an answer.
Why this step: A setup only pays off when people use it in their normal week. Practice on real work is what makes that happen.
Review after a few weeks
We come back to the group to see what they use, where they got stuck and whether to extend Claude to more people.
Why this step: The first weeks show which tasks are worth it and which settings need adjusting, before you commit to more seats.
Who this is for
Irish SMEs and professional firms: solicitors, accountants, planning and engineering consultancies, and other professional services businesses, most of them running on Microsoft 365.
These firms share a pattern. Their knowledge sits in email threads, SharePoint folders and documents, and senior people spend a lot of time finding, reading and drafting. Claude connected to that material can help with exactly that work, provided people know how to ask and what to check.
Data protection is part of the conversation from the start. We recommend Claude's business plans because Anthropic's commercial terms say your data is not used to train its models by default, and your firm acts as data controller under GDPR. For what leaves your tenant and where it is processed, read is it safe to connect Claude to Microsoft 365?
Ways to start
Most businesses start with one team and extend from there. Claude subscriptions are paid directly to Anthropic, separately from our fees.
- 1One-team rollout
Claude set up and connected for one team, with a small number of agreed workflows, training, and a review a few weeks later.
- 2Workflow implementation
Specific workflows built on a Claude setup you already have, such as a tender response, a monthly reporting pack or a document review.
- 3Ongoing support
Keeping Claude useful once it is in place: new staff, changes to Claude's models and features, new workflows and a periodic review.
Fees agreed after a short scoping call. What each option includes, how long it takes and what you provide
Have you done it?
Yes. Below is work we have done with Claude for Irish firms, with client names and identifying details removed. Each case study says which Claude product was used and whether it is in regular use.
Case studies
- Accountancy practice, Ireland Client chasing, handled.
- Law firm, Ireland Bank reconciliation in days.
- Tax and accounting practice, Ireland VAT processing, off the spreadsheet.
- Architecture practice, Ireland Project knowledge, searchable.
Demonstrations on made-up material
- Tender responseTender response: compliance matrix, first drafts and a gaps listClaude reads a public-sector tender and the firm's bid library, maps every requirement to evidence, drafts two scored sections inside their word limits, and lists what the bid team still has to fix.
- Monthly reporting packMonthly reporting pack: variance table, draft commentary and questionsClaude takes the month's management accounts, the budget and last month's board commentary, builds the variance table, drafts the commentary, and lists the movements the numbers don't explain.
- Professional-services file reviewClient file review: chronology, key issues and points for judgementClaude reads a ten-document client file on a supplier dispute and produces a chronology, a summary of the key issues and a list of the points a solicitor has to decide, with every statement tied to the document it came from.
Training is part of the setup
We train every group we set up, because Claude is worth its licences only when people use it on their ordinary work every week.
Sessions use the group's own recurring tasks, or fictional versions with the same difficulties. People practise drafting from an email thread, reviewing a set of documents against their sources and preparing notes from meetings, and they leave with written steps to repeat each task. About our Claude training
Claude and Copilot
Many businesses run both. We help you decide which tool suits which task, and we tell you when a tool you already pay for is enough.
Copilot works inside Microsoft's apps. Claude is often the better fit for working across a selected set of documents or reworking a long draft. The right split depends on your work and your licences. Our task-by-task comparison sets out how we think about it.
Led by Ger Perdisatt
- Former COO of Microsoft Enterprise Western Europe
- Non-executive director of two state bodies
- ISO/IEC 42001 Lead Auditor
Ger's Microsoft background means he knows how Microsoft-focused IT providers think and what they need to approve a change with confidence. AI at Work is the Claude implementation and training practice of Acuity AI Advisory, an independent firm. We take no reseller margin or vendor referral fee, so our advice on plans and seats is tied to your work.
Questions we are often asked
Do we need to change IT provider?
No. You keep your IT provider. Their part is a one-time approval of Claude's Microsoft 365 connector in your tenant, and we give them written instructions for it. Administrator rights to your Microsoft 365 stay with them.
Which Claude plan should we use?
For a business, usually Claude Team or Claude Enterprise. Both come under Anthropic's commercial terms and include central billing and administration. Enterprise adds controls such as SCIM user provisioning, audit logs and custom data retention, which larger or regulated firms may need. We recommend a plan after the first call, once we know who will use it and for what.
Is our data used to train Claude?
On the Team and Enterprise plans, Anthropic states that it does not use your data to train its models by default. On the individual Free, Pro and Max plans, each person chooses in a privacy setting whether their chats can be used to improve Claude. This is one reason we recommend a business plan for firm use.
What does our IT provider have to do?
An administrator with the Global Administrator role in your Microsoft tenant approves the Claude connector once for the organisation. They can then restrict it to named users or groups. If you later want Claude to send email or update files as well as read them, they approve those extra permissions separately. We send them each step in writing.
How long does it take?
The technical setup is short: the approval is a single step for your IT provider, and each user then connects with their normal Microsoft sign-in. Most of the elapsed time goes on agreeing the first group and their tasks, finding a time with your IT provider and running the training. We agree a timetable with you at the start.
Do you only work with Microsoft 365?
No. Microsoft 365 is the most common setup among the businesses we work with, and our main example. We also connect Claude to other systems where a connector exists, such as Google Drive, Gmail and Google Calendar, or Slack on Claude's Team and Enterprise plans. We check what is available for your systems on the first call.
Does it work alongside Copilot?
Yes. Claude connects to Microsoft 365 through its own enterprise application in your tenant, separate from your Copilot licences and settings, so the two can run side by side. Many businesses use both, and we help you decide which tool suits which task.
Articles
- What your IT provider needs to do to connect Claude to Microsoft 365A plain account of the one-time approval your IT provider gives, how they can limit Claude to a pilot group, and what stays the same. Written to forward.
- Claude or Microsoft 365 Copilot? Choose by the work you need doneCompare document analysis, presentations, Excel and company knowledge before adding another subscription.
- Which AI should you use to analyse business documents?Claude and Copilot Chat both spotted an unapproved invoice charge in our short document-analysis test. See the results, wording that needed checking and limits.
- What context does AI need to do useful work?Instructions, files, memory and search each supply something different. Here is how to tell what your assistant actually knows about the task.
Talk to us about Claude for your team
Tell us who would use it and what they work on. We'll suggest a time to talk. Prefer to read first? See connecting Claude to Microsoft 365.