Avanade

Avanade is a global professional services company specializing in Microsoft technologies, formed as a joint venture between Accenture and Microsoft in 2000. With over 60,000 employees across 26 countries, Avanade is the world's largest dedicated Microsoft solutions provider, bringing deep expertise in Azure, Microsoft 365, Dynamics 365, and the broader Microsoft AI ecosystem. Their AI governance consulting focuses specifically on helping organizations implement responsible AI practices within the Microsoft technology stack, leveraging Azure AI services, Microsoft Purview, and associated governance tooling. Avanade's approach to AI governance is distinctly platform-specific and practical. Their teams help organizations leverage Microsoft's built-in responsible AI tools, including Azure Machine Learning's fairness and interpretability features, Content Safety services, Azure AI Studio governance capabilities, and Microsoft Purview for data governance. This tight integration with Microsoft's ecosystem enables Avanade to deliver AI governance solutions that work seamlessly within the technology infrastructure most large enterprises already operate, reducing implementation complexity and accelerating time to value. The firm's AI governance services cover the full lifecycle: assessing current AI governance maturity, designing governance frameworks aligned with Microsoft's Responsible AI Standard, implementing technical controls using Azure-native tools, training teams on responsible AI practices, and establishing ongoing monitoring and compliance processes. Their proprietary accelerators and templates, built specifically for the Microsoft ecosystem, help organizations implement governance faster than starting from scratch. Avanade's industry expertise spans financial services, healthcare, manufacturing, retail, and government, with teams that understand both the business context and the technical specifics of implementing AI governance within Microsoft environments. Their partnership structure (Accenture majority ownership plus direct Microsoft collaboration) gives them unique access to both strategic consulting expertise and deep product knowledge. However, Avanade's singular focus on Microsoft technologies is both their greatest strength and their primary limitation. Organizations operating multi-cloud or non-Microsoft AI environments will need additional partners for comprehensive AI governance coverage. Their solutions are less framework-agnostic than what pure advisory firms can offer.