Cummins treated information governance and generative AI adoption as a single, connected initiative. As the company piloted Microsoft 365 Copilot and joined the Microsoft Copilot Early Adoption Program, it upgraded from Microsoft 365 E3 to E5 to gain access to Microsoft Purview. Using Microsoft Purview, Cummins: - Automated data classification and sensitivity labeling with Microsoft Purview Information Protection, so that data is consistently tagged and protected. - Applied sensitivity labels that persist across the Microsoft 365 environment, ensuring that confidential or restricted content remains protected inside and outside the Cummins domain. - Used Purview’s data classification features so that responses generated by tools like Microsoft Copilot can be tagged as confidential or restricted, limiting access to appropriate audiences. By automatically labeling and classifying more than one million files and millions of email messages, Cummins created a cleaner, more secure data foundation. This managed, “clean” data environment helps generative AI tools work with relevant, governed information, which supports more accurate responses and safer AI adoption.

Cummins operates in more than 180 countries, with about 76,500 employees and over 100 years of data to manage. Much of this information is unstructured content created in Microsoft 365—Word documents, PowerPoint files, Teams chats, Outlook emails, videos, and GIFs. This created several challenges: 1. **Complex retention and lifecycle requirements** - Some records must be retained for the life of a product, which can span decades. - Retaining too much data increased storage costs and made eDiscovery more complex and expensive. 2. **Fragmented collaboration and static records** - Previously, employees applied static security labels and then moved files into a central electronic records repository. - This improved control but made collaboration difficult, because employees could not easily co-author or update official records. 3. **Global compliance and data protection** - Cummins needed to comply with legal and regulatory requirements in every jurisdiction where it operates. - Multiple IT infrastructures from acquisitions added complexity. Microsoft Purview helped Cummins address these issues by: - Using **Purview Data Lifecycle Management** to implement retention policies and assign customized lifecycles to documents, reducing outdated files and associated storage and maintenance costs. - Automating records management with machine learning, enabling Cummins to automate **10–15% of its global record schedule** and more than **50 label types** for auto-tagging email messages. - Auto-tagging **millions of email messages in 2024** and labeling **more than one million files**, which improves visibility and consistency across the data estate. - Providing an integrated, Microsoft 365–wide approach to classification, sensitivity labeling, and protection, so data can be governed directly where employees work, without relying on a separate repository. Overall, Purview allowed Cummins to streamline data security and compliance while maintaining a more collaborative, “living document” approach to content.

For Cummins employees, Microsoft Purview has shifted information governance from a manual, repository-based model to an integrated, in-the-flow-of-work experience. Key changes in day-to-day work include: - **Persistent sensitivity labels in familiar tools** Employees can keep working in the Microsoft 365 apps they use every day—Word, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams, SharePoint—while Purview automatically applies classification and sensitivity labels in the background. Labels are persistent, so protection travels with the content. - **Co-authoring instead of static records** Instead of moving files into a separate records repository where they become hard to edit, employees can co-author and update sensitive documents in place. The labels and policies define how the content can be accessed and used, rather than locking it away. - **Automation that reduces manual effort and risk** Auto classification policies and machine learning handle much of the labeling and lifecycle management. Employees can still manually choose labels when needed, but they are no longer responsible for every governance decision. This reduces the risk of human error and frees people to focus on their core work. - **Better visibility and control for governance teams** The Microsoft Purview dashboard gives Cummins a “bird’s eye view” of compliance across the organization. Governance teams can discover, classify, and protect sensitive data across the entire Microsoft 365 environment, including email and SharePoint sites. Looking ahead, Cummins expects Purview to continue reshaping how employees find and use information. With auto classification and AI-driven capabilities, the goal is that searches will return the most accurate, role-appropriate records, moving Purview toward a broader knowledge management role while maintaining governance, protection, and collaboration.