Governed AIThe honest four-way comparison2026-06-20
Everyone has the AI now. The honest four-way comparison.
Microsoft Copilot writes in Excel and now runs on Claude; ChatGPT and Claude ship their own Office add-ins. The intelligence is a commodity. For a firm holding privileged client data, the real question isn’t who has AI. It’s who lets you govern what it does, prove what it did, and own where it runs. On that question the field narrows to one.
Two honest starting points.
Built to your firm
The big three sell a fixed product: one generic memory, a set list of connectors, the same policy for everyone. LanternOps is a platform plus the service of building it to your firm. “Built to your firm” means the capability is real and we stand it up for you, not “coming someday.”
The honest starting point
On raw productivity in Office, everyone is strong and Copilot is deepest. We won’t pretend otherwise. Our case is the rest of this page: govern what it does, prove it, protect the data, own where it runs, and run it for you.
- ✓ yes strong / built-in
- ~ partial gated, or technical
- ✕ no not offered
- ✓ governed the managed, governed path
Productivity in your everyday tools
Table stakes. Everyone is good here now.
| Capability | ChatGPT | Claude | Microsoft Copilot | LanternOps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AI inside Excel | ✓ Add-in (GA) | ✓ Add-in, citations | ✓ Native + Python | ✓ Shipped, governed |
| AI inside Word / PowerPoint | ✓ GA / beta | ✓ GA | ✓ Native, deepest | ✓ Shipped, governed |
| AI inside Outlook | ~ Via connectors | ✓ Beta | ✓ Native | ✓ Shipped |
| Reaches your firm’s documents | ✓ Company Knowledge | ✓ MCP connectors | ✓ Graph grounding | ✓ Graph + firm store |
Everyone, us included, now puts AI where your people already work. The rows below are where it narrows to one.
Does the AI actually know your firm?
Memory.
| Capability | ChatGPT | Claude | Microsoft Copilot | LanternOps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Persistent memory | ~ Per-user, opt-out | ~ Per-user / project | ~ Per-user (mailbox) | ✓ Org-level, built to firm |
| Shared / firm-wide memory | ✕ None | ✕ None | ✕ No org memory | ✓ Keyed to your matters |
| Admins govern what’s remembered | ~ Toggle only | ~ Limited | ✕ Can’t restrict / audit | ✓ AI proposes, you correct |
| Every remembered fact is sourced | ✕ No | ✕ No | ✕ Not even logged | ✓ Source + confidence |
The consumer tools remember the individual user, not the firm; Copilot’s memory is something admins can’t see, control, or audit. LanternOps builds a firm-level memory around your matters and clients, traceable to its source.
Can you control what the AI does?
Action governance. The center of the argument.
| Capability | ChatGPT | Claude | Microsoft Copilot | LanternOps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Governs what the AI reads | ✓ Permission-trimmed | ✓ Yes | ✓ Purview labels | ✓ Yes |
| Governs what an agent does across your systems | ~ Connector-scoped | ~ MCP (technical) | ✕ Data, not actions | ✓ Brokered & gated |
| Approval on consequential actions | ~ Admin-console | ~ Dev tooling | ~ Opt-in, Outlook | ✓ Enforced by default |
| Destructive actions hard-blocked | ✕ No | ✕ No | ✕ No | ✓ Blocked in code |
| Custom policy per client / agent | ✕ Global toggles | ✕ No | ~ Data labels | ✓ Rule engine |
| Agent inherits the human’s limits | ✕ No | ✕ No | ~ Entra Agent ID | ✓ Acting-user binding |
Microsoft governs what files the AI can see. It does not govern what an agent is allowed to do across your other systems, or guarantee a human approved it. LanternOps governs the action, and the gate fires by default.
Can you prove what happened?
Audit.
| Capability | ChatGPT | Claude | Microsoft Copilot | LanternOps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Audit trail of AI activity | ~ Compliance API (Ent) | ~ Logs (Ent) | ✓ Purview logs | ✓ Yes |
| Tamper-evident / verifiable ledger | ✕ Editable logs | ✕ Editable logs | ✕ Standard logs | ✓ Hash-chained, verify |
| Audit on an affordable tier | ✕ Enterprise only | ✕ Enterprise only | ~ 1yr audit = E5 | ✓ Included |
| Filter by client / integration / person | ~ M365-scoped | ~ Limited | ✓ Unified M365 log | ✓ Per-client / connection |
| Full session review + redaction trail | ~ Limited | ~ Limited | ~ eDiscovery (E5) | ✓ In-product |
“We have logs” and “we can prove the logs weren’t edited” are different answers to a regulator. Sharp fact: neither ChatGPT’s nor Claude’s Office add-in activity is captured in their audit logs at any tier, so what staff do with the AI in Excel isn’t even recorded.
Keeping client data confidential
DLP and exposure.
| Capability | ChatGPT | Claude | Microsoft Copilot | LanternOps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Built-in redaction before data leaves | ✕ Partner add-ons | ✕ DIY gateway | ~ Preview + E5 | ✓ Fails closed |
| Your data never trains a public model | ✓ Business+ | ✓ Commercial tiers | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Oversharing protection | ~ Permission-trim | ~ Limited | ~ #1 risk; clean up first | ✓ Scoped grants |
| HIPAA BAA | ~ Ent / Edu only | ~ Enterprise only | ~ Enterprise plans | ~ Managed / on-prem |
All four keep business-tier data out of training. The gap is content inspection: the consumer tools make DLP your problem; Copilot’s full prompt-level DLP is preview and needs E5. LanternOps scans every prompt and cell at a checkpoint that fails closed.
Deployment, ownership & where the model runs
The door the cloud-only vendors can’t walk through.
| Capability | ChatGPT | Claude | Microsoft Copilot | LanternOps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| You don’t run any of it yourself | ✓ Vendor SaaS | ✓ Vendor SaaS | ✓ Vendor SaaS | ✓ Fully managed by us |
| Choice of where it runs | ✕ Vendor cloud | ✕ Vendor cloud | ✕ Microsoft cloud | ✓ Cloud / premises / appliance |
| Operational data can stay in your building | ✕ No | ✕ No | ~ In MS cloud | ✓ On-prem option |
| You choose where the model runs | ✕ Vendor cloud | ✕ Vendor cloud | ✕ Azure only | ✓ Anthropic / Bedrock / Vertex |
| Works with any Claude-capable API service | ✕ No | ✕ No | ✕ No | ✓ Your endpoint / contract |
| Governance without an enterprise upsell | ~ Gov = Enterprise | ~ Gov = Enterprise | ~ Real gov = E5 | ✓ Included, not a tier |
Honest caveat: the on-prem option keeps your operational data in your building; the model inference itself is still an API call on your key, routable through your AWS or Google boundary. “Your data stays in your building and the AI runs under your contract,” not “air-gapped.” None of the other three offer even that.
Someone actually runs it
Management & managed operations. The one none of them have.
| Capability | ChatGPT | Claude | Microsoft Copilot | LanternOps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Setup done for you | ✕ Self-serve | ✕ Self-serve | ~ Your IT / partner | ✓ Stood up, built to firm |
| A human who knows your firm | ~ Tickets / community | ~ Tickets (Ent) | ~ MS / reseller | ✓ Named, accountable team |
| Ongoing managed AI operations | ✕ You operate it | ✕ You operate it | ✕ You operate it | ✓ We run the agent teams |
| Tuning + new workflows as you change | ✕ Static product | ✕ Static product | ~ You / a partner | ✓ Continuous |
| Governance & audit kept current | ✕ Your job | ✕ Your job | ~ Your admins + E5 | ✓ Maintained for you |
| Someone accountable for the result | ✕ No | ✕ No | ✕ No | ✓ The entire model |
Every other option is software you operate. LanternOps sells the outcome: an AI operation built, run, supervised, and improved on the firm’s behalf. Most AI projects fail because nobody owns the agent after the demo. We are the owner you hire on purpose.
What “governed” actually costs.
20-person firm, list prices, June 2026.
| Vendor | What you’d buy | ~ / user/mo | Governance you get | Missing at that price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Microsoft | Business Premium + Copilot | $40–52 | Labels, core DLP, basic audit, in-app AI | Prompt/Teams DLP, 1yr audit, insider risk = E5 |
| ChatGPT | Business (2-seat min) | $20 | SSO, SOC 2, Company Knowledge, no-train | SCIM, audit, Compliance API, HIPAA = Enterprise |
| Claude | Team (5-seat min) | $20 | SSO, MCP connectors, no-train, add-in | Audit, SCIM, retention, HIPAA = Enterprise |
| LanternOps | 3-week pilot, then managed retainer | Not per-seat | Pilot $20–30k → AgentOps $5k / $10k / $15–25k per mo. Governance, audit, memory, DLP, on-prem all included | You pay Anthropic / Bedrock for inference (BYOK) |
Read the last row differently: the big three sell per-seat software your firm operates. LanternOps is a managed operation priced like a hire, a fixed retainer for a team that builds, runs, and governs the AI for you. Different category, different line on the P&L. With the big three, the capable version is cheap, the governed version is an enterprise upsell, and running it is always your problem.
The big three sell you software and wish you luck. LanternOps governs the AI, and runs it for you.
- Who has capable AI in my Office apps?
- Everyone, LanternOps included. Copilot is deepest; we’re the only governed one.
- Who governs what the AI is allowed to do?
- LanternOps. The others govern data access, not actions.
- Who can prove what the AI did to a regulator?
- LanternOps (tamper-evident ledger). The others have editable logs.
- Whose memory of my firm can I see and control?
- LanternOps (Wick). The others are per-user and opaque.
- Who lets me keep it in my own building?
- LanternOps (we host it, or run it on your premises). The others are cloud-only.
- Who actually runs and maintains it for me?
- LanternOps. The others sell software you operate yourself.
Start with one workflow.
Anyone can buy the intelligence. Nobody else hands a regulated firm an AI operation that is governed, provable, confidential, and run for you. A three-week pilot proves it on your own work.
Competitor capabilities sourced from Microsoft, OpenAI, and Anthropic documentation as of 2026-06-20 and are volatile; pricing and preview/GA status change frequently. LanternOps capability sourced from the Breeze, Hive, Delegant, and Wick codebases.