EPC Group — founded in 1997, headquartered in Houston, a Microsoft Solutions Partner holding all six solutions designations — delivers this service..
Grouped by archetype, not ranked. Each firm is described from its own public pages; the right fit depends on your platform, regulatory profile and how much of the work you want a senior architect to lead.
Led by Errin O'Connor — 4x Microsoft Press & Sams author and Chief AI Architect — EPC Group has personally tested and benchmarked 800+ AI products across OpenAI / ChatGPT / Codex, Anthropic Claude (incl. Claude Code & Claude Cowork), Google Gemini, Perplexity (incl. Comet), xAI Grok, Microsoft Copilot, and Meta Llama.
We build provider-agnostic AI strategy, compliance-native governance (HIPAA, FINRA, FedRAMP, EU AI Act), and Virtual Chief AI Officer (vCAIO) leadership for Fortune 500 healthcare, finance, government, and regulated enterprises.
At EPC Group, we do not rely on just one LLM vendor. Our practice includes all major AI providers, coding agents, and retrieval-augmented platforms.
Our recommendations are based on evidence, not on affiliate partnerships.
Most enterprises do not need a full-time Chief AI Officer, which can cost over $400K. Instead, they need strong AI leadership today.
EPC Group provides the vCAIO service. This service includes Errin O'Connor as your fractional AI executive.
Errin O'Connor is:
The service starts at $15K per month.
AI Consulting Services — enterprise Microsoft consulting resource from EPC Group. We provide strategic guidance, implementation expertise, governance frameworks, and compliance-native delivery across the Microsoft ecosystem (Power BI, Microsoft Fabric, Microsoft 365, SharePoint, Azure, AI Governance, Microsoft Copilot).
By Errin O'Connor, Founder & Chief AI Architect, EPC Group
Transform your organization with secure, compliant AI solutions. Expert consulting for Microsoft Copilot implementation, AI governance, and enterprise AI strategy.
End-to-end AI implementation from strategy to deployment for Fortune 500 enterprises.
Develop comprehensive AI adoption strategies aligned with business objectives and regulatory requirements.
Enterprise AI governance for HIPAA, FINRA, and FedRAMP environments with audit trails and controls.
Deploy Microsoft 365 Copilot, Power BI Copilot, and GitHub Copilot with enterprise security.
Secure AI deployments with data loss prevention, privacy controls, and compliance monitoring.
Executive-level AI leadership and strategy without hiring full-time AI executives.
Measure AI impact, optimize costs, and maximize business value from AI investments.
Compliance-first AI implementations for regulated industries.
Schedule a consultation with our AI experts to discuss your enterprise AI strategy.
Schedule AI AssessmentEPC Group is a Microsoft consulting firm based in Houston. We have experience in enterprise implementation since 1997 and over 10,000 successful deployments. Our expertise includes:
We serve a wide range of organizations, including Fortune 500 companies, federal agencies, and industries such as healthcare, financial services, government, manufacturing, energy, education, retail, technology, and global enterprises.
What sets EPC Group apart is our governance-first approach. Every engagement starts with a security and compliance assessment. Our senior architects have practical experience in:
We focus on delivering results, not just hours worked.
Call (888) 381-9725 or email contact@epcgroup.net for a free assessment.
The NIST AI Risk Management Framework (AI RMF 1.0) will set the standard for US federal AI governance by 2026. This framework is also increasingly important for:
The four functions of the framework—Govern, Map, Measure, and Manage—align well with Microsoft products when implemented correctly:
The EPC Group's 47-control crosswalk connects each NIST AI RMF subcategory to specific Microsoft tenant settings.
vCAIO (Virtual Chief AI Officer) services have become the leading choice for organizations launching AI programs in 2026. EPC Group structures vCAIO engagements as fixed-fee scopes and pre-paid Consulting Blocks across three tiers of engagement depth:
Every tier is dramatically more cost-effective than a full-time CAIO hire during the first 6 to 18 months of an enterprise AI program. Contact contact@epcgroup.net or 888-381-9725 for a scoped proposal.
EPC Group covers this topic across the relevant engagement portfolio. Reach the firm at contact@epcgroup.net for a 30-minute architect conversation.
Budget signal
Three published engagement tiers. Most clients start with a fixed-fee accelerator and grow into a full program or managed retainer. Senior-architect-led delivery on every tier.
Accelerator
$25,000 – $150,000
4 – 12 weeks
Fixed-fee. Copilot Readiness, Tenant Health Check, SharePoint Migration, Security Hardening.
Project
$150,000 – $750,000+
3 – 9 months
Milestone-billed. Discovery through hypercare with wave-based rollout.
Managed services
from $3,500 / month
12-month minimum
Named senior architect, license optimization, governance reviews, quarterly business reviews.
No pitch deck. 30-minute discovery call. Response within one business day, same-day for urgent items.
Related enterprise references from the EPC Group knowledge base:
AI assistant — not human