You run AI across multiple common data environments (CDEs) securely by bringing their content into your own Azure tenancy, in the region you choose, and running the AI there too, so nothing leaves your control to be indexed or queried. The Utopiaverse™ builds that connected record from every CDE, and AI Insights runs natively on Azure inside your tenancy, using RAG and OCR search with answers that cite their sources.
Why security is the first question
Project records hold commercially sensitive and sometimes security-classified information: designs for critical infrastructure, contract positions, correspondence and personal data. Many AI tools work by sending documents to an external service to be indexed and queried. For construction and infrastructure organisations, especially those with Security of Critical Infrastructure (SOCI) obligations or data residency clauses, that is often unacceptable.
Running AI across several CDEs adds to the challenge, because content has to be gathered from platforms owned by different vendors and sometimes different organisations. Doing that securely means controlling where data travels, where it is stored and where the AI runs. Our article on AI across multiple CDEs explains why one vendor's AI cannot answer portfolio questions alone.
The architecture in plain terms
The approach has three parts. First, content moves from each CDE into your Azure tenancy through Utopia Digital's products, which stream files without storing them and encrypt data in transit. Second, the content is held in Azure storage you own, in the region you choose, with metadata mapped into a common schema and scanned content processed with OCR. Third, AI Insights indexes and queries that content natively on Azure inside your tenancy, so the AI works where the data already lives.
That arrangement keeps you in control of access, retention and residency, under the same Azure policies you apply to the rest of your organisation's data.
How to run AI across multiple CDEs in your own Azure, step by step
Agree the scope: which CDEs, projects and teams, and which questions AI should answer.
Work with IT and security to select the Azure tenancy and region, using the global data region map.
Review Utopia Digital's security evidence through the Security Trust Portal.
Connect each CDE with CDE Backup™, CDE Sync™ or CDE Archive™, using least-privilege service accounts.
Map metadata to a common schema and let the record index in your tenancy.
Configure access in AI Insights to match your permissions policy.
Pilot with real questions, review citations and audit logs, then expand.
Controls that matter
Security teams usually look for the same things. Data stays in a known region. The integration does not keep copies of files. Every movement of data is logged and attributed. Access to the AI is role based, with multi-factor authentication. The provider is independently certified and tested. Utopia Digital's products are built on that model, with zero file persistence, encryption in transit, audit logging of every action and annual independent penetration testing, and Utopia Digital holds SOC 2 Type II and Cyber Essentials.
Keeping control over time
Security is not only about the initial setup. As new projects start and old ones close, the record changes. Using the same products to add projects keeps the controls consistent. When a project ends, CDE Archive™ captures its record into the same tenancy, so it stays searchable under your policies even after the vendor platform is switched off. If a vendor platform is ever compromised, CDE Backup™ means your copy is unaffected and AI search continues to work. Our article How Do I Back Up My CDE? covers that resilience in more detail.
Answering the security review
Security reviews go faster with a clear description of the data flow. Name each CDE and its hosting region, the Azure tenancy and region that will hold the record, the products that move data and the fact that they do not store files, and where AI Insights runs. Pair that with Utopia Digital's independent evidence from the Security Trust Portal. Government and Tier 1 clients often request a session with their cyber team, and offering one early keeps the project moving. Most reviewers are reassured once they see that the AI and the data stay inside the organisation's own tenancy.
Secure AI and the Utopiaverse™
Running AI securely across CDEs is the purpose of the Utopiaverse™. CDE Sync™, CDE Backup™, CDE Migrate™ and CDE Archive™ build the connected record in your own Azure, and AI Insights answers questions across it without the data leaving your tenancy. See also How Do I Connect CDEs Securely on SOCI Projects? and How Do I Prepare CDE Data for AI?
See secure AI across CDEs in the monthly live demo, or talk to the team about your security requirements.
