NY, October 1st, 2026 — Artefact, the global AI-first consultancy, and BigID, the data security, compliance, and AI data intelligence platform, today announced a new strategic partnership across North America.
The alliance adds BigID’s data discovery, classification, and security posture management layer to Artefact’s AI Risk & Data Trust practice, giving joint clients a path that starts with knowing where sensitive data actually lives and ends with an enforced, auditable AI governance program built on top of it.
This partnership responds to a risk many enterprises are only beginning to address: AI tools now reach more of the business’s data than security teams can see or control, from shared drives and SaaS systems to the files and prompts that power today’s AI agents. As sensitive data increasingly flows into AI systems without oversight, it runs into a fast-expanding wave of state data-security, breach-notification, and AI governance requirements. These exposures land on a CISO’s or general counsel’s desk directly, not as a line item in an AI governance policy.
“Enterprises want to move faster with AI, but they need confidence that sensitive data won’t end up in the wrong hands or the wrong AI workflow,” said Ian Williamson, SVP of Alliances at BigID. “BigID brings visibility and control over the data people and AI agents can access. Artefact brings the expertise to put those controls to work across the business. Together, we help customers build security into their AI programs from the start and keep pace as those programs grow.”
Artefact’s North American entity, led by Ghadi Hobeika, pairs regulatory and governance-architecture expertise with hands-on technical build, including policy-as-code implementation and MCP governance work for agentic AI systems, alongside advanced deployment partnerships with Google, Anthropic, and OpenAI.
Artefact was also named Google AI Partner of the Year in EMEA for two consecutive years and is among a select group of firms worldwide holding deployment certifications across all three major frontier AI platforms.
“Governance frameworks only work if you know what you’re governing,” said Ghadi Hobeika, CEO North America, Artefact. “BigID gives our clients the visibility and control layer; what sensitive data exists, where it lives, and who or what can reach it, including the AI systems now querying it directly.
We build the program on top: executing the access controls, the audit trails, the operating model that turns visibility into an enforceable standard. This partnership lets us start engagements a step earlier and hand clients something more defensible at the end.”
Co-delivering AI trust and security
The partnership combines BigID’s Data Security Platform, including Data Security Posture Management (DSPM), AI Security Posture Management, DSPM-Augmented DLP, Data Access Governance, and AI Governance, with Artefact’s implementation capabilities across the data security and AI-readiness lifecycle: data discovery and classification, access governance design, AI data-exposure assessment, DLP and DSPM policy tuning, and integration into broader AI governance and automated decision-making technology (ADMT) programs already underway at client organizations.
As part of the expanded relationship, Artefact has also been certified as a BigID reseller for North America, allowing Artefact-led engagements to include BigID licensing directly under a single commercial relationship, reducing procurement friction for clients who want one accountable partner for both the technology and the delivery.
The substance of the partnership is the delivery model: joint methodology, cross-trained technical teams, and Artefact staff operating the BigID platform as part of broader AI Risk & Data Trust engagements, not a standalone software resale motion.
“The conversation about AI governance has gotten ahead of the conversation about data,” said Paul Laurent, Head of AI Risk & Data Trust, Artefact. “You cannot write a credible AI policy for data you haven’t classified, or attest to controls over access paths you haven’t mapped. This partnership lets us close that gap for clients before it turns up as a finding in their next audit.”
The partnership includes joint go-to-market programs, coordinated client enablement, and delivery teams cross-trained across both platforms, extending Artefact’s AI Risk & Data Trust practice down into the data security layer it depends on.
About Artefact
Artefact is a leading AI-native consulting and engineering firm that bridges the gap between visionary strategy and production-grade delivery to reshape the future of work. Headquartered in Paris and leading the market across Europe, our global force of 2,500+ professionals across 27 countries helps the world’s top brands turn AI potential into massive, measurable value. Since 2014, our team has moved past the pilot phase to design, build, and scale high-impact AI programs and agentic workflows for over 1,000 global clients, including some of the world’s most recognizable brands.
In North America, our specialized AI Risk & Data Trust practice works with enterprise clients in financial services, insurance, healthcare, and technology to build the crucial governance infrastructure required to deploy AI responsibly at scale. Backed by Cinven, Artefact holds advanced deployment partnerships with industry giants Google, Anthropic, and OpenAI, and was proudly named Google AI Partner of the Year in EMEA for two consecutive years. This is where top-tier consulting meets engineering-grade execution to build a smarter, more responsible, and more productive tomorrow.
To learn more, visit: www.artefact.com
About BigID
BigID helps organizations connect the dots in data & AI: for security, governance, privacy, compliance, and AI data management. BigID enables customers to find, understand, manage, protect, and take action on high-risk & high-value data, wherever it lives. Customers use BigID to reduce their AI & data risk, automate security and privacy controls, achieve compliance, and understand their data throughout their entire data landscape: from the cloud, on-prem, and everywhere in between. BigID has been recognized for innovation as a World Economic Forum Technology Pioneer; named to the Forbes Cloud 100; the Inc 5000 for 4 consecutive years; the Deloitte 500 for 4 consecutive years; Market Leader in Data Security Posture Management (DSPM); and an RSA Innovation Sandbox winner.
For more information, visit bigid.com
