Exchange administrators hear the same request every month: “Can we use AI on our mail?” This article shows how to connect AI to Exchange Server safely. The honest answer is yes. How you connect it matters more than which AI you pick, because the connection decides what you can control, audit and switch off.

Why passwords are the wrong way

If every user pastes credentials into a tool, you lose control. Passwords leak, people leave, and nobody can say later what the tool did with them. Rotating a password silently breaks the connection. Auditors dislike this pattern, and so should you.

How the connection works

AddSync AI reaches Exchange on premises through EWS. Two setups exist: the person’s own mailbox login, or one global EWS user that has permissions on the mailboxes involved. This article is about the second one, because it keeps passwords out of the picture. There is no impersonation. Your mail stays on your own server, and AddSync reaches it there and does not move it.

Supported versions are Exchange Server 2016, 2019 and Subscription Edition. The page on AI for on-premises Exchange Server explains what stays on your server.

Set the limits before the first question

1. Decide the scopeWhich mailboxes, and which people may use AI. The guard switches AI on person by person or by group.
2. Set data filtersHide what the AI must never see, such as HR, payroll or board folders. Filters are global, so they apply the same way to everybody.
3. Limit the reachSet how many messages one question may read, and whether attachments are allowed at all.
4. Keep the journal onOne line per tool call: who, when and which button. It holds no mail text.

What the AI can and cannot do

Reading is one thing, and changing is another. Because send, delete and move do not exist for the AI, a misread question cannot go out to a client or lose a message.

Questions an auditor can now ask

If you can answer those five in one minute each, your Exchange connection is in good shape.

Common mistakes

• Granting the service user wider permissions than the pilot needs.
• Setting filters after the first week instead of before.
• Forgetting to name an owner for the journal.
• Starting with the whole company instead of a small group.
• Leaving old test mailboxes connected after the pilot.

Test with a small group

Start with five to ten people and one or two use cases, such as thread summaries and meeting preparation. Check the journal after a few days, ask the group which questions failed, and adjust the filters. Then widen the group. The 14-day pilot plan gives a day-by-day outline.

Questions and answers

Do I need to give AddSync my mailbox passwords?

No. With the global EWS user, staff do not hand over passwords. You grant permissions to one user that you control.

Does AddSync move my mail to the cloud?

No. Exchange stays on your server, and AddSync reaches it there. The AI reads a message to answer a question and does not store it.

Which Exchange versions work?

Exchange Server 2016, 2019 and Subscription Edition.

Can I switch it off quickly?

Yes. You can switch AI off for one person, for a group or for everyone, and you can remove the user’s permissions in Exchange.

Written by the AddSync team.