Accounting software giant Sage said only a small number of clients were impacted by the data breach in January, which saw Copilot sharing data from other accounts, potentially risking a GDPR breach. Although it was not as serious as this, Sage decided to suspend the service temporarily as a precaution.

The data breach happened during the trial phase for Copilot, Sage’s AI software tool for accountants designed to manage repetitive tasks and handle data. But the trial came up against some issues with a small number of clients testing the system affected by a data breach, leading to the system being paused.

A Sage spokesperson told Business & Accountancy Daily: ‘After discovering a minor problem in early January involving a small number of customers with Sage Copilot in Sage Accounting, we implemented a fix.

‘The problem, which displayed unrelated business information to a limited set of users, has been resolved, and Sage Copilot is now performing as expected.

‘We are confident about the productivity and automation benefits it will bring to customers.’

Late last month Sage confirmed that Copilot would be available to SMEs from March 2025.

Nikola McNicol-Kenney, VP sales, small business at Sage said: ‘By listening to our customers during early access, we’ve refined Sage Copilot to deliver exactly what SMBs need.

‘Early adopters of Sage Copilot have told us it’s like having an extra pair of hands in the office, saving them hours each week and providing clarity on their finances.’

Sage launches AI Copilot for accountants | 28 Feb 2024