About Access Business Technologies
In 1999, three people from inside financial services built a shared technology model that made enterprise systems affordable for credit unions. Twenty-five years later, that same idea powers Microsoft 365 security, AI governance, and cloud infrastructure for 750+ financial institutions.
II
The ABT Story
Access Business Technologies started with a problem that Justin Kirsch, Hugo Gonzalez, and Steve Tschoepe saw from the inside. All three worked in mortgage and financial services. They watched credit unions and community banks struggle with technology that was either too expensive, too fragmented, or built for industries with none of their compliance requirements.
Large banks could afford dedicated IT departments, enterprise security platforms, and custom-built systems. A 50-person credit union could not. But the regulators held both to the same standard.
In 1999, the three founders launched ABT as an Application Service Provider, one of the earliest shared-infrastructure models for delivering enterprise technology. The concept was simple: host the systems centrally, share the infrastructure costs across multiple institutions, and give every credit union access to the same tools that only large banks could afford to run on their own.
Their first customer was Travis Credit Union in Northern California. Travis is still an ABT client today.
The ASP model was cloud computing before anyone called it that. Years before Salesforce popularized SaaS, before Amazon launched AWS, ABT was running shared, hosted environments for financial institutions from a centralized platform. The technology evolved, but the core idea never changed: make enterprise-grade systems accessible to organizations that regulators hold to enterprise-grade standards.
Twenty-Five Years of Evolution
The technology changed. The model stayed the same. Every step forward made the system stronger for every client in it.
Three founders from inside financial services. Shared infrastructure model. Travis Credit Union signs as the first client. The premise: enterprise technology should not require an enterprise budget.
ABT shifts from generic hosted applications to deep specialization in Microsoft platforms. The relationship with Microsoft becomes the foundation everything else builds on. Dozens of credit unions and mortgage companies onboard.
ABT earns Microsoft Gold Partner status and makes a deliberate decision: go deeper into financial services rather than broader across industries. MortgageExchange launches, connecting lenders to investors across the mortgage lifecycle. Hundreds of institutions now depend on ABT.
ABT applied early for Microsoft's Tier-1 CSP program and earned the designation as one of the first 15 companies worldwide. Direct billing, direct support, no distributor. Over the next decade, ABT grew its Azure and Microsoft 365 capabilities into the largest Tier-1 CSP operation serving financial services, with particular depth in mortgage processing, one of the most complex and heavily regulated verticals in IT.
Justin designs Guardian as ABT's managed security and compliance layer. 160+ controls across Conditional Access, Defender, Purview, Intune, and Entra ID. What ABT learns protecting one institution becomes a control applied across all 750. ABT earns a reputation not just for preventing attacks, but for what happens when one gets through: defending clients, helping them overcome the crisis, and leaving them stronger than before. Institution after institution comes out the other side better off because ABT was in the room.
Financial institutions adopt Microsoft Copilot, autonomous agents, and Copilot CoWork. Guardian extends to govern AI deployments. The same model applies: ABT deploys the technology, secures it, monitors it, and feeds everything learned back into stronger controls. The three founders still meet every morning.
Why One System, Not Five Vendors
Most financial institutions buy their Microsoft licensing from one vendor, managed IT support from another, cybersecurity from a third, compliance consulting from a fourth, and custom development from a fifth. Every handoff creates a gap. Every gap is a risk, a cost, and a delay.
ABT collapses all of it into one relationship. Licensing, configuration, security, compliance, monitoring, business intelligence, and custom interfaces all run through the same system, managed by the same team, governed by the same controls.
An issue discovered at one client becomes a preventive control applied across all 750. A security pattern identified in Monday's monitoring becomes Tuesday's policy update. A compliance question from an NCUA examiner becomes a new reporting capability available to every credit union. That feedback loop has been running since Travis Credit Union signed on in 1999.
Built on Four Foundations
Everything ABT does falls into four areas. All three co-founders are certified in business process re-engineering, which means ABT does not just deploy technology. We redesign how financial institutions operate, then secure and govern every layer.
Microsoft 365 & Azure
Tier-1 CSP licensing from Business Premium through E5 and Frontier. Tenant deployment, configuration, migration, and ongoing management. Direct Microsoft Premier Support.
Why Tier-1 matters →Security & AI Governance
Guardian wraps around every tenant with 160+ controls. Continuous hardening, monitoring, insights, and response. Now extending to govern Copilot, agents, and CoWork.
Learn about Guardian →Business Intelligence & Data
Security Insights, Productivity Insights, and Mortgage BI turn raw data into decisions. Patterns found at one institution become preventive fixes across all 750.
See Productivity Insights →Custom Interfaces
MortgageExchange connects lenders to investors. App Pilot deploys managed applications. DocumentGuardian protects document workflows. All built by ABT on Azure.
Explore MortgageExchange →Meet the Founders
Justin Kirsch, Hugo Gonzalez, and Steve Tschoepe co-founded ABT in 1999 and still lead it today. They start every morning with a scrum across all engineering, security, and client teams. What one team learns, all three teams use.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does Access Business Technologies do?
ABT is a Tier-1 Microsoft Cloud Solution Provider built for financial services. We deliver Microsoft 365, Azure, security, and custom interface solutions for credit unions, community banks, mortgage companies, and other highly regulated organizations. We manage licensing, deploy and secure cloud environments, build business intelligence platforms, and develop custom applications for 750+ financial institutions.
What is Guardian?
Guardian is ABT's managed security and AI governance platform. It wraps around every client's Microsoft 365 environment with 160+ security controls spanning Conditional Access, Defender, Purview, Intune, and Entra ID. Guardian continuously monitors, hardens, and reports on client environments, and is now extending to govern AI deployments including Copilot, Agent 365, and Copilot CoWork.
What is a Tier-1 Microsoft CSP?
A Tier-1 Cloud Solution Provider has a direct billing and support relationship with Microsoft, rather than operating through a distributor. ABT is the largest Tier-1 CSP focused on financial services and highly regulated industries, which means our credit union, bank, and mortgage company clients get direct access to Microsoft Premier Support engineering resources and priority handling for critical issues.
What industries does ABT serve?
ABT was built for financial services. Our 750+ clients are credit unions, community banks, and mortgage companies, from boutique brokerages to enterprises with thousands of employees. We also serve other highly regulated organizations that need the same level of security and compliance rigor.
How long has ABT been in business?
ABT was founded in 1999 by Justin Kirsch, Hugo Gonzalez, and Steve Tschoepe. All three co-founders still lead the company today. ABT started as an Application Service Provider, one of the earliest shared cloud models, and evolved through Microsoft Partnership, Gold Partner status, and Tier-1 CSP designation into the managed security and AI governance company it is now.
How does ABT help with AI governance?
As financial institutions adopt Microsoft 365 Copilot, Copilot Studio agents, and Agent 365, ABT extends Guardian's governance framework to cover AI. This includes data loss prevention for AI-processed content, Conditional Access policies for agent identities, sensitivity label inheritance across autonomous workflows, and audit logging. ABT deploys AI capabilities on a governed foundation so that productivity gains do not create compliance gaps.
Ready to See How ABT Works for You?
Two ways to get started
See Where You Stand
Get an instant security and configuration grade for your Microsoft 365 environment. No commitment, no sales call required.
Get Your Tenant GradeTalk to Our Team
Whether it is security, AI governance, licensing, or infrastructure, our team is ready to help.
Talk to an ABT Expert