I would use “TryGetPawnOwner” in the AnimBlueprint to get the CharacterBlueprint Actor of the AI. The use “GetAIController” on that.
This makes sure that each AnimBlueprint is really using the values of its Character.
I assume your custom AIController class has a Blackboard component. Cast the result of “AIController” to your custom Class and
try to get the Blackboard Component from that.