Employees are moving fast. Deadlines are tight. When someone finds an AI tool that speeds up a task, they use it often without asking anyone first.
That’s how shadow AI sneaks into your environment.
It’s AI in use without approval, oversight, or controls.
It might feel harmless. A quick prompt here. A paste of sensitive data there. But the risks stack up quickly.
What makes shadow AI dangerous?
When someone uses an unapproved tool, you lose visibility over where your data goes. That can lead to:
Proprietary data in the wild. Sensitive projects end up stored on servers you don’t control.
Compliance blind spots. Auditors ask where data lives—you don’t have an answer.
Questionable outputs. Unverified AI responses can creep into production work.
None of this shows up in a traditional asset inventory, which makes it even harder to manage.
How to start addressing shadow AI
You don’t need a full program to take the first steps. Try these simple moves this week:
Build a list of approved AI tools and share it company‑wide. Make policies clear on what data is safe to feed into AI. Add AI usage questions to your vendor and risk reviews. Monitor outbound traffic to spot new or unusual AI platforms in use.
The impact on your business
Studies show more than half of employees already use AI tools without oversight. That is data leaving your control without anyone knowing.
Tackling shadow AI means putting guardrails in place that let people work smarter and keep data safe at the same time.
We help teams build those guardrails.
If you’re ready to get visibility into the AI your team is already using and set clear policies that keep data safe then let’s talk.
Your people want to work smarter. Let’s make sure they can do it safely
