Hiding In The Shadows: The Perils Of Shadow AI On Your Organization

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is continuing to transform workplaces at a rapid pace; however, alongside the often-sanctioned deployment of tools like Microsoft Copilot or Google Gemini, a quieter trend has emerged: Shadow AI. For organizations, this is not just an IT issue; it's a compliance, governance and liability challenge that requires organizations to acknowledge and to take meaningful action to address.

What Is Shadow AI?

Shadow AI occurs when employees adopt AI tools to accelerate or automate tasks, such as drafting documents, summarizing meetings or analyzing data, without their organization's knowledge or approval.

Notably, the prevalence of shadow AI has been reported to be significant: a recent report from MIT's Project NANDA states that only 40% of companies that were surveyed purchased an official LLM subscription, but employees from over 90% of the companies surveyed reported regular use of personal AI tools.