Shadow AI is a growing threat, but one companies can harness

MORE companies are now embracing artificial intelligence, but employees are moving faster. In Asian countries such as China, India, South Korea and Japan, people’s comfort with AI is notably higher than the global average, according to the 2025 EY AI Sentiment Index.

But when organisations are slow to implement AI solutions, tech-savvy staff may turn to “shadow AI” – using their own unauthorised AI tools for work. Often, these tools are free and untracked. Employees develop their own workflows around them.

The scale of this invisible risk is significant. A 2023 Salesforce survey of 14,000 global workers found that half of people using generative AI at work were doing so without approval or guidance from their employers. Worse, Cisco’s 2025 Data Privacy Benchmark Study revealed that 42 per cent of respondents entered non-public company information and 46 per cent entered employee names or information into AI tools. This poses a clear risk of data breaches with potential operational, regulatory and legal ramifications.