Shadow AI in the Enterprise

Your AI strategy is late if people already use public assistants for drafts, summaries, and code.

Ignoring that does not reduce risk. It hides it.

At a logistics software company, security found customer contract text in a consumer chat history during an offboarding review. No malice. A seller wanted a clearer email. The official tool was slow and blocked uploads, so they used what worked.

The claim

Shadow AI is an operating fact. Leaders either provide a sanctioned path with clear rules, or they keep discovering policy breaches after the fact.

What to decide this month

• Which data classes may never leave the company boundary.
• Which sanctioned tools are approved for drafts.
• What logging you need for audits.
• How managers coach safe use without theater.

They published a one-page rule, opened an approved workspace with the same model quality sellers wanted, and banned customer identifiers in public tools. Usage moved. Incidents dropped. People recieve clarity better than a vague ban.

Leave-behind

• Where is shadow AI already happening?
• What is the sanctioned alternative?
• What gets someone stopped immediately?