Do you know which AI tools your team is using at work, and what they're putting into them?
Most business owners think they do. But when we dig a little deeper, the picture often looks different.
AI at work has moved fast
Tools like ChatGPT and Gemini have become part of everyday work almost overnight. They're genuinely useful for drafting emails, summarizing documents, brainstorming ideas, and solving problems faster.
The challenge is that they've arrived so quickly that most businesses haven't had a chance to catch up with the risks.
A recent report on how organizations are using generative AI found some eye-opening numbers. AI usage has surged. The number of users tripled in just one year. People aren't just experimenting either. They're relying on it daily, with some organizations sending tens of thousands of prompts every single month.
That sounds like productivity. And it can be.
But underneath, there's something worth paying close attention to.
The part most businesses haven't caught up with yet 😬
Nearly half of people using AI tools at work are doing so through personal accounts or apps the business hasn't approved.
This is known as shadow AI. It means staff are uploading text, files, and data into systems your business doesn't control, can't see, and can't audit.
When someone pastes information into an AI tool, they're not just asking a question. They're sharing data. Sometimes that includes customer details, internal documents, pricing information, intellectual property, or login credentials, often without anyone realizing.
According to the report, incidents involving sensitive data being sent to AI tools have doubled in the past year. The average organization now sees hundreds of these incidents every month.
That's where it gets risky.
This isn't about malicious intent. It's well-meaning people trying to get their work done faster. But the result can be sensitive information quietly leaving your business through a door you didn't know was open.
There's a compliance angle here too. If your business operates in a regulated industry or handles sensitive customer data, uncontrolled AI use can put you in breach of your own policies or industry regulations, without anyone noticing until it's too late.
The good news?
The answer isn't banning AI. That's not realistic, and it's not necessary.
The answer is governance. And it's more straightforward than it sounds.
Getting this right means:
AI is already part of how work gets done. Ignoring it doesn't make it safer. Governing it does.
The takeaway is simple
Your team is likely using AI right now. The question isn't whether to allow it. It's whether you have the right guardrails in place to use it safely.
We can help you build a clear AI use policy and make sure your team knows how to work with these tools without putting your business at risk. Let's connect.
