Do you know which AI tools your team is using at work…
And what they’re putting into them?
Most business owners I speak to think they do.
Then we dig a little deeper.
AI Didn’t Creep In — It Rushed In
Generative AI tools like ChatGPT and Gemini have slipped into everyday work incredibly fast.
They’re fantastic for productivity:
- Drafting emails
- Summarising documents
- Brainstorming ideas
- Solving problems faster
And that’s exactly why people are using them.
The trouble is, they arrived so quickly that governance didn’t keep up.
The Scale of AI Use Might Surprise You
A recent report on how organizations are using generative AI revealed some eye‑opening findings.
AI usage has surged. The number of users tripled in just one year.
This isn’t casual experimentation either. People are relying on it. Prompt usage has exploded, with some organizations sending tens of thousands of prompts every month.
At the very top end, usage runs into the millions.
On the surface, that sounds like efficiency.
Underneath, it’s something else entirely.
The Rise of “Shadow AI”
Nearly half of the people using AI tools at work are doing so through personal accounts or unsanctioned apps.
This is known as shadow AI.
It means staff are uploading text, files, and data into these systems:
- Doesn’t control
- Can’t see
- Can’t audit
That’s where the risk creeps in.
Every Prompt Is a Data Share
When someone pastes information into an AI tool, they’re not just asking a question.
They’re sharing data.
Sometimes that data includes:
- Customer details
- Internal documents
- Pricing information
- Intellectual property
- Even login credentials
Often without realizing it.
According to the report, incidents involving the transmission of sensitive data to AI tools have doubled in the last year.
The average organization now sees hundreds of these incidents every month.
Because personal AI apps sit outside company controls, they’ve become a significant insider risk.
Not malicious insiders.
Just well‑meaning people trying to get their work done faster.
This Isn’t Always a “Cyber Attack”
Many businesses get caught out because they assume AI risk looks like hacking from the outside.
Sometimes it’s much simpler than that.
It can look like an employee copying and pasting the wrong thing into the wrong box at the wrong time.
The Compliance Time Bomb
There’s also a serious compliance angle.
If you operate in a regulated environment or handle sensitive customer data, uncontrolled AI use can put you in breach of:
- Your own internal policies
- Industry standards
- Regulatory requirements
And you may not realize it until it’s too late.
The warning from the report is blunt:
As sensitive information flows freely into unapproved AI ecosystems, data governance becomes harder and harder to maintain.
At the same time, attackers are getting smarter, using AI themselves to analyze leaked data and create more convincing attacks.
So What’s the Answer?
It’s not banning AI. That ship has sailed.
And it’s not pretending to be harmless, either.
The real answer is governance.
That means:
- Deciding which AI tools are approved for work use
- Being clear about what can and cannot be shared
- Putting visibility and controls in place so data doesn’t quietly drift where it shouldn’t
- Educating your team on the risks — in a practical, grown‑up way, not a scary one
Final Thought
AI is already part of how work gets done.
Ignoring it doesn’t make it safer.
Governing it does.
If you’d like help putting the right AI policies in place, or educating your team on the real‑world risks of AI, get in touch.