Teams should always be encouraged to find innovative applications for generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) to streamline workflows. However, in a phenomenon known as shadow AI, many employees are using the technology in ways that are not being sanctioned by their employers.

This is a problem and not one that is not going to go away any time soon. A recent study from Deloitte found that only just under a quarter of those who have used GenAI at work believe their manager would approve of how they’ve used it.

The unsanctioned use of AI could put an organisation in serious legal, financial, or reputational risk. Yet, nearly one-third of employees admitted in a separate survey that they placing sensitive data into public GenAI tools. Unsurprisingly, 39% of respondents in the same study cited the potential leak of sensitive data as a top risk to their organisation’s use of public GenAI tools.

A step change

The step change with AI adoption coincided with the launch of ChatGPT. Almost overnight...